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HISTORIC HOMES and PLACES 

AND 

GENEALOGICAL 
and PERSONAL MEMOIRS 

RELATING TO THE FAMILIES 

OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, 

MASSACHUSETTS 



PREPARED UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF 

WILLIAM RICHARD CUTTER, A. M. 

V 
Historian of the New England Historic Genealogical Society; Libra- 
rian of Wobum Public Library; Author of "The Cutter Family," 
"History of Arlington," "Bibhograpliy of Wobum," etc., etc. 



VOLUME I . 



ILLUSTRATED 



N E w Y o R K : 

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1908 



Ft 

■n 



n" (^' Q 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The present work, "Historic Homes and Places, and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs 
Relating to the Families of Middlesex Coimty, Massachusetts," presents in the aggregate an 
amount and variety of genealogical and personal information and portraiture unequalled by 
any kindred publication. It contains a large amount of ancestral history never before printed. 
The object, clearly defined and well digested, is threefold: 

Firstly: To present in concise form the history of Mi<ldlesex County Families. 

Secondly: To preserve a record of the prominent present-day people of the county. 

Thirdly: To present through personal sketches, linked with the genealogical narrative, 
the relation of its prominent families of all times to the growth, singular prosperity and wide- 
spread influence of Middlesex County. 

There are numerous voluminous narrative histories of the county in one form or other, 
making it unnecessary in this work to even outline its annals. What has been published, how- 
ever, principally relates to the people in the mass. The amplification necessary to complete the 
picture of the county, old and nowaday, is what has been supplied in large degree by these 
Genealogical and Personal Memoirs. In other words, while others have written of "the times," 
the province of this work is to be a chronicle of the people who have made Middlesex County 
what it is. "' 

Unique in conception and treatment, this work constitutes one of the most original and 
permanently valuable contributions ever made to the social history of an American commun- 
ity. In it is arrayed in a lucid and dignified manner important facts regarding the anci stry, 
personal careers and matrimonial alliances of those who, in each succeeding generation, have 
been accorded leading positions in the social, professional and business life of the county. Nor 
has it h)een based upon, neither does it minister to, aristocratic prejudices and assumptions. 
On the contrary, its fundamental ideas are thoroughly .\merican and democratic. The work 
everywhere conveys the lesson that distinction has been gained only by lionorahle public ser- 
vice, or by usefulness in private station, and thai the development and ]ir()s]ierity of the county 
of which it treats has been dependent upon the character of its citizens, and the stimulus which 
they have given to commerce, to industry, to the arts and sciences, to education antl religion 
— to all that is comprised in the highest civilization of the present day — through a continual 
progre.ssive development. 

The inspiration underlying the present work is a fervent appreciation of the truth so well 
expressed by Sir Walter Scott, that "there is no heroic poem in the world but is at the bottom 
the life of a man.'.' And with this goes a kindred truth, that to know a man. and rightly meas- 
ure his character, and weigh his achievements, we mu.st know whence he came, from what for- 
bears he sprang. Truly as heroic poems have been written in human lives in the paths of peace 
as in the scarred roads of war. Such examples, in whatever line of endeavor, are of much worth 
as an incentive to those who come afterward, and such were never so needful to be written 
of as in the present day, when pessimism, forgetful of the splendid lessons of the past, with- 
holds its effort in the present, and views the future only with alarm. 

Middlesex County offere a peculiarly rich and interesting field for such research as is here 
undertaken. Its sons — "native here, and to the niaiuier boin."' — have attained <listinction 

(3) 



4 INTRODUCTORY. 

in every department of human effort. An additional interest attaches to the present under- 
taking in the fact that, while dealing primarily with the people of this county, this work ap- 
proaches the dignity of a national epitome of genealogy and biography. Owing to the wide 
dispersion throughout the country of the old families of Middlesex, the authentic account here 
presented of the constituent elements of her social life, past and present, is of far more than . 
merely local value. In its special field it is, in an appreciable degree, a reflection of the de- 
velopment of the country at large, since hence went out representatives of historical families, 
in various generations, who in far remote places — beyond the Mississippi and in the Far West 
— were with the vanguard of civilization, building up communities, creating new common- 
wealths, planting, wherever they went, the church, the school house and the printing press, 
leading into channels of thrift and enterprise all who gathered about them, and proving a power 
for ideal citizenship and good government. And, further, the custodian of records concern- 
ing the useful men of preceding generations, of the homes and churches, schools, and other 
institutions, which they founded, and of their descendants who have lived honorable and use- 
ful lives, who have aided in placing such knowledge in preservable and accessible form, have 
pei'formed a public service in rendering honor to whom honor is due, and in inculcating the most 
valuable le.ssons of patriotism and good citizenship. 

It is to be regretted that indifference or unwise prejudices on the part of a very few have 
interfered with a proper representation of their families, but it is confidently asserted that 
this work covers all that can be reasonably expected from finite efforts. No matter has been 
printed that was not first submitted to persons most interested, for revision and correction, 
and many articles have been submitted to several individuals in order to secure most complete 
criticism and revision. In some cases family traditions have been put forward, and in these 
there is sometimes conflict; where such was the only authority, effort has been made to recon- 
cile as far as possible. 

The County of Middlesex, Massachusetts, was incorporated in the year 1643, the same 
year with the counties of Essex and Suffolk, and, up to the year 1655, included eight towns 
— Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, and Linn Vil- 
lage, or Reading — with, at the utmost, a few thousand souls. The population to-day is over 
565,000, included within forty-three towns and eleven cities, with a territorial area of eight 
hundred square miles. 

Charlestown, the oldest town in the County, and one of the oldest in the State, was set- 
tled in 1628, and was incorporated in 1635. 

The settlement of Cambridge was begun in 1631. and it was originally designed to be made 
the chief town or city of the Colony. 

Watertown began to be settled in 1630, the same year with the settlement at Boston. 

Sudbury was settled in 1638, and incorporated in 1639. 

The settlement at Concord was begun in the fall of 1635. 

Woburn was incorporated as a town in 1642. 

Medford was given her official name in 1630. 

Reading was incorporated in 1644. 

Within these historic towns were early clustered a considerable portion of that representa- 
tive class of Puritan pioneers who planted the Colony that has figured so prominently in mould- 
ing and shaping this illustrious Nation. 

Concord, Lexington, Cambridge, and Charlestown, are names quite familiar to the student 
of the early history of this country. 

The descendants of those early settlers are especially proud of their ancestry; for. what- 
ever the part allotted them, even the most trivial service rendered should command respect 
and admiration, and those now residents of Middlesex County should esteem it a precious 



INTRODUCTORY. 5 

privilejie to have their names associated with sucli an illustrious <;roup of families. Such an 
honoiable ancestry is a noble heritage, ami the story of its achievements is a sacred trust com- 
mitted to its descendants, upon whom devolves the perpetuation of the record. 

The courajre, fortitude and activity displayed by those hartly pioneers during the early 
settlement of Massachusetts and New England, were most remarkable. And, when the struggle 
for National Independence came, the sons and daughters of their illustrious sires were not want- 
ing in patriotism and devotion, freely sacrificing comforts, life and property, that they might 
bequeath, to the generations that should follow them, a free and liberal go\ernment, "of the 
people, by the people, and for the people." 

Tlie i)eo])le of Middlesex County were, from the beginning, prime leaders in every patriotic 
movement, and in all events working for the elevation of hunianit}-. It was within this very 
territory of Middlesex that the opening scenes of the War of the American Revolution were 
enacted. Here it was that the contending armies met upon the field of battle, when the ter- 
rible struggle tiegan. And it was of the men of MicKUesex County that Captain Isaac Davis 
said, when it was proposed to dislodge the British at the Old North Bridge at Concord, on that 
famous nineteenth day of April, "I haven't a man that is afraid to go." The men of Mid- 
dlesex on that eventful day conducted themselves like heroes. And, after the battle, the 
Provincial Congress, convened at Watertown to take measures "for the salvation of the Coun- 
try," and, on the twenty-third day of April, voted "that an army of thirty thousand men be im- 
mediately raised, and that thirteen thousand six hundred be raised by this Province." It is 
the deeds and lives of such men, and of their descendants, that form tin- thrilling and enchant- 
ing portion of our country's history. 

It is the consensus of opinion of gentlemen well informed and loyal to the memories of the 
past and the needs of the pre.sent and future, that the editorial supervision of William Richard 
Cutter, A. M., has ensured the best results attainable in the preparation of material for the 
propo.sed work. For more than a generation past he has given his leisure to historical and 
genealogical research and authorship. He was the author, with his father, of "History of 
the Cutter Family of New England," 1871-187.5; and "History of Arlington, Massachusetts," 
1880; and also edited Lieutenant Samuel Thompson's "Diary While Serving in the French 
and Indian War, 1758," 1896. He also prepared a monograph entitled "Journal of a Forton 
Prisoner, England," sketches of Arlington and Woburn, Massachusetts, and manj- articles 
on subjects connected with local historical and genealogical matters for periodical literature. 
He prepared a "Bibliography of Woburn," which was published, and he has been engaged 
as editor of various historical works outside of his own city. For many years he has been as- 
sociated with Mr. Arthur (i. Loring in the preparation of genealogies which have been pub- 
lished in the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register." In the present work, 
he has contributed a valuable chapter on "Historical Homes and Places in Middlesex 
County." Grateful acknowledgment is here made to him for his services, which have been 
in the nature of a labor of love. Similarly, Mr. Arthur G. Loring is entitled to gratitude 
for much painstaking work. 

It is believed that the present work will prove a real addition to the nuiss of literature 
concerning the families of historic old Worcester County, and that, without it, much valuable 
information contained therein would be inaccessible to the general reader, or irretrievably 
lost. Owing to the passing away of many custodians of family records, and the consequent 
disappearance of material in their possession. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



Historic Homes and Places 

Piv \\'ii.LiAM R. Cutter 

LONDON AND MIDDLESEX COUNTY, ENtiLAND 

The great metropolis of London belongs to the ancient Middlesex county of England, and 
Walter Thornbury, when writing his history of that city, entitled ''Old and New London", was 
so impressed by the fact that " writing the history of the vast city like London " was " like writing 
a history of the ocean" — the vast area: the multifariousness of its inhabitants; and the count- 
less treasures that lie in its depths; — that he asks the question, what aspect should one select? 
The history of the New England Middlesex, covering its two hundred and sixty-four or more 
years, though younger by far than its elder, presents from its size, its large population, its 
multifarious interests, and the number of its cities and towns, a similar impression upon any one 
who has the boldness to attempt to write on any aspect of the subject. 

The New England Middlesex obtained its name from the Middlesex of Old England, one of 
the most important counties in the kingdom, including within its limits a large part of the present 
city of London. The English Middlesex, though territorially of lesser extent than many English 
counties, was probably the most prominent of all in topographical and historical interest, and 
from the connection that the Middlesex county of England bears to the metropolis of London 
and the river Thames, the New England Middlesex, from its situation, has a similar relation to 
the metropolis of Boston, and the«iiver Charles. 

The English Middlesex derives its name from its relative situation to the three surrounding 
kingdoms or counties of East, AVest, and South Saxons, the first two of which were East-Sex, or 
Essex; and West-Sex, or Wessex. The Englisli Middlesex, in which the names of I..ondon and 
Middlesex are synonymous, derives its existence from a period previous to the Roman invasion, 
and the Thames river is a prominent feature of its topography. It has an extent of about seven- 
teen by twenty-three miles, or about 280 scjuare miles. The English Middlesex was particularly 
well suited for the purpose of agriculture, and it was a well cultivated county. An old writer (Nor- 
den) speaking of its fertility, and of the love of its people for tilling its soil; who had rather 
delve in its dirt, than live in palaces, says; 

"The deep and dirtie loathsome soyle 
Yeelds golden gaine to paneful toyle." 

The crops of the English Middlesex were beans, green peas, barley, rye, oats, cabbages, 
turnips, wheat, clover, carrots, parsnips, buckwheat and potatoes. Hay-making among the 
farmers of the English Middlesex was an art conducted in a superior manner to that of any other 
part of the island. The oldest farm houses in the English Middlesex were of wood, lathed and 
plastered, with the roofs thatched. These were the sort of houses the New England immigrants 
had left, and this was the sort of farming with which they were acquainted, and which they 
sought to put into practice here. The population of English Middlesex, including London, in 
1801, was 918,629. 

(0 



ii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

In common with the old county on the other side of the ocean, at the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century, the American Middlesex county had a canal for the transportation of passengers 
and merchandise, the English Middlesex had two, while the American Middlesex had one, which 
bore the name of the county. 

Essex in England is old equally with Middlesex, and was known at the time of the Roman 
invasion of Great Britain. The waters of the Thames are on its borders. Essex formed a sep- 
arate and distinct kingdom during a part of the Saxon domination, and was called East- 
Seaxa, but the time of its first establishment and its termination as a Saxon kingdom are not 
authenticated. It was also less noticed by historians than any of the others. The county was 
bordered by Suffolk and Cambridgeshire on the north, by the counties of Hertford and Middlesex 
on the west, by the river Thames on the south, and by the sea on the east. Its extent from east 
to west was estimated at sixty miles, and from north to south at about fifty, its circumference 
being computed at 225 miles. It contained about four hundred parishes and townships and 
twenty-five towns, containing, about 1801, 226,437 inhabitants. 

Suffolk in England is bounded on the north by Norfolk, on the east by the German ocean, 
on the south by Essex, and on the west by Cambridgeshire. It is forty-seven miles long by 
twenty-seven broad. Its form indicates a surface of 1269 square miles. Its appellation is from 
the Saxon Sudjolk, or southern people, in contradistinction to Nordfolk, or northern people. It 
existed at the time of the invasion of the Romans, and its history is related to that of Norfolk. 

Norfolk in England is an extensive county, famous for its objects of antiquity, its geograph- 
ical situation on the German ocean, its seaports, towns, seats, agriculture, and manufactured 
products, and it is interesting to the topographer. The topographical historian is a character 
pecuhar to Great Britain, and topography, or description of the country, forms a large part of 
the historical work in the books of the early part of the nineteenth century in that kingdom. 
The district embraced in the English county of Norfolk was older historically than the invasion 
by the Romans, whose generals established a number of military posts within or contiguous to 
its territory. Lynn, — a city name familiar on this side of the Atlantic, — was within its limits. 

Norfolk in England was separated by rivers from Suffolk on the south, and Cambridgeshire 
and Lincolnshire were on the west. Its shape made it, in a sense, almost an island. The largest 
diameter is east to west, fifty-seven miles; the conjugate diameter, north and south, thirty-five 
miles, or 1426 square geographical miles. Norfolk is larger than Essex, and contained a greater 
number of towns and parishes than any other county in the kingdom. Its population in 1801 
was 273,371. 

It is to be observed, therefore, how closely the relative location of the New England counties 
of the first period — the four named Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, and Norfolk — follows those of 
their older namesakes in England; and how closely, too, the names of our New England towns 
and cities have resembled those of the older country, whence their settlers came. How closely, 
too, they copied the ideas and customs with which they were familiar in the mother land. The 
political and social structure of New England, therefore, was built mainly upon an adaptation 
of ideas having their origin abroad, and upon things which existed before America was estab- 
lished. The early Massachusetts Colony, as an outcome of the first settlement, was strictly 
English in its character, and remained so until long after the period of the American Revolution. 

The early New England historians say little regarding the origin of the New England Mid- 
dlesex county, and Hutchinson, the ablest one of them all, says more than the rest, and what he 
says is found on a single page of his notable "History of Massachusetts", vol. i. (3d ed.) p. 112. 
In effect this: That in 1643 the colony had so increased that it was divided into four counties, 
or shires, named Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. In a foot-note he gives the names of 
the towns in each county, and for Middlesex he gave the eight towns as follows: Charlestown, 
Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, and Lynn Village (afterwards 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. iii 

Reading). Each of the first three counties estabhshed in 1643 contained eight towns, and Old 
Norfolk si.x. Norfolk was not the Norfolk county of to-day, but another. Esse.v contained 
Salem, Lynn, Enon (Wenham), Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Gloucester, and Chochichawick. 
Middlesex contained Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Med- 
ford and Lynn Village. Suffolk contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, 
Weymouth, Hingham, and Nantasket (Hull). Norfolk contained Salisbury, Hampton, Haver- 
hill, Exeter, Dover, and Strawberry-Bank (now Portsmouth). In this list it will be noticed that 
Essex was east, Middlesex west, and Norfolk and Suffolk north and south, of each other, as 
implied in their names. 

GREATER BOSTON 

Boston proper now exceeds its original limits, and has appropriated two municipalities once 
within the borders of Middlesex, — Charlestown and Brighton. Several cities still within Mid- 
dlesex county, — Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, and Maiden, — are its congeners, from their 
geographical positions. Near by are the cities of Medford, Melrose, Newton, Waltham, Woburn, 
and Lowell. Other cities easily reached are Lynn, Salem, Haverhill, Beverly, and Gloucester, 
the large town of Brookline, and the cities of Quincy, Brockton, Taunton, Pawtucket, New Bed- 
ford, Fall River, and Providence, and many large and small towas, are within easy reach of 
Boston, not to omit in the list its own county of Suffolk, with Boston and Chelsea and Revere. 
Greater Boston thus means large portions of four counties, namely, Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, 
and Norfolk, all located about Massachusetts Bay — the body of water which gave the name of 
the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay to this part of the present State of Massachusetts. 

Massachusetts is a name derived from the Indians, the name of a tribe whose abode was in 
the vicinity of Massachusetts Bay, and signified, in their language, Blue Hills. 

The Blue Hills, so easily seen from Boston Harbor, are 710 feet above high-water mark, and 
are in the town of Milton, in Norfolk county. The range has been a noted landmark for sailors. 
From the summit is had a full view of Boston and its environs, Massachusetts Bay, the Cape 
Cod peninsula, and the Wachusett Mountain in the interior, fifty miles distant. 

Previous to the American Revolution, Massachusetts was a colony and province of England, 
and its laws and customs were largely those of the mother country. After 1693 the smaller 
colony of Plymouth was included within its borders. The other nearby colonies of that period 
were Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Maine till 1820 was a part of the state 
of Massachusetts. 

The parish of the old country was established here in the colonial period generally under the 
name and privileges of a town, and during the provincial period (when English customs were 
the model) towns, where large enough, were divided into parishes, which, in a sense, were little 
towns within a larger town. This system was thoroughly established in Massachusetts by 1750, 
and emigration had then begun to the newer towns in New Hampshire, and probably in Maine. 
This emigration was due to the natural increase of the population, and the desire for more farms. 
The settlement of the country from the time of the Puritans increased at a greater rate than is 
to-day imagined, and by 1700 the province was well supplied with farms, was well stocked with 
domestic animals and fruits such as were commonly known in the old country, and the only 
interference \vith agricultural prosperity (the mercantile element being greatly in the minority) 
were the frequent wars with their enemies, which harassed the land for many years. 

Authorities: County histories were more common in Great Britain in former times than in 
Massachusetts. More than a century ago county histories and local histories of great merit were 
published in great numbers in the older country. Such works were remarkable for their cost, 
for sumptuous bindings, for beautiful illustrations, for accurate typography, for size, and thor- 



IT 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



oughness of research. These EngUsh writers gleaned all that was practically known of the early 
period in their own country. I name a few titles: 

"The History and Antiquities of the Town and County of the Town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
including an Account of the Coal Trade of that place, and embellished with engraved views of 
the Publick Buildings, &e." By John Brand, M. A., London, 1789. Two vols. 

" A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
including the Borough of Gateshead." By E. Mackenzie. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1827. Two 
vols, bound in one. 

"The Beauties of England and Wales; or. Original Delineations, Topographical, Historical, 
and Descriptive, of each County." By John Britton and Edward Wedlake Brayley. London, 
1801-1818. 18 vols., and several additional parts. 

"The Beauties of Scotland: containing a clear and full account of the Agriculture, Com- 
merce, Mines, and Manufactures; of the population, cities, towns, villages, &c., of each County". 
By Robert Forsyth. Edinburgh, 1805-08. 5 vols. 

"The Beauties of Ireland: being Original Delineations, Topographical, Historical, and Bio- 
graphical, of each County." By J. N. Brewer. London, 1825-26. 2 vols. 

"Historical Collections, being General Collections of Interesting Facts, Traditions, Bio- 
graphical Sketches, Anecdotes, &c., relating to the History and Antiquities of Every Town in 
Massachusetts, with geographical descriptions." By John Warner Barber. Worcester, 1839. 

"A Gazetteer of Massachusetts, containing descriptions of all the Counties, Towns, and Dis- 
tricts." By John Hayward, Boston, 1846. The "New 
England Gazetteer", by the same author (1839), is 
practically an earlier edition of the above work. 

CH.\RLESTOWN 



The town and city of Charlestown, before it was 
set off to Boston, was the oldest town in Middlesex 
county, Massachusetts, and was settled directly by 
English immigrants under the leadership of Governor 
John Winthrop. It included originally within its 
bounds Somerville, Maiden, Everett, Stoneham, Win- 
chester, Woburn, and Burlington, and a large part of 
Arlington and Wilmington. Latterly its limits were 
confined to the peninsula bearing the name of Charles- 
town, and now it has lost its identity in that of Boston, 
and has been annexed to Suffolk county. 

James F. Hunnewell, an authority on the subject 
of architecture, in his "Century of Town Life", a his- 
tory of Charlestown, Massachusetts, from 1775 to 1887, 
has given an account, among many other things, of the 
old houses of that place. The town was burned in 1775 
by the British, but it had had a history from 1629. In 
the matter of buildings before the conflagration of 1775, 
Hunnewell says: "We can feel pretty sure that, ac- 
cording to the Provincial way, English fashions were 
followed as far as means allowed, and that the town was 
not better than one in England made during the earlier 




BUNKER HILL MONUMENT 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. v 

half of the (eighteenth) century, when the style of building in such was plain, or at best quaint, 
and the structure apt to be small." The people were mainly Congregationalists in religion, and 
with few exceptions English in origin. There was little of the fashionable element of that day 
among them. The richest were the few engaged in commerce; next the distillers; next the 
bakers, etc. 

Mr. Hunnewell in a dozen pages describes a variety of old houses, mostly built of wood, of 
the following style of architecture: (1) houses two stories high, with narrow windows, a huge 
chimney in the middle, and low rooms having plastered ceilings crossed by stout painted beams 
(a specimen of architecture that dated as far back almost as 1688); (2) houses of wood, two 
stories high (built after 1775); (3) an oblong house of two or three stories, with an end at the 
sidewalk of the street, — at the inner end a wing, generally of two stories; (4) another form was 
a square structure of the same height, with a similar wing, the front door being usually on the 
street. There were structures of this sort later of brick. 

Thomas B. Wyman, writing at a period about the year 1879, says of Gharlestown: "There 
were, fifty years ago, four large mansions, square and two stories high, of the same general out- 
line, with extensive grounds (1) James Harrison's; (2) Nathan Adam's; (3) Nathan Bridge's; 
(4) Nathan Tufts'. Thomas Bellows Wyman, "Genealogies and Estates of Gharlestown," 
(Boston, 1879) p. 8. 

Mr. Hunnewell's "Century of Town Life", and the "Bibliography of Gharlestown and 
Bunker Hill", by the same writer, contain much of value to one who has an interest in Old 
Gharlestown; and Mr. Timothy T. Sawyer's book with the title "Old Gharlestown", also con- 
tains much concerning the old houses. 

As one rides through its streets, here and there may be seen a house of the earlier type, 
but these, owing to modern changes, are, alas, rare; and none of these structures are old. in the 
stricter sense; for many towns in Middlesex county have to-day to their credit, houses which in 
comparison are really ancient. Let us pass, therefore, to the next oldest town, which is Water- 
town. 

WATERTOWN 

The planting of Watertown was made the subject of an article by Dr. Henry Bond, in Appen- 
dix I. of his "Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, 
including Waltham and Weston", published in the year 1855. This monumental work is famil- 
iar to the antiquaries of the older generation now living. Sir Richard Saltonstall and the Rev. 
George Phillips were the leaders of the company of about forty male English immigrants who in 
1630 proceeded about four miles up the Charles river, and made the first settlement of Water- 
town. On the seventh of September, 1630, it was incorporated. It was the first of the inland 
towns of that day. It was occupied by its planters before any attempt was made to settle 
Cambridge ("The New Town"), and its limits at that time were considered indefinite, since 
Gharlestown and Watertown territory were at first considered to be contiguous, and regarded as 
embracing all that territory which now constitutes Cambridge, Arlington and Lexington, since 
nothing was then, or as yet, defined or specially granted. This is rendered extremely probable 
by the language of the early authorities. The lines of Watertown, when matters were a little 
more settled, were like those of Gharlestown, and later of Cambridge, to " run eight miles into 
the country from their meeting-house, within the lines already set out." The next action on 
the nuitter was that "Watertown eight miles shall be extended upon the line between them 
(Watertown) and Cambridge, so far as Concord bounds give leave." The river bounds of Water- 
town "shall also run eight miles into the country in a straight line, as also the river doth for the 
most part run", to take in "all the land of that (north) side of the river, which will not fall into 
the square five miles granted to Dedham", etc. This complicated matter, more fully explained 



vi MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

in the article by Dr. Bond, settled itself by 1635 into the limits of an area embracing the present 
towns of Watertown, Waltham, Weston, the largest part of Lincoln, and that part of Cambridge 
lying east of Mount Auburn Cemetery, between Fresh Pond and Charles river. Watertown 
later was one of the smallest townships in the State, having been reduced by repeated excisions 
to its present dimensions. 

In Watertown, where there was comparatively more room when the settlement was made, 
the lands were distributed in homestalls and homelots. These were collectively called the small 
lots and they were scattered over nearly the whole of the present territory of Watertown. There 
were within these limits a few tracts of land, of uncertain dimensions, called commons, devoted 
to the common use or benefit. With them was the meeting-house lot of forty acres, called 
sometimes the meeting-house common. A small lot on the river was reserved for a public land- 
ing. With a few exceptions of grants by the court, the lots appear to have all been granted and 
allotted by the freemen of the town. It is probable that none of those allotted to the first 
planters exceeded sixteen acres, and they varied from this to one acre, their average being prob- 
ably about five or six acres. 

Next followed the general grants of lands, called the great dividends, the land being divided 
into four divisions, each division being 160 rods in breadth. Another name for these four divi- 
sions was "the squadrons." These divisions began next to the small lots, and thus began the 
nuclei of the later farms. 

Dr. Bond names the following houses as standing in the year 1855: The Nathaniel Bright 
house, built in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and in 1855 probably the oldest one in 
the town, its descent as to ownership passing through four Nathaniel Brights to Samuel Bright, 
and later to Nathaniel Francis Bright. It had an immense chimney in the centre, and was of 
the sort described by older writers as of "two stories in front and one story in rear." The 
house of Captain Abraham Browne, with the exception of the ancient "Nathaniel Bright" 
house, was probably in 1855 considered older than any other in the town. Concerning this 
house Dr. Bond said, "The 'new part', next the road, was built and occupied by Captain Abra- 
ham Browne, when he relinquished the old or south part to the use of his son Samuel." For a 
view of this house, see Bond's "Watertown", p. tl26. 

Authorities: Bond, Henry, "Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early 
Settlers of Watertown", 1855; second edition, 1860. Francis, Convers, "Historical Sketch of 
Watertown", 1830. Harris, W. T., "Epitaphs from the old Burying-ground in Watertown", 
1869. Nelson, C. A., in his "Waltham, Past and Present", gives an historical sketch of 
Watertown, 1630-1738. Watertown, "Centennial Celebration", 1876; " Watertown Records " 
(first and second books of town proceedings, etc.) 1894; same (third book of town proceed- 
ings) 1900; same (fourth book, ditto) 1904; same (precinct affairs, etc.) 1906. Whitney, S. 
F., "Historical Sketch of Watertown" (275th anniversary) 1906. 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. vii 

WATERTOWN— ANCIENT HOUSES 

By Makgarkt L. Sears 

Authorities: Article by Mr. William H. Savage, in "New Eiiglaiul Magazine", April, 1892, 
called, "Annals of an Ancient Parish". Scrap Book, by Rev. Mr. Rand. Mr. Alberto Haynes. 

The Coolidge House was kept by Nathaniel Coolidge from 1764 to 1770, and afterwards by 
"Widow Coolidge", during the Revolutionary times. Washington spent the night here on his 
way to take command of tlie Continental forces about Boston. He wrote: "We lodged in this 
place (Watertown) at the house of Widow Coolitlge, near the Bridge, and a very indifferent one 
it is". 

The Brown House on Main street, near Hersom, is probably the oldest house in Watertown, 
and was built in 1623. Abraham Brown was one of the early settlers, and wa,s a trusted and 
useful citizen and land surveyor. The house is occupied by his descendants. The inner walls 
arc of brick. Jonathan Brown was a representative of the town in Provincial Congress. ,] 

The Marshall Fowle House formerly stood on Mount Auburn street, corner of Marshall 
street, and was removed to Marshall street. Rumor says that General Warren slept here the 
niglit before the battle of Bunker Hill. Martha Washington came here "in iiigh state in her 
own carriage and four, her colored postilions arrayed in gorgeous liveries, making Mount Auburn 
street the scene of a right royal parade. At the Fowle House, Mrs. Warren received and en- 
tertained her for two hours, when she proceeded to the Headquarters of the army at Cambridge". 

The Cochrane House was built about 1725, and is on the river road, known as the Waltham 
road. Some of the wounded at the Concord fight were taken here April 19, 1775. 

The birthplace of Ann Whitney, the sculptress, has been removed to Water street. Ann 
Whitney made the statue of Leif Ericson, and belonged to the same family as Eli Whitney, 
maker of the cotton gin. The latter was of Watertown stock. The house is now inhabited by 
the poorer classes. 

The Bemis House was built before the Revolution. The boy Nathaniel Bemis, and other 
boys, helped themselves to the first guns they could find and went to the battle of Lexington, 
without being enrolled. Theodore N. Russell, of the United States Arsenal, formerly occupied 
the house. 

The Segar House was built by Elizabeth Segar, in 1794. Connected witii it in the rear is an 
extensive lirick shop where in 1820 the New England Lace Company had their factory. The 
street wa.s called Lace Factory Lane. In 1823 the factory was removed to Ipswich. The 
originators of the factory, with their workmen, came from Nottingham, England, as their fac- 
tory there had been broken up by those who were opposed to lace being made by machinery, 
instead of by hand, under the Heathcote patent. Subsequently the property belonged to Ste- 
phen Perry, and was the boyhood home of William Stevens Perry, Episcopal bishop of Iowa. 
In this house the first services of that denomination in Newton and the parish of Grace Church 
were organized. 

The Bird Tavern on the point of land between Belmont and .\Iain streets, near .Mount Auburn 
Station, is over two hundred years old, and was for many years the residence of Joseph and 
Horace Bird. In Revolutionary times it was known as the Richardson Tavern, and later as 
Bird's and Bellows'. The interior was quaint and rambling, and included a ball room and large 
old-fashioned fireplaces. It is now an apartment house. 

The Gushing Mansion is one of the notable houses of Watertown, and was l)uilt in 1844 and 
1845. Mr. James Sharp furnished the mansion and Mr. Gushing sent him to Europe to purchase 
part of the furniture. 

The Haunted House owned by General Winthrop. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



MEDFORD 



A distinct municipality from its early congeners, Charlestown and Cambridge, since 1630, 
Medford was first known as Mistick, which as early as 1631 was named by its early settlers 
Meadford. Its first settlement was evidently attempted in 1630, and that year is gernrally 
given as the date of its formal establishment. Governor Matthew Cradock, the first governor of 
Massachusetts Bay Colony, started a plantation there as early as that date, for the purpose of 
fishing and to plant and cultivate the soil. The town records, however, go no further back 
than 1673, and the previous pages are lost. The greater part of Medford was owned by Cradock, 
and its situation in regard to its title as a town was accounted "peculiar" even by the General 
Court. Ship-building was early introduced upon the Mistick river, and this industry was a 
source of prosperity and honor to Medford from about 1800 to 1873. To Governor John Win- 
throp belongs the honor of building the first ship whose keel was laid in the Massachusetts 
Colony, and that vessel was built on the banks of the Mistick, probably not far from the Gov- 
ernor's house at the Ten Hills. It was called the "Blessing of the Bay", and launched July 4, 
1631. Another feature of the place was brick making; another was ardent spirits. The plan- 
tation at Medford flourished until 1641, when the majority of the Cradock planters sought other 
fields, and the number left were so few and poor that it was difficult to maintain the town. It 
was not, under these conditions, practicable for the town to maintain a church till 1713. 

In view of the original and unusual conditions of its settlement, it was never incorporated a 
town. Although some speak of it as incorporated in 1630, that is an error. After 171.5 its 
numbers increased, and its population performed its part in the difTerent wars of the eighteenth 
century. A view of the principal street in 1839 shows many buildings of the provincial char- 
acter, many of them of the pre-Revolutionary period. A large number of these houses still 
remain in Medford, and form a characteristic feature of the place. One hundred years ago it 
was a small town still, numbering about one hundred houses, "pleasantlj- situated", near to 
which was the fine "country seat belonging to Isaac Royall", it being at that date "one of the 
grandest in North America." To-day it is a lively and progressive city, with a population of 
nearly twenty-one thousand inhabitants. 

For many years the most direct route of land travel from the north to Boston was through 
the town of Medford and over Mistick Bridge. The amount of travel was large and taverns in 
Medford were plenty, and many of them of high reputation, even as early as 1686, when the 
famous John Dunton visited one of them and commented on its excellent provisions for his wel- 
fare and entertainment. In other respects, in that year there was little else remarkable to be 

seen in Medford, which, in the 
words of Dunton, was (1686) 
" but a small village consisting of 
a few houses." One of the 
most famous taverns was the 
Fountain Tavern, which had 
an existence as far back as 1713. 
It derived its name from being 
described as "at a place formerly 
called the Fountain." This was 
before the year 1751. The old 
building was eventually taken 
down. The property was once 
owned by the ancestor of Senator 
OLD ROYALL HOUSE. MEDFORn Benjamm F. Wade. 




nrsTORrc ho:\ies axd place?. 



IX 



The Royall House, or rather its original part, according to John H. Hooper, an authority on 

Medford homesteads, was built as a residence for the tenants of Governor Winthrop's Ten Hills 
Farm, during the lifetime, it is supposed, of the governor, hence its title to priority in order of 
erection to all others in the limits of Medford. This original part was of brick and two stories 
in height, and is now the front part of- the present structure. The original was essentially a 
six-room house. The two end and rear walls are still standing. The front wall was replaced by 
the present wooden front. The estate where the house is was a part of the Ten Hills Farm, and 
its line of descent from Winthrop was through Lieutenant-Governor John Usher, through his wife 
Elizabeth Lidgett Usher. The Ushers came here to live in 1697, and here Mr. Usher died in 1726. 
His heirs conveyed to Isaac Royall, Senior, 1732; he resided in the house from 1737 to 1739, 
when he died. His son Isaac Royall succeeded him. The son became a colonel, and took great 
interest in Medford, but, being a Tory, left his home April 16, 1775, never to return. He died 
in England in 1781. His estate was confiscated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and 
his mansion was the favorite quarters of American army officers during the siege of Boston, 
1775-76. 

Next in interest in Medford is the Wellington farm-house, so called, on the farm first granted 
to Rev. John Wilson by the General Court in 1634, — house built about 1637-38, and now stand- 
ing. The successive owners have been Thom:is Blanchard, George and Nathaniel Blanchard, 
'Captain Wymond Bradlniry, a mariner, 1795, Isaac and James Wellington, 1819, and it is still 
in the Wellington family, and in a good state of preservation. 

Next in interest is the Peter Tufts house, commonly known as the Cradock House, on land 
which was once a part of the Cradock plantation. In 1677 Richard Russell sold the property 
adjacent to Peter Tufts. In 1680 Tufts soUl to his son Captain Peter Tufts half of the Russell 
purchase, but without the Ijuildings. Mr. Hooper claims, for various reasons, that the brick 
liouse known generally as the Cradock house was built in 1680, by Captain Peter Tufts. The 
house retains its original shape, and is now kept in the best possible repair. 

Next is the Major Jonathan Wade house — sometimes called by a misnomer the Garrison 
House — now standing in perfect repair. Richard Russell sold the land to Jonathan Wade, 
Senior, in 1661. Wade died in 1683, and the lot descended to his son Jonathan. On the land 
acquired by the .second Jonathan Wade was an old tenement supposed to be the original Cradock 
house, which was occupied by Major Jonathan Wade until his new brick house was finished. 
Thus the Wade house was on a part of the original Cradock grant. The date of the building of 
the present brick house is set be- 
tween the years 1683, when Mr. 
Wade, Senior, died, and 1689, 
when Mr. Wade, Junior, the Ma- 
jor Wade, died. It is supposed 
that the main building in its out- 
ward form remains substantiallv 
the same as it was originally. 

Other old hous&s in Medford, 
mentioned by Mr. Hooper, are 
the Seccomb house, built in 
1756, and still standing. Thomas 
Seccomb was its first owner. 
It was a dwelling-house until 
about the year 1866, when it 
became a hotel. It is now own- 

fA hv npnernl T avirronnc^ '\n,\ \c <J''J Cradock House. McUfonl. Commonly oallcii first l>rick house 

eu o\ uenerai L.awrence, and is ,„ vnited stites. reported iiuiit in ia:u 




X MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

occupied as offices by the city of ^ledford. The Andrew Hall house, the life of whose first owner 
covered the period from 1698 to 1750. Andrew Hall was succeeded by his widow, Abigail Hall. 
Here Captain Isaac Hall, the captain of the Medford minute-men, lived in 1775. The Richard 
Hall house was probably built by Andrew Hall, father of Richard. It was owned by Richard 
at the time of his decease. It still retains its original 'shape. The Job Ricliardson house, an 
old gambrei roof house, on the south side of Mistick river, was built about 1731. The Samuel 
Train house dates from 1747. The Jonathan Watson house stands on land bought by Mr. Wat- 
son about 1738, the house being erected soon afterwards. The John Jenks house, south of the 
river, has existed from about 1752. The Jonathan Brooks house, a fine specimen of the old 
gambrei roof style, was built in 1768, when Jonathan Bradshaw, Junior, sold to Jonathan Patten, 
a small piece of land "with a frame covered with boards." Patten sold to Thomas Brooks, 
Junior, who sold to Jonathan Brooks, in 1791. The estate is still in the Brooks' name. 

The Rev. Charles Brooks, in his "History of Medford" (1855), names the following old 
houses, which were standing at that time, but not now: Rev. Mr. Turell's house; Gorham 
Brooks's house; the "old dilapidated mansion" of Dr. Simon Tufts, "one of the oldest and best 
specimens of the second fashion which prevailed in New England." It had three stories in 
front, and the large roof behind descended so as to allow of only one story in the rear. There 
was one enormous chimney in the centre of the building. The Governor Brooks house was a 
newer specimen of the same model. The next fashion, introduced as an improvement upon these, 
was the broken or " gambrel-roofed " houses, many of which still remain (Brooks, p. 50). The 
John Whitmore house, 1680-1840, (illustrated in Brooks's "History", p. 217) was a gambrel- 
roofed structure of the wooden type. 

Authorities: Brooks, Charles, "History of the Town of Medford", 1855; and same, brought 
down to 1885, by J. M. Usher, 1886. "Medford Historical Register", 1898, etc. "Medford, 
Past and Present" (275th anniversary of Medford) 1905. Wild, H. T., "Medford in the Revo- 
lution", 1903. 

CAMBRIDGE 

Cambridge, the original shire town of Middlesex county, though now small in territorial 
extent, like most ancient townships, has had great enlargement and dimunition in its boundary 
lines. At first it was merely a fortified place, small in area, where houses were erected in 1631, 
surrounded by a palisado, and it was called "The New Town." In the course of a few years an 
enlargement of its territory was granted, which included Brookline, Brighton, and Newtown. 
This grant was afterwards forfeited, but that part of it which was afterwards Brighton and 
Newton held good. In 1638 the General Court ordered that Newtown be henceforth called 
Cambridge, no other act of incorporation being found on record. 

It had hitherto been agreed that Newtown bounds should run eight miles into the country 
"from their meeting-house." This grant embraced the territory now included in Arlington, 
and the principal part, perhaps the whole, of Lexington. Later Billerica, parts of Bedford and 
Carlisle, a part of Tewksbury or of Chelmsford, or of both, were added. This was its full size, 
about thirty-five miles in length, wide at each extremity, not more than one mile wide in the 
central part, where the original settlement was made, and where most of the inhabitants re- 
sided. Such it was in 1651, extending from Dedham to the Merrimack river; the village compact 
within itself, with some straggling houses outside; that part of Dedham, which now constitutes 
the town of Needham, was the southerly bound. 

In 1655 Billerica was separated from. Cambridge. In 1688 Newton was separated from the 
old town. In 1713 Lexington was incorporated, and separated from Cambridge. Later losses 
of territory were those of West Cambridge, now Arlington, in 1807, and Brighton in the same 
year. Cambridge was then reduced to its present limits substantially, and its incorporation as a 
city apparently settled all difficulties for a long time to come. 



HISTiiKU.- IIOMKS AXD TT-ACRS. xi 

The further history oi Cambridge may be traced in different publications on that subject. 
A partial list of these is presented. 

It was customary in the times of the early settlement to begin by setting up only the frame 
of a house, and to leave it in many cases to be finished by some later settler. In this way, if 
the owner of a house preferred, he could take the frame and remove it to another town. The 
increase of houses in Cambridge in the beginning was slow, and in the case of this town a pro- 
hibition was made against erecting houses outside of the settled part of the town. The orderly 
arrangement of the houses occasioned a writer of the year 163.'] to note it as one of the charac- 
teristic features of Cambridge, which he said was first intended for a city. "This is one of the 
neatest and best compacted towns in New England", he said, "having many fair structures", 
and "many handsome contrived streets." Most of the inhabitants, he said, "are very rich", 
and, besides cattle in large numbers, had "many hundred acres of land paled in with general 
fence", which secured "their weaker cattle from the wild beasts." 

In 1736 John Vassall, afterwards major and colonel, purchased the large estate at the south- 
west corner of Brattle and Ash streets, and became a resident of Cambridge. He was born in 
the West Indies, inherited a princely fortune, married a daughter of Lieutenant-Governor Spen- 
cer Phips, became at once a very popular citizen, and was elected selectman and representative. 
His death occurred in 1747, and his popularity waned for various reasons before his death. He 
sold part of his estate to his brother Henry, and either erected or enlarged the house, in later 
times owned and occupied by Samuel Batchelder. He also bought six and a half acres on the 
opposite side of Brattle street. 

His brother Henry Vassall, also a native of the West India islands, resided in the fine old 
mansion which is still standing at the westerly corner of Brattle and Ash streets. He died 
before the beginning of the American Revolution, and his widow died as late as 1800. 

John Vassall, a son of the first John, erected the stately edifice known as the Washington 
Headquarters, known in more recent times as the home of the poet Longfellow. John, the 
younger, abandoned this homestead at the beginning of the Revolutionary War and fled to 
England with his family, where he died in 1797. Jonathan Sewall, a Tory, occupied a house 
still standing at the westerly corner of Brattle and Sparks streets. Thomas Oliver, another 
Tory, occupied a house which he erected on the westerly side of Elmwood avenue, later the home- 
stead of Vice-President Elbridge Gerry, Rev. Charles Lowell, and of James Russell Lowell, the 
poet. 

Many Tories resided on Brattle street in the days of the Revolution, and these were citizens 
of the more wealthy and aristocratic class of that period, and the street was locally known as 
"Tories' Row." Notable among these was Major-General William Brattle. Brattle was a per- 
son of good New England descent, and resided in the house which still bears his name, on Brattle 
Street, but possessed an inordinate love for office. He was a physician, preacher, lawyer, and 
attorney-general; justice of the peace at twenty-three years of age; long time a selectman, a 
representative, and a councillor; and in the military, captain of the Artillery Company, a major, 
adjutant-general, brigadier-general, and major-general. He tried to serve both the Americans 
and the British in the opening struggle of the Revolutionary war, and eventually joined the 
British, and died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1776. He had previously conveyed to his son 
Thomas Brattle all his real estate in Cambridge. This son was a mild kind of a Tory, and wjis 
permitted by his fellow-citizens to return to Cambridge after the war, where he died unmarried 
in 1801. 

Other adherents of the British government were Richard Lech mere, house corner of Brattle 
and Sparks streets, latterly the homestead of John Brewster; Judge Joseph Lee, house corner 
Brattle and Appleton streets, latterly the homestead of George Nichols; Captain George Bug- 
gies, later Thomas Fayerweather's, house, corner Brattle and Fayerweather streets, latterly the 



Xll 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



homestead of William Wells; Judge Samuel Dani'orth, house on Dunster street; John Borland, 
house fronting Harvard street, long the residence of Dr. Sylvanus Plympton, and Mrs. Elizabeth 
B. Manning; Colonel David Phips, house on Arrow street, near Bow street, the residence for 
many years of William Winthrop. These families were connected with each other by relation- 
ship and certainly by sympathy, and their farms, gardens, and houses were, in the opinion of 
Madame Riedesel, a contemporary, "magnificent." Not far off from them also, she says, were 
plantations of fruit. The farms have long since been divided into smaller estates, yet many if 
not all of these houses remain in good condition, though erected more than a century since. 

Judge Danforth died in Boston in 1777. Judge Lee died on his estate in Cambridge, as 
late as 1802. Ralph Inman, another Tory, and Edward Stow, a mariner, of the same political 
stripe, became, with many of the others, here mentioned "absentees", and their estates were 
"confiscated", another name for the act of seizing them for the public use. It was about 1790 
that the farms were first broken up into lesser estates. 

Time fails to mention many other ancient buildings of Cambridge. Massachusetts Hall, on 

the College grounds, of date 
1720; the Leverett or Wadsworth 
house (sometimes called the Pres- 
ident's House) of the same pe- 
riod; the Hohnes house, now re- 
moved; the Apthorp house; 
Christ Church; and many others, 
treated by Colonel Thomas C. 
Amory in the "New England 
Historical and Genealogical Reg- 
ister" for 1871. The ancient 
mansions of Cambridge have 
been written up many times, and 
printed authorities are named 
below. 

Authorities : "History of 
Cambridge, 1630-1877, with a Genealogical Register." By Lucius R. Paige, Boston, 1877. 
The municipal history in this work is largely documentary. "The genealogical register 
is chiefly confined to the families who dwelt in Cambridge before the year 1700, the descend- 
ants of such as remained being traced to a recent period." — Preface. The work, as a 
whole, is to be commended for its accuracy and comprehensiveness. The earlier part is now 
supplemented, if not in a measure superseded, by the publication of the town records by the 
city. "The Register Book of the Lands and Houses in the 'New Towne', and the Town of 
Cambridge; with the Records of the Proprietors of the Common Lands, being the Record 
generally called 'The Proprietors' Records'"; published by the Cambridge City Council, Cam- 
bridge, 1896. "The Records of the Town of Cambridge (formerly Newtowne) 1630-1703." 
The records of the town meetings, and of the selectmen, comprising all of the first volume of 
records, and being volume II. of the printed records of the town; published by the Cambridge 
City Council, Cambridge, 1901. "Exercises in Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Settle- 
ment of Cambridge", published by Cambridge City Council, 1881. "Cambridge Fifty Years a 
€ity, 1846-1896", Cambridge, 1897. "Cambridge Sketches", by Frank Preston Stearns, (bio- 
graphical) Philadelphia, 1905; "Cambridge", by Edward Abbott. (Drake's "History of Mid- 
dlesex County", 1880.) "Cambridge", by Samuel A. Eliot, (Powell's "Historic Towns of New 
England", 1898.) "Cambridge as a Village and City", by John Fiske. (Fiske's "Century of 
Science", 1899.) "Historic Houses and Spots in Cambridge", by John W. Freese, Boston, 




M.\SS.\CHUSETTS H.\LL, H.\RV.\RD LN 1 VEKSITY. 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xiii 

1897. "Old Cambridge", by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, New York, 1899. "The Cam- 
bridge Church-Gathering in 1636", by William Newell, Boston, 1846. This volume by Dr. 
Newell contains a part of the "Early Records of the First Church in Cambridge", which has 
been reprinted recently from a copy furnished by the First Church in Cambridge, and prepared 
by Stephen P. Sharpies. 



;ifSjs?^X=» _- 










WASUlNLiToN KLM. CAMBRIDGE. Krom an okl print. 



CONCORD 



The situation of Concord, though at that time considered far in the interior, and accessible 
only with great difficulty, held out to the English immigrants strong inducements to form one of 
their settlements. Extensive meadows bordering on rivers and Ijing adjacent to upland plains 
were a great advantage. Forest trees or small shrubbery here rarely opposed the immediate 
and easy culture of the soil, and the open meadows, produced then even larger crops and of better 
quality than they did later. It is certain that these advantages were early made known to the 
English immigrants. It is probable also that the settlement was first projected in England, 
from the representations of a traveller and author named William Wood, who was the first to 
mention the original name of the river and place, and who visitetl the spot in 1633. 

The plan was formed on a large scale. Nearly all of the first settlers came directly from 
England. It was in fact, as it was then represented to be, "away up in the woods", being 
bounded on all sides by Indian lands, and having the then remote towns of Cambridge and 
Watertown for its nearest neighbors. It was incorporated on September 2, 1635, the act begin- 
ning with these words: "It is ordered that there shall be a plantation at Musketaquid, and that 
there shall be six miles of land square to belong to it" . . . and ending in these: "and the 
name of the place is changed and hereafter to be called Concord." The number of families to 
begin the town was fourteen, including two distinguished individuals. Rev. Peter Bulkeley and 
Major Simon Willard. The first houses were built on the south side of the hill from the public 
square to Merriam's corner. The farm lots extended back from the road across the Great Fields 
and the Great Meadows, and in front across the meadows on Mill Brook. The spot contained 
land of easy tillage, and the buildings first erected were temporary, being huts, built by digging 
into the bank, driving posts into the ground, and placing on them a covering, either of bark, 
brush-wood, or earth. This was in the fall of 1635. The second year, houses were erected as 
far as where the south and north bridges now stand. After eight years the settlement began to 
be more extended. Many of the first settlers were men of acknowledged wealth, enterprise, 
talents, and education in their native country, and several were of noble families. From their 



xiv MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

hardships in this new land they were forced to cut their bread very thin for a long season. Many 
in new plantations were forced to go barefoot and bareleg, and some in time of frost and snow. 
And yet, in the words of a contemporary writer (Johnson), they were then "very healthy, more 
than now they are." In this wilderness workmen of estates sped no better than others, and some 
much w^orse for want of being inured to such hard labor. As also the want of English grain, 
■wheat, barley, and rye, proved a sore affliction to some stomachs, who could not live upon 
Indian bread and water. 

The meadows, much to the disappointment of the first planters, soon proved very wet and 
unuseful, being unexpectedly much overflowed with water. Johnson said "the rocky falls 
caused their meadows to be much covered with water", and he alluded to an attempt which 
Concord and Sudbury people made "to cut through", but could not, and proposed a canal 
across to Watertown or Cambridge to remedy the matter. The population fell off for this 
reason, and Johnson gives the number of families as about fifty from 1645 to 1650. "Their 
buildings", he said, "were placed chiefly in one straight street, under a sunny bank in a low 
level." 

The town was early divided into three parts, sometimes called "quarters", in which regu- 
lations were established in each, similar to those in wards of a city. Each chose its own officers, 
kept its own records, made its taxes, etc., and as late even as seventy years ago the distinction 
which was first given to the different parts of the town was still preserved. 

For fifty years subsequent to the first settlement few important events marked the history 
of the town. The generation who first emigrated from England had nearly all departed, and 
others had taken their places, but with habits and education somewhat different from their 
fathers, and peculiar to their own period. Compelled to labor hard to supply their own neces- 
sities, parents had little time or ability to educate their children, and the people generally were, 
in consequence, less enlightened than the first settlers, and the increase in numbers, wealth, and 
intellectual improvement of the people was subsequently slow, but progressive. 

Littleton, Bedford, Acton, Lincoln, and Carlisle were incorporated out of portions of Con- 
cord territory. 

Concord, from its position, bore an important part in the early Indian wars, being through 
a long period of its existence a place of rendezvous for troops and a centre of many of the op- 
erations against the enemy. The prominence of Concord in the American Revolution from its 
connection with the events of the nineteenth of April, 1775, is a subject familiar to the commu- 
nity at large, and the town became in that year, as it had been a hundred years before, a dis- 
tinguished military post. A British officer described it at that time thus: "There is a river that 
runs through it, with two bridges over it. In summer the river is pretty dry. The town is 
large, and contains a church, gaol, and court-house, but the houses are not close together, but 
in little groups." 

An eminent writer of that day has said: "Concord will long be remembered as having been, 
partially, the scene of the first military action in the Revolutionary war, and the object of an 
expedition, the first in that chain of events, which terminated in the separation of the British 
colonies from their mother country." 

Concord was always a famous place for conventions, state and local. This was due from its 
central situation and importance in the county. It was also a shire town, and in 1786, during 
Shays's insurrection, the artillery companies of Roxbury and Dorchester, under the command 
of General Brooks, were called upon to march to Concord, "to support the court." Some of the 
insurgents did, however, enter Concord afterwards, and made some demonstration, and their 
leader, Shattuck, was tried and condemned to death at Concord, but was afterwards pardoned 
by the government on account of his bravery as a soldier in the French and Revolutionary wars. 
In 1813 several British naval officers, prisoners of war, resided in Concord on parole. In 1814 



HISTORIC HOMES AND I'LACES. 



efforts were made to establish Concord as the principal shire town. This was the last of several 
efforts of that kind. The first house for the acconiniudation of the courts was built in 1719, 
and the first jail in 1754. 

In recent years Concord has been made famous as the home of Emerson, Hawthorne, Tho- 
reau, Alcott (father and daughter), and others eminent in the literary world. 

The Old Manse was built for Rev. William Emerson, in 1765, and has always been occupied 
by ministers, with the exception of a few years when it was for a time the home of Hawthorne, 
and was the principal house of the town for many years, and probably the only one which had 
two stories, as almost all the houses of the period were built with a lean-to. It was the only 
house with two chimneys. 

The Old Church was built on an old frame which was in the first church where the first 
Provincial Congress was held October 14, 1774. The parish of this church was organized in 
Cambridge in 1636, and the house was built in 1712. 

The Wright Tavern stands just as it did on the 19th of April, 1775, when Major Pitcairn, 
stopping there, said, as he stirred brandy with his finger, that he would "stir the Yankees' 
blood" before night. With the exception of the L, this building has changed less than any of 
the old houses. 

The Tolman House was the home of Dr. Ezekiel Brown, a surgeon in the Revolutionary 
War. The house of Jonas Lee was occupied by Jonas Lee, who was a staunch patriot, although 
the son of a Tory. House of Dr. Joseph Hunt. The shop of Reuben Brown was used for the 
manufacture of knapsacks, saddlery and other equipments. In endeavoring to destroy the 
stock of saddlery the British soldiers accidentally set fire to the building, but the flames were 
quickly extinguished. It was the only private house damaged by the English soldiers in Con- 
cord. The house of George Heywood is supposed to be two hundred years old, and it was just 
below this house that one of the guard was posted on the 19th of April, 1775. The Beal and 
Alcott houses both date about 1740. The house of Ephraim Bull was probably nearly as old, 
and is known all over the country as the former residence of the originator of the Concord Grape. 

The house at Merriam's Corner was the meeting-place of the Reading and other troops 
under Governor Brooks, who joined the men retiuning from the North Bridge, and here were 
killed and wounded several of the retreating British. 

There are two or three houses of great age on the Bedford road. The Tuttle and Fox 
liouses date back to 1740 or 1765. The Vose house is the only three-storied house in Concord. 
It w;is doubtless one of the most prominent houses of the town, and dates back to a period 
before 1775. The house of Dr. 
Barrett contains a room which 
was a portion of the old block- 
house, perhaps dating back to 
King Philip's War. The Wheeler 
house was built in 1700 in its 
present form, and has always re- 
mained in possession of the same 
family. 

The house of Captain Jo- 
seph Hosmer was built in 1761, 
and has remained in the family 
of his descendants ever since (or 
to ISSO). Captain Hosmer acted 
as adjutant, and marshalled and 
and collected the Americans as mj^ wayside. h.a.wthorne's home, concord. 




xvi MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

they arrived from various places on April 19, 1775. The house was used for the concealment 
of stores^ which were saved by the cleverness of Mrs. Hosmer. Cannon balls were heaped in 
one of the rooms and kegs of powder were hidden behind some feathers under the eaves, but, 
although the British searched and destroyed some beds, they did not find the stores. 

The house of Ephraim Wood was erected about 1763, and its owner was an ofiicer of the 
town and a zealous patriot. The British searched the house to find Mr. Wood, but as he was 
in another place secreting stores the soldiers did not succeed in finding him. 

Not far from the house of Captain Joseph Hosmer is another Hosmer house, belonging to a 
member of the same family. 

Half a mile east of the latter is the house of Aliel Hosmer, a builder, who was on his way 
to Charlestown to purchase a load of bricks, when he met the British soldiers coming to Concord. 

The house of Dr. Cummings (Cumings) is near the station of the Middlesex branch of the 
Central railroad (1880), and its owner was a man of considerable celebrity. He was a colonel 
in the French and Indian Wars, 1758, was taken prisoner, and was treated with severity at firsts 
but afterwards with kindness. He received a commission from the Crown as justice of the peace,, 
and was appointed chairman of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety. He 
was a man of considerable property, and left bequests to the town, the church, and to Harvard 
College. The house of Humphrey Barrett is now owned by Mr. Lang (1880). Humphrey 
Barrett was the great-grandfather of Colonel James Barrett, who commanded the American 
forces. Humphrey Barrett came to Concord in 1640, and the house is evidently very old. 

The Elisha Jones house is one of the oldest in town, and is now occupied by Judge John S. 
Keyes. A portion of this house, built by John Smedley in 1644, is still standing, and in the L 
a bullet hole is plainly seen. A bullet was fired by the British as Elisha Jones was coming out 
of his house, on the morning of the Concord fight, but he was not hit, and the bullet struck the 
house instead. (Josephine Latham Swayne, 1906.) The house of Major Buttrick on Ponkaw- 
tassett Hill, now occupied by Mr. J. Derby (1880), was built in 1712 by Jonathan Buttrick, 
and the front part is the same as it was in 1775. Jonathan Buttrick was the father of thirteen 
children, four of whom. Major John, Samuel, Joseph, and Daniel, served under their brother at 
the North Bridge. 

The houses of Samuel, Daniel, and Joseph Buttrick are still standing on the Carlisle road, 
and the farms were given to them by their father, Jonathan Buttrick. The Ball Hill farm house 
was built long before 1775, and Benjamin Ball, a son of the family, fell at Bunker Hill. The old 
Whittaker house stood where it now is on that memorable day of 1775. The Hunt house is the 
oldest on Ponkawtassett Hill, and was the house where food was served to the Americans, as 
they assembled on the hill to await reinforcements. 

The house of Colonel James Barrett .stands near Annursnuck Hill, as in 1775. Colonel 
Barrett was in command of the American forces, and had charge of the protection and arrange- 
ment of the public stores. The British searched the house, as Colonel Barrett was a man of 
prominence. Mrs. Barrett gave the soldiers some refreshment, but refused the money which 
they offered her. They threw the money into her lap and she kept it with reluctance. She 
succeeded in saving some stores that were in the house, but the soldiers took fifty dollars which 
they found. After having paid for their food they evidently considered that their obligations 
had ceasr " The son of Colonel Buttrick was seized, but was afterwards released, when Mrs. 
Buttrick toid tnem that he was not the man that they were seeking. 

The house of John Beatton is one of the oldest in Concord. John Beatton founded the 
charity, which for oVer two hundred years has helped the "silent poor" of the town. (Josephine 
Latham Swayne, 1906.) The William Munroe house is interesting, because WiHi.un Munroe es- 
tablished, in 1812, the first lead pencil manufactory in the United States. His son, William 
Munroe, was the founder of the Concord Public Library. (Josephine Latham Swayne, 1906.) 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xvii' 

Authorities: Books on Concord are very numerous. The principal histories of the town 
are Bartlett, G. B., "The Concord Guide Book", 1880, and his "Concord: Historic, Literary 
and Picturesque", loth edition, 1895. Hudson, A. S., "The History of Concord", one volume, 
published 1904. Sanborn, F. B., "Concord", a chapter in Powell's "Historic Towns of New 
Ensilaml", 1898. Shattuck, Lemuel, "A History of the Town of Concord", 1885. Tolman, 
George, has published a number of monoiiraphs, besides eiliting the vita! records, which make 
him the best living authority on the subject of the genealogy and history of this famous town. 
Wolcott, C. H., published a work of much research, entitled, "Concord in the Colonial Period", 
1884. Note: Josephine Latham Swayue imblished a descrijitive work on Concord, referred to 
above, 1906. 

SUDDUUY 

The town of Sudbury was settled in 1638, and received its name hi 1G39. It was the second 
town situated beyond the flow of the tide. The town was settled by inmiigrants from England, 
and its impulse was derived from Watertown, as the nearest older settlement. The object of its 
settlers was the desire for room for farming land. This was an inducement to the younger men 
and the first company of settlers was composed, with one exception, of men undei' the age of 
thirty. The land first appropriated was supposed to comprise a tract about five miles square. 
A second grant was of an additional mile. A third tract contained an area two miles wide. The 
name was that of an old town in Suffolk county, England. 

The town of Sudbury had its share of bridge-building from the first settlement. Its original 
territory wa.s divided l)y a wide, circuitous stream, subject to spring and fall Hoods, and without 
a bridge the inhabitants were much hindered, if not imperilled. Hence bridges were built in the' 
town before 1641. Another ancient structure was a causeway leading acro.ss low land to a bridge, 
to keep pa.ssengers above the floods, and stakes were formerlj- set in it as safeguards to prevent 
straying from the way. 

The first settlement was on the east side of the river, and the town was tlivided into East 
and West Sudbury, by the river, in part, in 1780. The land was more extended on the west 
than on the east side, and the population was larger on tiie west sitle than on the east. The 
church had been divided long before the division of the town, that on the west side called itself 
the First Church of Sudbury, and the annual town meetings were held alternately on each side 
of the division line. 

East Sudbury became Wayland in 18.35, and the westerly part of Sudliury retained its old 
name. Green Hill in Sudbury was the scene of a severe engagement between the lOnglish and 
the Indians in King Philip's War, the Indians winning the victory, though at too great cost to 
be of any great value to them. The date of this action was April 21, 1676. In this action the 
English were first led by a few Indians into an ambuscade; but, like all the English in their 
engagements with the Indians, in this war, they sturdily held their ground. Having after the 
beginning of the action established themselves in an advantageous position, they held the enemy 
at a distance for several hours, until a forest fire, set by the Indians, drove them to a place less 
advantageous, where, being surrounded by superior numbers, the greater part of the English 
were slain. ,|,. 

Sudb\iry is the town of the famous Wayside Inn of Longfellow. It was hai.tit m the early 
seventeen hundreds by one David Howe, who in 1702 received of his father, Samuel Howe, .son 
of John Howe, an early grantee of the town, a tract of one hundred and thirty acres. The house 
was early opp-"f,f,l as a public-house, and in 1746 Colonel Ezekiel Howe, one of its owners, put up 
a sign of a red horse, which gave the name which it bore for many years, the " Red Horse Tav- 
ern." In 1796, Colonel Howe having died, his son Adam Howe became the owner and kept the 
tavern for forty years. He was followed by Lyman Howe, who continued it as an inn until 

i-2h 



xviii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

about 1866, when it passed into other hands. In recent years it has been rejuvenated, and has 
regained in a degree its former patronage. 

Among old houses yet standing is the Walker garrison-house, in the western part of the 
town. The building is a curious structure, with massive chimney, large rooms and heavy frame- 
work, and lined within the walls with upright plank fastened with wooden pins. Another house 
was the Haynes garrison, which was standing in 1876, but since demolished. This house was 
attacked by Indians in April, 1676, in a very severe manner, but it was successfully defended. 
Forces coming to its assistance did not fare so well, however. 

Authorities: Hudson, A. S., "History of Sudbury", 1889; same, "The Annals of Sudbury, 
Wayland and Maynard", reissued, for the most part, from Kurd's "History of Middlesex Coun- 
ty", 1891. Sudlnuy, " Bi-centennial Celebration", 1876. Sudbury, "Quarter Millennial Cele- 
bration", Sudbury and Wayland, 1891. 

WOBURN 

In 1630, when Governor John Winthrop landed with his company of English immigrants at 
Charlestown, the country round about was a wilderness," and ten years later, in 1640, when the 
settlement of Woburn was begun, the territory where Woburn now is was still a wilderness, and 
the country roundabout was broken only in one or two places by small settlements. The nearest 
incorporated towns at that date were Rowley and Ipswich, on the north; Salem and Lynn, 
northeast; Charlestown, east; Cambridge, southeast and south; and Concord, southwest. The 
country roundabout had then been but very little explored. The discovery of the territory was 
accomplished with difficulty, and the inducing of settlers to locate on the lots already laid out by 
the parent town, or on lots to be laid out, or to stay afterward, was a matter of still greater dif- 
ficulty. The courageous persistence of a few accomplished the work. The area of the first 
settlement included all of the present city of Woburn, the major part of the present towns of 
Wilmington and Burlington, and the larger part of Winchester, and for more than ninety years 
the town had but one church and one place of public worship for all its inhabitants. The name 
of the town was derived from Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, in the following manner: The 
town had three patrons, "Nowell, Symmes, Sedgwick", the first a magistrate, the second a 
clergyman, and the third a military officer. Major-General Robert Sedgwick was baptized in 
infancy at Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, and the town, being early explored by him, received 
the name of his birthplace, Woburn, according to a custom of the day; Duxbury, Groton, and 
Haverhill, Massachusetts, being similarly named in honor of the birthplaces of Standish, Win- 
throp, and Ward. (Doyle, "English Colonies in America", iii., 7.) 

The difficulties to be met with in the forest were to be overcome by men with hard muscles, 
long inured to severe toil. Thus the opening of the settlement of Woburn, it is known by con- 
temporary evidence, was accomplished by laborers of the roughest sort. They travelled through 
unknown woods and through watery swamps, through wellnigh impassable thickets and over 
crossed trees. They were scratched by ragged bushes, and scorched on an occasional plain, 
where the sun cast such a reflecting heat from the abundant sweet fern, whose scent was very 
strong, that some of the parties were near fainting from it, although otherwise very able to 
undergo such hardships and travel. 

Woburn was the first town to be set off from Charlestown, and the first explorers authorized 
by Charlestown to discover the territory of Woburn were Edward Converse, William Bracken- 
burv and Abraham Palmer, who were empowered to perform this work in 1635. To them prob- 
ably we are indebted for the survey, or land plot, known to posterity as the " Waterfield Grants." 

There is reason to believe that the first exploration was made from the direction of Stone- 
,ham, where there is a height which was called in former times "Mount Discovery", in honor 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xix 

possibly of this event. Tlie very wet and impassable nature of a large part of the Woburn ter- 
ritory, as described by contemporary writers, also renders this idea practicable. 

As early as 1638, however, a large number of lots were laid out under the designation of 
" Waterfield", and assigned to the names of nearly all of the inhabitants of Charlestown, being, 
in the conception, a general laying out of a common grant belonging to the municipality of 
Charlestown. 

The name of Waterfield was no misnomer, and to illustrate the amount of water once to be 
found as a permanent feature in the soil of Woburn, before the days when the town was drained 
very generally by the digging of the Midillesex canal (1803), is this quotation from the diary of 
Judge Samuel Sewall: "February 9, 1682-83; there being a considerable quantity of snow, a 
warm rain swelled the waters, so that Woburn (and other places) suffered by the damage done." 

One incident of this early day is cited from the records: On September 6, 1640, Captain 
Sedgwick and others went to view the bounds between Lynn Village (Reading) and Woburn. 
"Like Jacobites (Genesis, 28:11) when night drew on, lying themselves down to rest, they were 
preserved by the good hand of God with cheerful spirits, though the heavens poured down rain 
all night incessantly. On this occasion they were the subjects of a remarkable Providence, 
never to be forgotten. Some of the company lying under the body of a great tree; it lying 
some distance from the earth; when the daylight appeared, no sooner was the last man come 
from under it — when it fell down, to their amazement; the company being forced to dig out 
their food, which was caught under it; the tree being so ponderous, that all the strength they 
had could not remove it." 

The town of Woburn was incorporated September 27, 1642, in the following words: 
"Charlestown Village is called Woburn." There had been already appointed seven grantees, and 
sixty families were soon gathered together. The grantees were to build houses and create a 
town. Rules were formed for their government, called "town orders." Each inhabitant re- 
ceived two plots of land— one the homelot in the village, near the meeting-house, and the other 
of upland, farther off, to be cleared and tilled. The corporation, represented by the seven tru.s- 
tees, acted as landlord, and received from the original settlers a rent of sixpence an acre. Civil 
union came before ecclesiastical, but before any action as a corporation occurred, a minister 
was chosen, a meeting-house built at public cost, and a church formed. The seven trustees 
formed the nucleus of the church as of the township. The church never professed to be co- 
extensive with the town, but only received from time to time such citizens as of free clioice 
attached themselves to it. 

In 1652, ten years after its incorporation. Captain Edward Johnson said of the town: "The 
situation of this town is in the highest part of the yet peopled land; . . . it is very full of 
pleasant springs and great variety of very good water; ... the meadows are not large, but 
lie in diverse places to particular dwellings, the like doth their springs; tiie land is very fruitful 
in many places, although there is no great quantity of plain land in any one place, yet doth tlie 
rocks and swamps yield very good food for cattle; . . . there is great store of iron ore; . 
. the people are very laborious, if not exceeding (laborious), — ^some of them." Men, in ad- 
mission to this community, were not refused for their poverty, but were aided, when poor, in 
building their houses, and in the distribution of land; only the exorbitant and turbulent were 
excluded from their midst as persons unfit for civil. society. A spirit of thrift evidently pre- 
vailed in the infant settlement, despite the wilderness condition. 

A list of all the heads of families in Woburn in 1680 is preserved in the records, the numbeJ 
of families, in all, being ninety-two. In 1708 Woburn w;is the fourth town in Middlesex county 
in point of numbers and wealth. In this respect in that year, Charlestown, Cambridiro, and 
Watertown exceeded her, and Concord and Medford were behind her. 

In 1800 the population of Woburn was 1,228. The houses, with scarcely an exception, were 



XX 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



all of wood; many were of two stories, — the "two stories in front and one in rear" kind, a num- 
ber of which yet remain. A small number proportionately were one-story houses. They were 
unpainted, and with small pretensions to beauty. Eighteen at least were "old houses", and 
five were "very old houses." A very few were "old and poor," and several were "not tenanted 
or tenantable." Next lower in the scale were those "very poor" and "out of repair." One 
house was "half old and half new, and unfinished." Three houses were new, one almost so, 
and another was not-finished. Only one house was painted, and only one was built of "part 
brick and part wood." The condition of the barns and outbuildings was even worse, and the 
situation was not much changed until after 1825, the time when the centre village began to 
grow to its present dimensions. 

Among the old houses of Woburn now standing, the first in prominence and age is the Bald- 
win mansion, in the north village or ward of the city. Built in 1661, it is still one of the most 
imposing houses in Woburn, and is palatial in its dimensions. During its existence it passed 
through some changes and occasional improvements, and has been owned by one family for six 
generations. 

From memoranda written by members of the Baldwin family in a copy of John Farmer's 
"Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England", the following facts regarding the 
history of this house are found, written mostly about the year 1835. 

"Henry Baldwin's will is dated, say 1697; the house in Woburn was built in 1661, as ap- 
pears by the date on a timber in the kitchen chimney, sawed off by B. F. Baldwin, when the 
fireplace was altered to put in a boiler — the piece with the date on it is lying about the house in 
1835. This house had therefore been owned by Henry Baldwin from 1661 to Henry Baldwin, 
son of the above; Henry Baldwin (the son) went to New Hampshire. James Baldwin succeeded 
Henry as owner. Loammi Baldwin, son of James, to 1807; he put on a 3rd story, in 1802 or 
1803. Benjamin F. Baldwin, from 1807 to 1822; Loammi, Mary, and Clarissa Baldwin, from 
1822 to 1S36. George R. Baldwin from 1836 to November, 1887 (or to his death, October 11, 
1888.)" 

Besides the Baldwin mansion, which is admitted to be the oldest house now standing in 
Woburn, there was another which outlasted nearly all of its contemporaries, and has been de- 
molished only recently. This was the Simonds house, built about 1670, known latterly as the 
Jesse Cutler house, Cummingsville. Fortunately its appearance has been saved by photography. 
This house was a good specimen of the second period' of architecture in New England. , It had a 

large brick chimney in 
the centre, was of two 
stories, and had a gable 
roof. William Simonds, 
died in 1672, leaving this 
house and other real es- 
tate, his widow Judith 
(Phippen-Hayward) Sim- 
onds occupied for her 
thirds the west end of the 
house, the east end of the 
barn, and twenty acres of 
land adjacent. That the 
house was new when Wil- 
liam Simonds died, seems 
apparent from his in- 
debtedness to Sergeant 




Ll^'*^-^ 



Xoammi Baldwin ^ouse, "Woburn, J^ass* 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. 



XXI 



John Wyman for seven windows at four shillings apiece. Benjamin Simonds succeeded his 
father in the ownership, and the house was used in 1675-6, as a garrison-house under Benja- 
min's name, or during King Philip's War. Benjamin was succeeded by several Benjamins, until 
the time of Nathan Simonds, who died in 1827. From Nathan the house descended to his 
children, the Barnard family; thence to Blanchard (1840), thence to Duren, thence to William 
Barnard, 1843-44, and lastly to Je.sse Cutler in 1844. 

Another house which bears distinction us the birthplace of Woburii's most eminent native, 
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, noted in the world as a scientific discoverer, philan- 
thropist, and successful administrator, prime minister of Bavaria, etc., next claims attention, for 
in one of its rooms — said to be one of its lower rooms, the one at the left of the front door, as 
one enters, — the Count was born, March 26, 1753. 

The Rumford birthplace is a specimen of eighteenth century architecture, with gambrel- 
roof and large centre chimney. The house is standing on Main street. North Woburn, and is 
owned by the Rumford Historical Association. In 1798 this house was owned by Hiram Thomp- 
son, an uncle of Count Rumford. It was then described as a dwelling-house, 40 by 30, area 
1,200 square feet, 13 w-indows, 38 square feet of gla.ss, two stories in front, and one in rear. The 
house lot contained one acre. Franklin Jones, a grandson of Hiram Thompson, was the owner 
of the house in 1831. In 1820 the house was occupied by Willard Jones, and in 1832 by his 
widow, Bridget Jones, the daughter of Hiram Thompson. Mrs. Bridget Jones died in this house 
in 1856. 

Passing from the history of this house, the reader's attention is directed to two houses of 
notable appearance now standing at Woburn Centre, two houses which have been intimately 
connected with the history of the Fowle family. The first is ealleil the Fowle, or Flagg house, 
and the second the Fowle, or Baldwin house. 

The house of Major John Fowle, built about 17;!(), and how .standing in the angle between 
Main, Salem, and Broad streets, in excellent condition, is a large gambrel-roofed structure of 
two stories, and was occupied for many years in its later history as a tavern. Major John Fowle, 
who is supposed to be its builder, died in 1775. During a portion of his life he lived in Marble- 
head. He derived the land on which the house stands from his father, Captain James Fowle, 
who died in 1714, who inherited it from his father, the first J;imcs Fowle, who settled in Woburn. 
Major John Fowle left the house to his children. In 1798 it was owned by Joshua Wyman and 
Catherine Wheeler; she was the daughter of James Fowle, a son of Major John Fowle. Joshua 
Wyman was the husband 
of Mary Fowle, a daugh- 
ter of Major John Fowle. 
In 1803 the house was 
leased to John Flagg, 2d, 
and the Flagg family oc- 
cupied it as a tavern, and 
this family were still oc- 
cupying it in 1831. Since 
that date it has had 
many occupants. 

The companion house 
to the Fowle house, and 
standing on the opposite 
side of Main street, is an 
eighteenth century struc- 
ture of the period before 




xxii ■ MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

1740. It is of two stories, and has a gambrel-roof. It was built on a part of the estate of 
another Captain John Fowle, who died in 1744. In 1740 one Thomas Henshaw conveyed to the 
above John Fowle, a "certain edifice or building", — which was this one, — "standing on said 
Fowle's own land." Henshaw had married Kezia Fowle, the daughter of said Fowle, and in 
1749, being a widow, she disposed of her interest in the house to her brother, James Fowle. The 
house was the property of James Baldwin in 1831. It thus acquired the name of the Baldwin 
house. It has had many occupants since 1831, and now belongs to the Salmon estate. The land 
descended from the first James Fowle, who died in Woburn in 1690, the victim of a military 
campaign against the French at Quebec, he having died after his return home of disease con- 
tracted in Canada. The lot where the house stands was a part of the little orchard, which was 
"Isaac Cole's", before the Fowle occupancy. 

The Lilley house, erected before 1696, located on Main street, North Woburn, is one of the 
oldest houses in that vicinity. In 1798 it had three owners, two sisters and a brother, named 
Phebe and Ruth Eaton, and Lilley Eaton. In 1831 it was owned by Lilley and Ruth Eaton. 
It is of the gable roof order, and has two stories in front and one in rear. It was early owned by 
John Lilley, who came to Woburn in 1691, and whose daughter Phebe married Noah Eaton. 
John Lilley bought the premises of William Pierce in 1696. When he bought there was upon 
the place a mansion house, — apparently this one, — and the locality was called New Bridge End 
In 1749 Noah Eaton acquired one-half of the house, and later in the same year the rest, all but 
one room. 

The gable-roofed Baldwin house, now occupied by Baldwin Coolidge, 784 Main street, was 
built of the materials acquired from the pulling down of the second meeting-house in Woburn 
First Parish, sometime about or possil;)ly before or after 1755. Some of the same material was 
used in the erection of the small red house, — now much changed from its original form, — stand- 
ing at 725 Main street, on the ancient Coggin lot, npw the property of one of the Baldwin family. 
In 1798 Isaac Johnson owned this house. It was then of one story, 15 by 12, and had four win- 
dows, and one acre of land with the house. It was owned by George Baldwin in 1831. 

The large house of two stories, with gambrel-roof, owned in 1798 by Samuel E. and Elijah 
Wyman, in the New Boston street neighborhood, was before their day the mansion of their 
ancestor, Deacon Samuel Eames. It is of the period of 1730. It was owned in 1831 by Charles 
and Elijah Wyman. Its neighbor, the Jacob Eames house, was owned by him in 1798. He 
still occupied the premises in 1831. 

The Evans house at Mont\'ale, No. 301 Montvale avenue, was the property one hundred 
years ago of Andrew Evans, described in 1798 as a dwelling-house two stories in the front and 
one in the rear; area 38 by 28. Adjoining it at that time was a farm of seventy acres. From 
Nathaniel Richardson, who died in 1714, the lot on which the house stood passed to his son 
Joshua Richardson, whose daughter Mary married Andrew Evans, Senior, father to the Andrew 
Evans of 1798. The latter was followed Ijy Hosea Evans, who lived in the house till about 1831. 
The house was occupied by Heman and Lewis Sturdevant in 1831. The house stands on land 
which was a part of the original Admiral Graves farm of 1638. Dr. Thomas Graves, a son of 
Thomas Graves, the original proprietor, granted it to Nathaniel Richardson in 1686, and at that 
time there was a small house upon the premises. 

The Bartholomew Richardson house, at corner of Bow and Salem streets, retains its original 
shape, being of the two stories in fi'ont, and one in rear, variety. In 1798 its joint owners were 
Bartholomew Richardson the first, and Bartholomew Richardson the third. It remained in this 
family until within a few years. 

The Captain Josiah Richardson house, recently demolished, which stood at tlie corner of 
Ash and Main streets, belonged to Widow Jerusiia Richardson (widow of Deacon Josiah) in 
1798. It was of two stories; in dimensions. 37 by 29; had eighteen windows, and a shed or 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xxiii 

woodhouse, joined to it, 10 by 10, and with it was a farm of twenty-five acres, extending in one 
direction to Horn Pond. In 1798 the house was comparatively new. 

The house known as the Chirkerinu;, or OUver Hacon phice, now standing at corner of Reed 
and Pleasant streets, was owned by Henjaniin Simonds in 17'JS. its dimensions are given as 38 
by 27. It is of two stories, and in well preserveil condition. In 179S one front room and the 
two front chambers were not finisheil. The farm adjacent to the house contained forty-three 
acres. With the house in that year was a washroom, 14 by 1 1 . Zachariah Hill was the occupant 
in 1831. The house was built by Benjamin Simonds in 1797, on the site of a former house which 
was burned in that year. In 1804 it was sold to Rev. Joseph Chickering. It had been sold ot 
Simonds by Isaac .lohnson, administrator of .losiah .Johnson, Escp, in 1787. The house that was 
burnt was therefore the residence of that distinguished individual in Woburn history, Major 
Josiah Johnson, Esquire. 

The Bennett house, now standing on road to the Merrinuick Chemical Works, is a house of 
two stories, 34 by 16. Philip and Richard Alexander, sons of Philip Alexander, conveyed this 
place to Thomas Hardy in 1754. Hardy shortly after conveyetl the premises to John Tay, and 
Tay and his luother-in-law Lot Eaton conveyed them to James Harvel Eames in 1797. Eames 
conveyed to Jonas Mimroe the greater part of it in 1799. Jonas Munroe's heirs conveyed them 
to James Bout well, 1834. The estate is occupied by Matthew Bennett, in 1907. 

The house known as the Fisher house, in North Woburn, was the dwelling of Abijah Thomp- 
son in 1798, when it was described as .55 by 17A in front, the back part 43 by 12, the whole house 
containing 1478i square feet. The house was two stories in front and one in rear. The house, 
— an unusual thing at that date, — was painted. The windows were nineteen in number, and 
two rooms and two chambers were finished. From this circumstance the house was probably 
then new. With this house were two large horsesheds and a blacksmith sho]). Oliver Fisher 
owned the house in 1831, and it is still the property of his descendants. 

Daniel Thompson, who was killed in battle on April 19, 1775, lived in a house since re- 
modelled, now standing at 649 Main street. In 1798 the house was owned and occupied by his 
widow, Phebe Thompson, and described as 36 by 18 feet, and of two stories. At the south end 
of the house was then a garden of about twenty square poles in area. Mrs. Thomp-son moved 
out of WobLim, and Isaac Richardson was the owner of the property in 1801, and the same Isaac 
Richartlsoii still owned the place in 1831". In later years it had l)een the property of Isaac's 
descendants, until it was purchased \>y Mr. .Alliert A. Clement. 

The Major Samuel Tay house, still standing at 907 Main street. North Woburn, was his 
property in 1798, when its dimensions were given as 40 by 30; house, two stories in front and 
one in rear. The farm belonging to it then contained one hundretl acres, valued at one thousand 
dollars. Stephen Nichols was the owner in 1831. Major Samuel Tay was liorn in Woburn, 
December 4, 1738, and died there November 2 or 3, 1804. He was a son of Willian) and .\bigail 
(Jones) Tay. He married April 27, 1769, Sarah John.son. 

The dwelling-house of Samuel Thomp.son, Esq., (1731-1820) still standing at 31 Elm .street. 
North Woburn, is a two-story structure with gable roof. The son of Samuel Th()m])son. named 
Jonathan, owned the whole of the house in 1831. 

The late Ruth Maria Leathe house, on Main street, opposite the Connnon, was built after 
the Revolutionary War, by Zebadiah Wyman. In 1798 the house was owned by Zebadiah, the 
son of Zebadiah Wyman. It was then described as having an area of 45 by 24; as two stories 
high, part brick and part wood; and attached to the rear was a kitchen ell, 24 by 27 feet. The 
same Zebadiah Wyman was its owner in 1831. He was followed by Samuel Leathe, the father 
of Miss R. M. Leathe. In 1794 it was called Zebadiah Wyman's brick .store. 

Other oUl houses of which brief mention only can be made are the Elijah Leathe house on 
Salem street, near Stoneham line. The Jonathan Tidd hou.se, on Pearl street, North Woburn, is 



xxiv MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

an old house antedating 1750, when Samuel Baker, Senior, in his will gave to his " grandson-in- 
law" Jonathan Tidd, "that now liveth in my house", all his houses and lands. Jonathan Tidd, 
the grandson-in-law, was called a "currier" in a deed of 1748. 

The attractive house architecturally of the Wheeler family, near the Baldwin mansion, at 
North Woburn, was raised in the year 1790. The origin of this house is given in the diary of a 
contemporary neighbor: "August 25, 1790. . . . Mr. Bartlett's house raised." The Mr. 
Bartlett referred to was Captain Joseph Bartlett (Harvard College 1782) who settled in Woburn 
about 1789, and left about 1795. He was an attorney-at-law, and captain of a Boston military 
company about 1786. He was a native of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and for an account of his 
eccentricities see "Plymouth Memoirs of an Octogenarian", by W. T. Davis, pp. 248-250. See 
also Cutter's " Bibliography of Woburn" for an estimate of his character, pp. 203-205. The house 
was completed by Colonel Loammi Baldwin, and a great centennial jubilee was held in it at 
about that time in 1800. 

The Baker house, so called, on New Boston street, near the City Park, is an eighteenth 
century house of two stories and gable ends. Abraham Alexander, who by wife Jerusha had a 
daughter Jerusha, who married Jeremiah Converse (Samuel 4, Josiah 3, Samuel 2, Allen 1), a 
hundred and thirty years ago occupied this house. 

Authorities: William R. Cutter published a work entitled "Contributions to a Bibliogra 
phy of the Local History of Woburn, Mass.," 1892, to which was added a short supplement, 
1893. The principal authorities on the subject of the history of the town mentioned in that 
work were Captain Edward Johnson's "Wonder-working Providence" (1654); Rev. Samuel 
Sewall's "History of Woburn" (1868); "Woburn: an Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the 
Town", by the Board of Trade (1885): Chickering's "Historical Discourse" (1809); Bennett's 
"Anniversary Sermon" (1846), Drake's and Lewis & Co.'s Histories of Middlesex County (1880 
and 1890); Parker L. Converse's "Legends of Woburn", in two volumes, 1892 and 1896; David 
F. Moreland's "Souvenir Memorial" (1892); W. R. Cutter's "Woburn Historic Sites and Old 
Houses" '1892); Rev. Daniel March, D. D.,. pastor, "Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of 
the Firh^t Congregational Church" (1892); the official account of the celebration published by the 
city, entitled, "Proceedings", etc. (1893); and Hon. Edward F. Johnson's "Abstracts of Early 
Woburn Deeds" (1895), and his "Vital Records", in seven volumes from 1890 to 1906. On the 
earlier works, Mr. Cutter, in the bibliography, makes extended critical comment. 

READING 

Reading as a town included originally the present towns of Wakefield, Reading and North 
Reading. The name was spelled in the early records "Redding", as it is now pronounced. Its 
settlement }>egan in 1639. The township of Lynn had begun to be settled in 1629, ten years 
previously, and its inhabitants had desired to extend their territory further inland. The town 
of Lynn, therefore, was given by the court a tract four miles square, at the head of their bounds, 
on condition that some good progress in planting should be made within two years, so tlaat it 
might be a village, which, in due time, should have a church. In 1640 "Lynn Village", the name 
first given it, was exempted by the court from taxes as soon as seven houses were built and seven 
families settled. In 1644 a sufficient number of houses and a sufficient number of families having 
been obtained, the court ordered that "Lynn Village" should take the name of "Redding." It 
was named, it is supposed, from Reading in England. The compass of land included in the town 
of Reading continued as a single parish until 1713. The earliest settled part is that part now the 
town of Wakefield, and it is probable the settlement of this part began as early as 1640. It is 
supjiosed that the grants to these settlers were received from the town of Lynn, but the early 
records of Lynn are wanting, which should give the account of such grants. Johnson (1654) 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xxv 

said that Reading and the town of Woburn were Uke twins . . . Reading thrusting fc-th tiie 
hand first, but her sister Woburn came first to the birth. He described Reading as well watered 
and situated about a great pond; "it hath not been so fruitful for children as her sister Woburn 
hath"; still, from this account, its prospects were encouraging. In 1651 the territory now 
North Reading was added to the former four miles' grant. 

In 1663 a traveller who visited New England said of Reading: " In the centre of the country, 
by a great pond side, and not far from Woburn, is situated Reading: it hath two mills, a sawmill 
and a cornmill, and is well stocked with cattle." It is to be observed further that interior towns 
like Reading, in the seventeenth century, were farming communities. The life of the people 
proceeded along uneventful lines. The buildings, though rude and simple, were comfortable. 

In 1713 part of the town was set off as the North Precinct, — the part north of Ipswich river, 
together with "Sadler's Neck", so called. This later became the town of North Reading. The 
northwesterly part of the first parish, or Woodcnd, liecame the present town of Reading. An 
attempt was made to set off Woodend as a separate parish in 1730; preaching had then begun 
among them in the winter season, which the first parish had agreed to support for ten years, 
provided the said "Woodend" would tarry with them during said term of ten years. In 1731 
the first parish agreed to give the "old pulpit cushion" to the Woodend congregation, which they 
had asked for "in a Christian and charitable way" in their subscriptions for the new one. The 

pulpit cushion, when new, was more valuable than might now appear, for, in 1754, 

was convicted of stealing the velvet and leather of the pulpit cushion, and fined by the court. 
In 1 766 several inhabitants of Woodend petitioned the first parish to be set off from them as a 
■distinct parish. In 1769 efforts were renewed by the Woodend peo])le for a division of the first 
parish, and in that year the third or west parish was incorporated. This parish was destined to 
retain the name of Reading, and it contained, when separated, at least fifty-five houses. 

The first parish was separated from the town of Reading and incorporated as a distinct 
town in 1812. Reading North Precinct (the second parish) was incorporated as the town of 
North Reading in 1853. In 1810 the population of the old town was 2228. In 1865 the popu- 
lation of the present town of Reading was 2436. After 1865 there was a rapid increase in the 
number of houses. The town in recent years, having lost "somewhat of its rural aspect, ap- 
proaches more nearly the suburban type." 

Cabinet-making was formerly an industrial enterprise in Reading, which took the first rank. 
Tinware and stove fittings was another enterprise of local importance. The boot and shoe 
manufacture was one of the ancient industries of the town, beginning independently of the usual 
household manufacture in 1758. The manufacture of hats (at one time important) began in 
this town about 1812. Coach lace (1840-1857) clocks (1832-1859) organ-making and organ- 
pipes, neckties, metallic brushes, rubber goods and fireworks, and paper boxes have been some 
of the important industries of Reading. 

Reading is also the home of Jacob W. Manning's nursery of trees, shrubs and plants, estab- 
lished in 1854, one of the largest and best in the United States. The town, even at the present 
day, contains many persons who are direct descendants of the first or early settlers. Prominent 
among them are the names of Bancroft, Parker, Temple, Wakefield, Pratt, Weston, and Nichols. 

Authorities: Eaton, Lilley, "Genealogical History of the Town of Reading", 1874. Eaton, 
W. E., " Proceedings of the 2.50tli Anniversary of the .\ncient Town of Redding", 1896. Reading, 
"Historical Address and Poem" (bi-centennial celebration of the incorporation of the old town of 
Reading) 1844. 

In the pre.sent town of Reading, among the structures of a former day, the Sweetser hou.se 
is picturesque in appearance and has an interesting history. It was probably built by Ephraim 
Parker about 1749, and was inherited by Ephraim, his son, who in 1807 sold it to Thomas Sweet- 
ser. It was used as a tavern before and during the Revolutionarv War. Tradition says that 



xxvi MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

some British prisoners were confined here. It retains practically its original form. The Pres- 
cott house on Summer avenue was the homestead of Joshua Prescott, a well-known lawyer. 
The house was built since 1700, and probably by Captain Thomas Eaton, Jr. One of the oldest, 
if not the oldest house in •Reading, is that on Franklin street, owned by Henry Cook. It was 
built about 1725 by John Parker. The following old houses are some of the best known: House 
of Clifford P. Weston; the Captain George Bancroft house on West street; the Abram Temple 
house, Fremont street; the James Davis house, Ash street; the Emery Bancroft house, Lowell 
street; the Aaron Parker house. Walnut street; and the George Grouard house, on Woburn 
street. The last named was the parish parsonage and has been extensively rebuilt. The build- 
ing called the Old South Church in this town is an edifice of an old pattern erected in 1818. From 
its location it is one of the most prominent of the public buildings of the town. 

M.\LDEN 

Maiden derives its name from Maldon, county Essex, England. From the English Maldon 
came several settlers of the New England Maiden. The territory round about the present Mai- 
den was known to such prominent immigrants as Governor Winthrop, Increase Nowell, John 
Eliot, and Governor Cradock's men, as early as 1631-2. The present Middlesex Fells was ex- 
plored by them, and the territory was ordered by the General Court as early as 1633 to belong to 
the inhabitants of Charlestown. It was given the name of Mistick, or Mystic Side. It was 
doubtful if any settlers entered permanently on this land before 1633. The common land was 
divided in this territory in 1634. A record of the completed allotment, two years later, showed 
seventy-five proprietors. Two farms or grants known as the Increase Nowell and Rev. John 
Wilson grants, which had existed from 1634 and had formed a part of Charlestown on that side 
of the river, separated Maiden and Medford until 1726, when they were annexed to Maiden. The 
limit of eight miles from the meeting-house carried the Charlestown line nearly to the present 
Wakefield Junction, in Wakefield, the village of Greenwood being included in Charlestown limits. 

By 1640 the settlement on Mystic Side was well explored. All the larger grants of the lands 
south of the Scadan hills and the rocky edge of the western fells had been made, but the more 
rocky and remote portions north of these lines remained common land until 1695. The number 
of settlers upon the allotments at first was three, to whom were soon added others. In 1640 
began the Penny Ferry, which served the inhabitants of this and other towns until 1787. 

Johnson says (about 1654) "about this time the Town of Maiden had its first foundation 
stones laid by certain persons, who issued out of Charlestown, and indeed had her whole structure 
within the bounds of this more elder Town . . . the soil is very fertile, but they are much strait- 
ened in their bounds . . . Their nearness to the chief market towns makes it the most com- 
fortable for habitation", — but for church privileges, they did not fare so well. The gathering 
of the church was the beginning of political life, and out of it came the town, which was incor- 
porated under the name of Maiden, May 2, 1649. Within its original territory are the present 
lities of Maiden and Everett, and the city of Melrose and a part of Wakefield. There are no 
records of the town before 1678. In 1660 it was officially reported that Maiden was a small 
country town whose people employed themselves in furnishing the towns of Boston and Charles- 
town with wood, timber, and other building material. 

The work of the people of Maiden during the time between their first settlement and King 
Philip's War, was that of subduing the forests and wild lands and making them fit for the uses 
of civilization. Thus farms were laid out whose boundaries may be traced even at the present 
day. Roads, which were at first mere Indian paths, became gradually improved until they 
became principal streets. In 1696 or 1697 facts would indicate that about eighty families were 
then living in the town. In 1760 the town of Maiden was still at its greatest territorial extent. 



HISTORIC H(,J-\1ES AND PLACES. xxvii 

Its northern boundary was near the northerly shore of Smith's Pond, in Reading. With the 
exception of the small reservation at Penny Ferrj', which remains still the territory* of Charles- 
town (Boston), it embraced all the country between the bounds of Boston on the east, and Mcd- 
ford, Charlestown Commons, and the new town of Stonehiim on the west. Its extreme length 
from north to south was hardly short of seven miles, and it wa.-; a little over three in its widest 
part (Corey, 498). The population was fixed at the supposed number of six hundred souls. 
Out of this territory, with its scattered fa'-ms and scanty population, has come in the space of a 
little more than a century and a half, two growing cities and a thriving town, with a population 
(in 1899) of about sixty-seven thousand souls, without including the villages of Greenwood and 
Wellington, whicli are now joined to the neighboring towns of Wakefield and Medford (Corey, 
499). 

Authorities- Corey, D. P.,"The History of Maiden," 1899. .Maiden, "The Bi-centennlal Book 
of Maiden" (200th anniversary. May 23. 1849) 1850. Maiden, "Memorial of the Celebration of 
the 250th Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town" (May, 1899) 1900. Maiden Mirror, 
"Maiden, Past and Present" (occasion of the 250th anniversary of the town) 1899. Wellman, 
J. W., wrote an extended account of the ecclesia.stical history of Maiden, which was published in 
Hurd's "History of Middlesex County", 1890 (reprinted 1890). Wright, S. O., "Historical Dis- 
course" (containing a sketch of the history of the town) (1831) 1832. 

ANCIENT HOUSES IN MALDEN 
By Marg.\ret L. Sf:Aiis 

Tiie house of Jacob Pratt, who was born February 19, 1754, is changed in appearance, and 
has been moved a little from its former site. It now stands on the north side of Forest street. 
It was probably biiilt in the first part of the eighteenth cenlury. It was sold to .John Pratt in 
1777. The house is interesting as showing the manner of building houses with the chinuiey and 
door at one end. As the family increased, rooms were built around the central plan. 

The Blaney house stands on the site of a house built by Richard Dexter in 1G4(), and, al- 
though the present house was built earl}^ in the eisrhtcenth century, ic probably comprises the 
earlier house in its construction. Richard Dexter transferred the house and adjoining property 
(a tan-yard) to his son-in-law James Mellens. John Brintnall, wtio married a granddaughter of 
James Mellens, became owner of the property by inheritance and purchase. Thomas Camp- 
bell, of Marblehead, bought the place in 1721, and Benjamin Blaney, of Lynn, bought it in 1724. 
Benjamin Blaney, son of the former, sold the house and tan-\-ard to Jabez Sargent, of Boston, who 
transferred his purchase to Nathan Nichols, who in 1817 sold it to Miss Joanna Tileston Oliver. 
Two horse chestnut trees standing in the yard were brought from the garden of Gardiner Green, 
of Boston, in 1S.S5. 

The Boardman house, in Saugus, near the Melrose line, was built in the seventeenth century. 
An old house on Madison street was sold in 1797 to Elias Currell, and in 1799 to Edward Newhall, 
and in 1810 to Benjamin Burditt. In 1817 it was mortgagetl to Field and Bradshaw, and in 1819 
sold by them to Timothy Bailey, of Roxbury, who established the tin plate business, in which he 
was very successful and acquired a large property. He died in 1852, and the hou.se was after- 
wards removed to ^ladison street. House probably built by Phineas Upham, near Upham 
street, Melro.se. (See Upham, " Descendants of John Upham," 79.) 

The house of Thomas Manser was given to the town by its owner, Thomas Manser, who was 
sexton of the North Parish. In 1769, having become too feeble and aged to perform the duties, 
the town voted to repair his house and care for him during his life, on condition that he give his 
house and lands to the town. The old house with a sun dial was u.sed as the almshouse until 
1722. It has recently been enlarged, and in 1898 was still in good condition. The house of 



xxviii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

Thomas Parker is supposed to have been built early in the seventeenth century, and about 1860 
it was removed to the vicinity of Ashland street. 

The Parsonage was built in 1724-5, and was bought in recent years by the late George W. 
Wilson. "The old house has been considerably changed from its original condition by additions 
and improvements, and shows few of the abasing marks of time. ... It has fortunately fallen 
into the hands of those who value it above any modern structure. Its associations and the robe 
of age which it wears with dignity, add charm to its possession, and it seems likely to remain for 
many years." (Corey's "History of Maiden.") House of James Barrett, corner of School and 
Main streets. 

Hill's Tavern, on Irving street, was built in the early part of the eighteenth century. The 
timbers are hewn on one side, and are lined with clay. The inn of Stephen Waite, Jr., was owned 
by him in 1798. It was built by Daniel Waite, who used a part of the material of the South 
Precinct meeting-house. In 1840 it was removed to the corner of Salem and Ferry streets. In 
1892 it was removed to Eastern avenue, near Main street. The walls are brick lined, and it 
was said to be the first house in Maiden with blinds. The older part of the Joseph Lj'nde house, 
in present Melrose, was built about 1720. It is situated on the corner of Main street and Good- 
year avenue. Old houses on Cross street: Floyd house, house built by Edward Carrington. 

The "Homestall" of Captain Samuel Green, who died February 21, 1761, was inherited by 
his eldest son James, who sold it to his son Darius. It stands on Appleton street. In 1765 it 
was bought by Joseph Perkins of Danvers. 

Authority: Corey's " History of Maiden." 

NATICK 

Natick, like most of the towns of Massachusetts, is very irregular in its boundaries. Its 
lines, says its local historian, seem more " ambitious of reaching the tops of the neighboring hilla 
and the depths of the valleys than of surrounding a symmetrical territory." Its shape is tri- 
angular, with more " diversitj'' of scenery in hills, valleys and plains than most of the surrounding 
country." The Indian name Natick means "a Place of Hills." From the summit of these hills, 
which were alike features of the ancient and modern town, a view may be had of the three vil- 
lages as they now appear. Attention w-as brought to this region about 1650, owing to the 
Apostle Eliot's first labors among the Indians at the present village of South Natick, and in 
1651 the town of Natick was settled. It then consisted of three long streets, two on the north 
and one on the south side of the river, with a bridge eighty feet long and eight feet high, and 
stone foundations, the whole being built by the Indians themselves. To each house on these 
streets was attached a piece of land. The houses were in the Indian style. One house, larger 
than the rest, built in the English style, contained one apartment which was used as a school- 
room on week-days, and as a place of worship on the Sabbath. This building was the first 
meeting-house in Natick. 

Natick was thus primarily an Indian settlement. Their numbers at various periods have 
shown that they were formerly numerous, about 1700 possibly three hundred, in 1753 twenty- 
five families, besides a few single persons. In 1763 there were thirty-seven only in town. In 
1792 there was only a family of five persons. 

It was not until 1762 that Natick was erected into an English district. Thus for a century 
it was an Indian town. The English part of Natick outgrew the other, and Natick as a manu- 
facturing centre became known in the wide world. Most of the people of the town previously 
to 1835 were industrious and frugal farmers. Manufacturing pursuits were introduced at that 
time, and the increase in population became rapid. Natick, aside from its Indian associations, 
is therefore a comparatively modern town. It performed its part in the war of the Revolution, 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xxix 

and has been the home in recent times of many able and distinguished men, notable among 
whom was Henry Wilson, vice-president of the United States. 

Authorities: Bacon, 0. N., "A History of Natick", 1856. Biglow, William, "History of 
the Town of Xatiek"', 1830. Moore, Martin, "Sermon containing a history of the town", 1817. 

BILLERICA 



Billerica, named for a town in Essex count}', England, was originally named Shawshia 
(pronounced Shawsheen), from a small river which ran more than twelve miles through the en- 
tire length of the early town. It was named in the colonial records as early as 1636, with a view 
to the settlement as a plantation. In 1637 Deputy-tlovernor Dudlej- and Governor John Win- 
throp. Senior, had each a thousand acres granted them: "Going down the river (from Concord) 
about four miles, they made choice of a place for one thousand acres for each of them. ... At 
the place where the deputy's land was to begin, theie were two great stones, which they called 
the 'Two Brothers', in remembrance that they were brothers by their children's marriage." 
These stones are the earliest landmark in town. The grants of land to these great families were 
much increased, until in 1641 "Shawshin" was granted to Cambridge, "provided they make it 
a village, to have 10 families there settled within three yeai-s", etc. Cambridge was not then 
ready to undertake a new settlement so far "in the wilderness", and the restriction of making a 
village there was removed on the condition that the church and present elders "continued at 
Cambridge." Various grants of land were made by Cambridge, one of the original extensive 
proprietors sold out, and by 1654 Shawshin had settlers sufficient to petition the Court that the 
"name of Shawshin henceforth may be called Billericay", using the spelling of the name of the 
town in England. Seven of the petitioners were from Woburn, one from Watertown, and three 
from Cambridge. 

A company from Braintree added their numbers to the original settlers before 1660, and 
though the common lands were allotted promptly, it was almost one hundred years before the 
land fund was exhausted. The increase of the poi)ulation, however, was not rapid. In 1652, 
with probably three or four families, in 1659 the number had reached twenty-five. In 1663 the 
number of families was nearly fifty. The town had its share of Indian troubles. Special alarms 
repeatedly called troops to the town. It 
was subjected from its exposed situation, 
on two occasions to massacre. On August 
1. 1690, two women, mothers of families, 
and four children, were killed by the In- 
dians. The second massacre occurred 
August 5, 1695, in which fifteen persons 
were either slain or taken captive; num- 
ber of families attacked in this raid, four; 
place. North Billerica. In the latter part 
of the same month three hundred men 
gathered in arms at Billerica from the 
neighboring towns in response to alarms, 
and thoroughly scoured the woods and 
swamps for the lurking foe, but none 
were found. The towns of Bedford, 
Tewksbury, Wilmington, and Carlisle were 
taken in part at a later period from the 
original territory of Billerica. 



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Ol-U .\1.\.\.\1.\G IIOUSK. NORTH BILLERIC.\. Kuilt 1696. 



XXX MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

Authorities: The 200th anniversary was celebrated and its proceedings published in 1855. 
Cumino-s Henry, delivered an half-century discourse, which was printed, 1813. Farmer, John, 
the celebrated antiquary, wrote and published an "Historical Memoir of Billerica", 1816, and 
"Sketches of the Early History of Billerica", 1823. Hazen, H. A., published a "History of 
Billerica", 1883, which is valuable for its genealogical register. Nason, Elias, delivered a cen- 
tennial oration, which was published, 1876. 

It is understood that only a few houses in Billerica in recent years were identified as garrison 
houses of the time of King Philip's Indian War. The house occupied by James Fletcher was 
one and it has been made the subject of an illustration in Hazen's "Billerica." It was Jacob 
French's garrison in 1676. The house of Jonathan Danforth of equal age was demolished in 
1878 of which an illustration is preserved. The old house of Ealph Hill, Jr., a garrison of 1676, 
stood in its original condition until after 1850. 

The First Church was built in 1797, and stood near but a little southeast of its present po- 
sition facincf north. In 1844 it was moved and turned halfway round to face the east. It 
has retained its primitive structure and graceful spire. 

The first owner of the Faulkner house was Francis, son of Colonel Francis Faulkner, a soldier 
in the Revolution. Francis Faulkner came to Billerica in 1811, and began the manufacture of 
woolen cloths. He died in 1843, aged 82 years. The Bennett house was the home of Mrs. Joshua 
Bennett who gave the library to the town. Mr. Joshua Bennett accumulated a large fortune. 
Other houses worthy of notice are the Jaquith homesteads, the residence of Mrs. Benjamin Jud- 
kins, the Manning manse, 1696, the Sabba' Day house, 1768. 

CHELMSFORD 

Chelmsford was begun by some citizens of Woburn and Concord, then the nearest towns, 
who petitioned in 1652 for the privilege of examining the tract, for the purpose of making a set- 
tlement. In 1 653 conditional permission was granted to the petitioners of Concord and Woburn 
to beo-in such settlement. In 1654 propositions were made to the church in Wenham and their 
pastor to remove to Chelmsford, which in the following year was brought about. There exists 
a plan of the town as laid out by the committee appointed by the General Court, which is a 
curiosity as one of the few plans remaining of that early period. In this plan a reservation is 
made for the Indians. The town was incorporated May 29, 1655, the name to be called Chelms- 
ford. The incorporation of Billerica and Groton bear the same date. President John Adams, 
who was related to the Adams family of Chelmsford, wrote in his diary: "Chelmsford was prob- 
ably named in compliment to Mr. Hooker, who was once minister of that town in Essex", mean- 
ing Essex county, England. Thomas Hooker, the great preacher who founded Connecticut, was 
a man of enlightened democratic views, particularly in matters of religion, with which the Wo- 
burn founders of Chelmsford were certainly known to sympathize; see their plea for religious 
liberty, dated 1654, in Hurd's "History of Middlesex County", vol. I., p. 348. The present 
centre of the town was at the outset the northeast section, and the town line extended westerly 
to Groton boundaries. The Indian land was within the present limits of Lowell. 

Chelmsford suffered much less than many frontier towns iij the Indian Wars. This may be 
due in a measure to the protection offered to their neighbor Indians, residing on the spot where 
the city of Lowell now stands, from the Mohawks. From a stockade on Fort Hill, now Rogers 
Park, in Lowell, the Indians signalled across to a hill in Chelmsford limits, when danger was 
approaching. The number of persons killed by raiders was small— ;one woman and two men, 
and a number of houses were burned, on one occasion as many as fourteen or fifteen. In 1690, 
while the barbarous Indians were lurking about Chelmsford, a newspaper of the time said there 
-were missing a couple of children belonging to a man of that town . . . "both of them supposed 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xxxi 

to be fallen into the hands of the Indians," The entire adult population of the town at that 
time was 158, including four soldiers. The Indian ([uestion eventually settled itself, and the 
friendly Indians withdrew to other scenes. 

The town, when it had reached its greatest area, about 1726, embraced in addition to the 
territory now occupied by the town, a large part of Carlisle, the whole of Westford, and all of 
Lowell, with three exceptions. Certain farms "erected above the town of Chelmsford, about 
Merrimack River", were in 1667, "to have their dependances upon and perform .services and bear 
charges with the said town of Chelmsford." While the town has been mainly agriculti>ral, its 
manufacturing element has been important, overshadowed only by the larger plants of its vig- 
orous daughter, Lowell. Westford was incorporated in 1729, and a hundred years afterward, in 
1826, the new town of Lowell was incoiporated. Carlisle was incorporated .\pril 28, 1780. 

Authorities: Wilkes Allen published a "History of Chelmsford", 1820. See also Courier- 
Citizen Company of Lowell, "Illustrated History of Lowell", 1897. H. S. Peiham left an in- 
complete history of Chelmsford at his death. 

GROTON 

The original grant of the township of Gvoton was made in 165.5, and comprised a tract eight 
miles square. Subsequently its shape was changed from the first plan. It comprised all of the 
present towns of Groton and Ayer nearly all of Pepperell and Shirley, large parts of Dunstable 
and Littleton, smaller parts of Harvard and Westford, and small portions of HoUis and Nashua, 
the latter two towns being in the State of New Hampshire. The town is mentioned by name on 
Hubbard's map, under the date of 1677, as one of the towns assaulted by Indians in Phili])'s 
War. One of the two jjetitions for the plantation of Groton was headed by one of tiovernor 
John Winthrop's sons, named Deane Winthrop, and the name of Groton was given in honor of 
that family, as Groton, in England, was the birthplace of Governor John Winthrop, and also of 
Mr. Deane Winthrop. The grant of the plantation was made b}- the Court of Assistants on May 
25, 1655, and th's is understood to be the date of the incorporation, which Dr. Green says is not 
found mentioned elsewhere. 

Probably there is no town in New England which has been so thoroughly wi-uten up by the 
unaided efforts of a single man as this Massachusetts town of Groton by Dr. Samuel A. Green of 
Boston, eminent as a physician, publicist and antiquary, who by innumerable publications, large 
and small, ha;; done wellnigh everything to make this characterist'c New England community 
famous in the world at large, and no apology is offered by the present writer for drawing liberally 
upon his material. 

Among their other trials the settlers were annoyed for a long period by vagrant Indians, 
many of whom were their neighbors, and some of these vagrants took an active part in the burn- 
ing of Groton during Philip's War. Warfare among them did not require generalship so much 
as knowledge of places, and the head of an assaulting party was one familia;- with the clearings 
and the lay of the land in the threatened territory. Later, as the time of King Philip's War 
approached, the possession of firearms on their side made the Indians bold and insolent, and 
serious trouble ensued. On March 2, 1676, a small band of prowling Indians pillaged eight or 
nine houses and drove off some cattle. The inhabitants at once gathered into garrison-houses. 
A number of English were killed before the general assault on March 1.3, 1676 (1675-6) when the 
enemy appeared in a force of not le,s.-5 than four hundred in number and burned the town, de- 
stroying the meeting-house and about forty empty dwelling-houses. With one exception the 
gari ison-houses withstood the attack. The loss on the English side was, so far as known, three 
persons killed, three wounded, and two made prisoners, one of whom escaped and the other was 
ransomed. 



xxxu 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



The town was then abandoned by its inhabitants for two years, when they returned and es- 
tabUshed themselves anew. The savages, at best, made bad neighbors; they were shiftless and 
drunken and occasionally made raids in which individual settlers were murdered and their houses 
burned. The town was made virtually a military post. A second attack on the town came in 
the summer of 1694. The enemy were repulsed at one garrison, but surprised other houses, 
where the people were off their guard, and killed and carried off from the vicinity about forty 
persons. A large majority of the prisoners taken were children. Other assaults with loss of life 
occurred in 1697, 1704, 1706, 1709, and 1724. The inhabitants, owing to their constant vigilance, 
becam'e soldiers rather than farmers. They were so poor that they could not even afford to send 
one of their number as representative to the General Court, held at Boston, since in early times 
the representative was paid by the town that sent him. The district of Shirley was set off 
from Groton in 1753, and the district of Pepperell in the same year. Ayer was incorporated in 

1871. 

In the first census of the houses, families, and numbe'- of people ever taken in the Province 
of Massachusetts Bay in 1765, the town of G.-oton had 1408 inhabitants. In 1776, 1639 inhab- 
itants. In 1790, 1840. In 1790 it was the second town in population in Middlesex coimty, 
Cambridge alone exceeding it. Lawrence Academy in this town, founded in 1792 as the Groton 
Academy, and later namerl the liawrence Academy from the benefactions of members of the 
Lawrence family — Amos and William, brothers — has long made the town famous. 

Authorities; B\itler, Caleb, "History of the Town of Groton", 1848. Green, S. A., very 
numerous publications, including " An Historical Sketch of Groton", a reprint, 1894. 

Concerning the old houses of Groton the Historical Society there have just had photographs 
made of the oldest, which number some thii ty-five. The following ten are the oldest: Parsonage, 
built by town, 1706; John Longley, 1712; Groton Inn, 1770; Samuel Bowers Tavern, 1730; 
Abel Prescott, 1750; Amos Lawrence, 1770; Elnathan Sawtell Tavern, 1775; Gov. Sullivan, 
1775; John Capell Tavern, 1785; Beni;imin Bancroft, 1775. 



MARLHOROTJGH 



Marlborough, incorporated June 12, 1660, was originally a part of the town of Sudbury. 
Its increase in population was such that in 1656 its people petitioned the court that some of 
them having viewed the country had found a place about eight miles from Sudbury, which they 
conceived might be favorable, and therefore asked that a grant of eight miles square, or an equal 
amount of land, he given them, on which to make a plantation. In the same year, under date 
of May 14, the General Court granted them six miles square, or the equivalent thereof, in the 
place desired, for the purpose named, under the usual conditions imposed upon new settlements 
at that period. And this appears to-be the beginning of the settlement of the town, known after- 
wards as the town of Marlborough. Being a frontier town it early became a military post. 
Garrisons were also established at certain houses. On March 26, 1676, the town was attacked 
by the Indians while the people were assembled in their meeting-house. An immediate rush to 
the garrison-houses saved the people from worse consequences. They were able to successfully 
defend themselves when secured in a garrison, but could afford no protection to their property. 
Thirteen dwelhngs and eleven barns were burnt, and much other damage done. Their meeting- 
house and their minister's house, erected at the public charge, shared the fate of the other houses 
in the general conflagration. The Indians, numbering about three hundred, considering them- 
selves master of the situation, retired to the woods not far distant, and encamped for the night. . 
Lieutenant Jacobs of the garrison considered the bold design of surprising them in their camp; 
and. accordingly, in the night of the 27th, with a party of his own men and some from the town, 
attacked them when they lay in profound slumber, and killed and wounded about forty, without 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xxxiii 

sustainiiii; any loss himself. In the later French and Indian wars the town was in a constant 
state of alarm, and twenty-six garrisons were instituted. 

Marlborough undoubtetUy derives its name from a place of the similar name in England. 
In addition to its present territory it included, when incorporated, all of Westborough and North- 
borough (set off in 1717), Southborough (set off in 1727), and Hudson (set ofT in 1860). It was 
incorporated as a city May 23, 1890. 

Authorities: Allen, Joseph. "Topogra))hical and Historical Sketches of the town of North- 
borough, with the earl}' history of Marll)orough", 1826. Felton, Cj'rus, "Record of Events" 
(part one and two) 1879-1880. Hud.son, Charles, "History of the Town of Marlborough," 
1862. Pitman, J. A., " Notes on the History of Marlborough", 1905. 

SHERBORN 

Sherborn, like other towns of the early period, was first brought into notice by the grants of 
land in its territory, which were given to prominent men of the colony, but who were residing 
elsewhere. As early as 1643 and for thirty years afterwards, these grants were constantl}' made. 
These non-residents eventually conveyed their grants to actual settlers. The first transfer of 
this kind was made in 1652. The early settlers were men in the prime of life, and most of them 
were men of substance. Their territory was a wilderness, and known bj' the Indian name of 
Bogistow. Their affiliations at that titne were largely with the town of Medfield, and they be- 
came enrolled and taxed as its citizens for about twenty-five years, although their territory was 
not included in Medfield bounds. In 1674 the number of families was twenty, and the pojjula- 
tion about 108, and on Octolier 31, 1674, the General Court grairted their petition to be incorpo- 
rated, and ordered that the name of the town he called "Sherborne. " 

This name was given to it from the name of the town of Sherborne (not Sherborn) in Englaiul, 
and was assigned to it, as in similar instances, as the name of the native place of some settler or 
proprietor. The town was known by the name of Sherburne for more than a century, but in 
1852 it was altered to Sherborn, under an idea that such was the name as spelt in England. 

Two strong garrison-houses had been built in the new town for protection against Imlian 
enemies, and later three others were added. To these the inhabitants were accustomed to flee 
on any alarm or report of hostile Indians. This they were obliged to do for man}' years before 
and after Philip's War, and even as late as 1705. In fact, the settlers were obliged to do this 
for a great length of time. 

A bold attack upon Medfield was made by the Indians with three hundred warriors, Feb- 
ruary 21, 1675-6. It was regarded as a daring raid, because the town was so near Boston, and 
well supplied with garrison-houses, and two hundred .soldiers were quartered there. The sur- 
prise and conflagration at Medfield, where fifty persons were murdered, was followed by two 
attacks on Bullard's strong garrison-house at Sherborn. Unable to face the muskets inserted in 
the port-holes, and finding all trees and Inishes cut away and the land burned over all around it, 
to afford an uninterrupted view for the unerring marksmen, and finding also all shelter for them- 
selves in which to liu'k cut off, the Indians decided, after a trial of a disastrous front attack, to 
try burning it. The garrison was jjlaced on a side hill, anil the plan tried by the Indians was to 
fill a cart with flax, set it on fire, and from the declivity above push it down against the building, 
which must take fire from the l)urning mass. Although a clear and open course was selected for 
the cart, it deviated slightly from the straight track and struck a rock, where it stopped and 
burned itself out without harm to anybody. The Indians then gave up the siege and retired 
disappointed. Two months later a second attack on the same garrison was made. But the 
inmates sallied forth and punished the enemy so severely that no attack was ever again attempted. 

In 1679 the town adopted a famous ".social compact", or species of town orders or by-laws, 

s-3h 



xxxiv MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

to prevent questions and mistakes as to tlieir action in certain matters in the future. The first 
article provided that all persons receiving grants of land from the town "shall become subject 
to all the orders of the town", provided that such orders do not conflict with those of the General 
Court, and such grantees shall engage themselves and their successors by subscribing each one 
his name in the town book; otherwise, his grant is of no effect. The second article provided that 
questions, differences or contentions shall be submitted to arbitration, and settled in that way 
whenever possible. The third article provided that only such persons should be received into 
the township as the grantees believed to be honest, peaceable and free from scandal and erro- 
neous opinions. The fourth article provided that no inhabitant should, for seven years, on any 
pretence whatever, without the consent of the selectmen, sell, or in any manner convey to others 
any part of the land which had been granted him by the town, e.xcept to some formerly " accepted 
by our society"; with the exception always of heirs at common law. The intention of the third 
and fourth articles was to exclude persons of disreputable character, and such individuals as 
might create dissensions in the community. The compact was signed by thirty-two heads of 
families, and it was ratified and allowed by a vote of the General Court. 

The town started very well with the election of suitable officers, but obstinate disagreement 
arose about the location of their meeting-house. This trouble led to conditions which prevented 
the immediate settlement of a minister, and in 1680 certain inhabitants petitioned the General 
Court on the subject, stating that without a minister "their hopeful plantation would be ruined, 
and they and their wives and children be forced either to live like heathen, without God's Sab- 
bath and ordinances, or remove." An advisory committee of the court failing to settle the dif- 
ferences among the inhabitants, though it was invested with that power, the strong arm of au- 
thority was then used, and the court appointed a committee to order and govern the "pruden- 
tials" of the town for three years as to the laying out of lots and raising of taxes. The town 
could do nothing but submit. This new committee soon decided the question of the location of 
the meeting-house, and placed it in a more central and satisfactory position than the inhabitants 
had planned. The first minister was not ordained until 1685. 

In 1700 the town lost a portion of its territory by the incorporation of Framingham. In 
1724 another portion was made the town of Holliston. The population of the town of Sherbom 
in 1764 was 630, included in 113 families. 

Authorities: Biglow, William, "History of Sherburne", 1830. Morse, Abner, "A Genea- 
logical Register of the Inhabitants, and History of the towns of Sherborn and Holliston", 1856. 

FRAMINGHAM 

Framingham, though incorporated as a town June 10, 1700, was known much earlier as 
Danforth's Farms. The first land grant within its territory was made as early as 1640. It was 
without proprietary records during this period, and many of the estates were held by unregis- 
tered leases. There was no civil organization among its first settlers, who were scattered over 
an extensive tract and dependent for such few privileges as they had upon the nearest incorpo- 
rated towns. The land was known in ancient records as "wilderness land." Sudbury, settled 
in 1638, was to the north; no settlement existed to the south nearer than Medfield; on the west 
was the new township of Marlborough. The nearest settlements to the east were in Watertown, 
in Newton, then a part of Cambridge. The Natick Plantation, reserved for the Indians, was in 
a sense a neighbor. Among the early grants in "Framlingham Plantation" were these: The 
Governor Danforth grants (embracing the greater part of the territory of Framingham) ; Glover's 
Farm, 1640, (named for the Glover family, distinguished, not only for the eminence of its mem- 
bers — but for its marriage connections with the Winthrops, Appletons, and Dunsters); Rice's 
Grants, Edmund Rice, 1652; Stone's Grants (John Stone of Sudbury, 1656); Richard Wayte of 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. • xxxv 

Boston, 1658; Richard Russell, colony treasurer, 1659; Elijah Corlett, schoolmaster of Cam- 
bridge — a native of London, in England, and a man of more than local reputation — 1659; Colonel 
William Crowne's, 1669; and Eames's, Gookin and Howe's purchase, Lynde's farm, and others, 
probably smaller, belong to this numeration of early grants. 

It is probable that the first house was erected on the territory soon after the year 1647. 
The name of Framingham for the plantation was that of the birthplace of Mr. Thomas Danforth 
in England. The only event of Philip's War particularly connected with Framingham was the 
destruction of Thomas Eames's house. The family were attacked by about a dozen Indians in 
February, 1675-6, when the father was absent, and they either killed or took captive all that were 
found at home, numbering probably ten persons. Three — Samuel, Margaret, and Nathaniel — 
returned, and were subsequently married. Four captives at least were carried away. The 
number of killed, including the wife, was probably four. Eames, in his inventory of loss, states 
that he lost, in the first place, a wife and nine children. The actors in the affair were known, and 
several of them were soon arrested and tried. One of them testified that he was one of the per- 
sons who destroyed Thomas Eames's family — killing of some and carrying captive the rest, and 
burning the house, barn and cattle; and did confess that he himself carried away on his back 
one of Eames's sons. That two of Eames's daughters were taken captive, but were well used 
otherwise. Three Indians suffered the death penalty for this crime, and two were pardoned. 

In 1696, owing to the increasing number of the inhabitants, a petition wa,s preferred to the 
General Court that the plantation might be incorporated as a township. This was accomplished 
in 1700. Its population in 1765 was 1280. In 1840, 3030. 

Authorities: Ballard, William, "A Sketch of the History of Framingham", 1827. Barry, 
William, "A History of Framingham", 1847. Framingham, "Memorial of the Bi-centennial 
Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town", 1900. Temple, J. H., " History of Framingham ", 
1887. 

DUNSTABLE 

Dunstable to-day is of much smaller area than the town of the period of its incorporation in 
the year 1673. It was one of those New England towns of the early period which owed their 
origin to grants of land which at different dates were made to individuals and corporations, for 
farms and other purposes, these grants being consolidated later into townships. The owners of 
these extensive farms in Dunstable were for the most part leading men in the colony at large, 
and, having conferred together, they presented a petition to the General Court, asking to be 
incorporated as a town, which was granted October 16, 1673. This tract of land was very large, 
and included the present towns of Dunstable and Tyngsborough, and parts of Dracut, Groton, 
Pepperell, Townsend, Nashua, Hollis, Hudson, and sections of Brookline, Milford, Amherst, 
Merrimack, Londonderry, Litchfield, and Pelham, New Hampshire. The new town is said to 
have received its name in compliment to Mistress Mary, the wife of Hon. Edward Tyng, who 
emigrated from Dunstable, England. Her son. Colonel Jonathan Tyng, became possessor of a 
large tract of land in the part which is now the town of Tyngsborough. The old English town is 
situated in Bedfordshire. Dense forests covered originally nearly the whole of this region, and 
English settlers are supposed to have appeared here as early as 1655. The safety of the early 
inhabitants was greatly promoted by the erection of a small fort or garrison-house. The Indians 
of the vicinity, however, were for the most part friendly to the English, but on the outbreak of 
Philip's War, in 1675, the inhabitants, generally knowing that the new settlement of Dunstable 
was peculiarly exposed as an outlying frontier, left their fort or garison-house, the meeting-house 
they were then erecting, and their dwelling-houses, and sought protection in other towns, such 
as Chelmsford, Concord, Billerica, Woburn, and Boston. Hon. Jonathan Tyng, however, re- 
mained, the only Englishman who stood bravely at his post throughout the war. His house 



xxxvi MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

stood on the right bank of the Merrimack river, nearly opposite Wicasuck island, and about a 
mile below the central village of Tyngsborough. Fortifying his house as best he could, and send- 
ing to Boston for supplies, he stood alone as an outpost between the enemy and the settlements 
below. He was born in 1642, and died suddenly in Woburn in 1724, and in the latter place his 
gravestone is still standing. 

With the close of the war the houses and farms were soon reoccupied. A carpenter was 
engaged to complete the unfinished-meeting house, and matters seemed to progress favorably 
until 1689, when another Indian war began, and Dunstable, from its still exposed situation, was 
liable to be attacked. Friendly Indians gave warning of one contemplated attack, and the 
General Court sent a supply of men for their defence, but, notwithstanding that aid, the people 
were still "weak", and unable to keep their garrisons up, and send out men at the same time to 
gather hay; so a scout of twenty infantry or footmen was requested of the court for a month, 
until the haying season was ended. The town, too, was short of provisions, by reason of its 
having to billet soldiers during all the previous winter, and a supply of meat was needed; for 
bread they could supply themselves; otherwise, without this help they insisted they would have 
to leave the town. Murders again became so numerous that by the year 1696 two-thirds of the 
inhabitants had abandoned the town. In 1702 another war was started, in which the Indians 
took active part, and the people of Dunstable for ten years longer were still in constant fear of 
assault. On the night of July 3, 1706, a party of two hundred and seventy Indians attacked a 
garrison-house in which had been posted, unknown to the Indians, an English captain and twenty 
"troopers" of his command. The door of the house had been left open by the owner and his 
wife, who had gone out at close of day for the milking. The Indians had shot and killed the wife, 
and had woimded and made captive the husband. Both parties were taken by surprise. Rush- 
ing into the house, the Indians found before them the body of armed men. In the melee which 
followed, several of the English were either killed or wounded, and the Indians were forced out. 
After withdrawing, the Indians set fire to another house and killed a woman, and also on that 
same day killed, at another garrison-house, a man and thi-ee women. On the 27th of July, 1706, 
the Indians killed one of their enemies, a friendly Indian, and took one white woman captive. 
The Mohawk bands were fiercer fighters than the local Indians, and small bands of the English 
sometimes encountered them by mistake, to their loss, as we shall show under the year 1724. 
The average young Englishman considered himself as more than a match for the average New 
England Indian. The savages, however, were very crafty, and usually won, when they won at 
all, by superiority of position or of numbers. It was their habit to entice, if they could, small 
bodies of the armed English to a distance from their base of support, and then selecting their 
own position in advance, overwhelm them in a sudden manner by superior numbers. When 
parties of this kind were cut off, a stronger force was usually sent to their rescue, who, on arriving 
at the spot, would find only the dead bodies of their countrymen, which they would bring in and 
bury, and such forces would find that the Indians had departed before their arrival. 

In 1711 the number of fortified houses in Dunstable was seven. The population at that 
time was thirteen families, seven males, and nineteen soldiers, a total of eighty-six persons. 
The time of the people was spent mostly in the garrisons, and but little in the way of improve- 
ment was made. Their crops were slender, and the people were destitute of the common sup- 
plies. Had not fish, game, and berries been abundant, the settlers would have been compelled 
to leave their lands and return to the older towns. With the return of pea'ce in 1713 the town 
began to increase in numbers. 

War began again in 1724, and the former experiences were renewed. In September two 
men were carried captive by a party of French and Mohawk Indians. A party of ten English, 
or more, pursued them. This party was ambushed by the other party, and all were either at 
once killed or made prisoners. Eight of the bodies of those killed were recovered and buried in 



HISTORIC 1IO.MKS AND PLACES. xxxvii 

one grave at present Little's Station, not far north of the present State line. Four of the slain 
were of Diinstalile, three of Wohurn, and one of Plainfield. One of the four rude headstones 
erected to the deatl in this action hears the name of Benjamin Carter of Woburn, son of Lieu- 
tenant John Carter and Ruth Hurnham, his wife, and a grandson of Captain John Carter, who 
wa.s captain of the local Woburn company in Philip's War. The whole action was one of ven- 
turesomeness, and Benjamin Carter's Woburn relatives were much chagrined that he (being a 
garrison soldier as he apparenth' was) should have have been "such a boy", as they said, to 
be killed by Imlians. 

Next followed the well-known campaigns by Captain John Lovewell, of Dunstable. He 
carried the campaign with picked men into the enemy's own country, and, though he lost his 
ow-n life and those of a large part of his men, he succeeded in exterminating the enemy at the 
memorable battle of Pigwacket. Colonel Eleazer Tyng, of Dunstable, with eighty-seven men, 
went to the scene of the conflict near Fryeburg, Maine, and there found and l^uried the slain. 
For the defence of Dunstable, during Colonel Tyng's absence, Colonel Eleazer Flagg, of Woburn, 
the commander of the local regiment, was ordered to detach a number of his men for that purpose. 

In the campaign just mentioned, the superiority of Lovew-ell's methods to those of the English 
in King Philip's War, fifty years previous, is evident. The military discipline of the early Eng- 
lish in New England w-as that of the London trainbands of England. It was ill adapted for 
wilderness work, owing to its cumberousness, and its pecuHar conditions. The Indians gave no 
opportunity by their adroitness for attack en masse. The broadsword was valuable in attacks 
on savages ensconced in forts, and armed with their primitive weapons, and it was thus used. 
Against musketry it was somewhat different, and the conditions of the country and the wilder- 
ness made pikemen useless. Drums and colors were of no use except at home. In Lovewell's 
time the English were not hampered with noisy leather equipments, whose squeaking could be 
heard by the enemy for half a mile, and with horses, which were formerly considered essential. 
The Indians in 1725 tried the same dodges as in 1675. Lovewell's men weie armed like hunters. 
The evidence in Lovewell's time shows that the approach of either party in the conflict was 
noiseless. The English in 1675 w-ithstood the first onset in a surprise with the same firmness as 
their countrymen did at home, and Lovewell's men did the same when first confronted by the 
enemy with a display of rifles four or five ranks deep, and they rushed upon the foe with a volley 
and huzzas. The nearness of the volleys brought down many on both sides. Lovewell's mis- 
take was that by stationing men here and there on his way to the scene, that he allowed his 
force to become too small. Colonel Tyng was wiser, and took with him eighty-seven men, to 
Lovewell's actual force of a reduced company of thirty-four. 

Beginning with 1733, other towns began to be formed from the original territory of Dunsta- 
ble. The present New^ Hampshire portions were separated first; — the places named Hudson, 
Litchfield, Merrimack, and HoUis, the divisional line between the States in 1741 .setting them 
and the Nashua part off to New Hampshire, leaving Dunstable proper, which then included 
Tyngsborough, in Ma.ssachusetts. The town then extended from Dracut on the east, some ten 
miles to Groton on the west, and the families were fifty-four in numlier. 

The eastern part of the town was formed into a parish called the First Parish of Dunstalile 
in 1755. The people of the westerly part of the town were also organized into a parish, called 
the Second Parish, in 1755. In the first general census of the Province taken in 1765, Dunstalile 
had ninety dwelling-hou.ses, ninety-eight families, and a total of 559 inhabitants; Bedford, Dra- 
cut, Natick, Shirley, and Stoneham, being the only towns in the county having a smaller pii]i\i- 
latioii. 

An attempt to unite the First and Second i'arishes about 17cS7 failed on account of a dona- 
tion from a member of one of its prominent families. In 1789 what is now the town of Tyngs- 
borough was incorporated into a district, and received for its own use, as it does now, the above 



xxxviii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

donation. At the opening of the nineteenth century the population of Dunstable was 485 per- 
sons. The district of Tyngsborough was incorporated as a town in 1809. In 1820 the inhab- 
itants of Dunstable were 584. 

Authorities: Fox, C. J., "History of the old Township of Dunstable", 1846. Hill, J. B., 
"Reminiscences of old Dunstable", 125p., 1878. Loring, G. B., "Historical Sketches of Dun- 
stable" (bi-centennial oration) 1873. Nason, Elias, "A History of the Town'of Dunstable,"' 
1877. Spalding, E. H., "Bi-centennial of old Dunstable", 1878. 

STOW 

Stow was first settled about 1660, by one settler, and its first settler was killed by the Indians 
in the month of February, 1676. The wife and two daughters of the second settler were taken 
prisoners by the Indians when the celebrated Mrs. Rowlandson was taken. Peace, however, 
altered conditions. As was usual with frontier settlements at that time, large tracts of territory 
were laid out to prominent men living elsewhere. A few settlers took up their abode in the town's 
limit previously to the year 1670. After favorable reports upon its availability it was granted 
to certain individuals, on the condition that others should join with them to make a village of 
not less than ten families within the period of three years, and that a minister be maintained 
there. The procedure of making a settlement was slow and hindered by the Indian War. It 
was incorporated as a town on May 16, 1683, by the name of Stow. 

Under the- circumstances of their proximity to neighboring a,nd possibly to hostile Indians, 
the people of the town early placed themselves in a posture of defence. In 1698 the selectmen 
were impowered to repair the garrison about the ministry house. There were probably other 
fortified houses in different portions of the town before this, and the militia company was. kept 
up to a certain degree of efficiency. As the population increased, two infantry companies were 
formed, one at the north, and the other at the south part of the town. The town furnished sol- 
diers for the different wars, but after Philip's War no attacks were made by Indians on the place. 

The town lost a part of its territory when the town of Harvard was incorporated in 1732. 
Another small part was added to Shirley, and in 1871 another section of the original town was 
set off to Maynard. 

Authorities: Newell, Jonathan, "Historical Discourse", (1783) 1784. Stow, "Bi-centennial 
Celebration of the Town", 1883. 

NEWTON 

Newton was separated from the old town of Cambridge in 1688, being the second town so 
separated, Billerica being the first. Newton was a part of the large territory of Cambridge on 
the south side of Charles river. About 1654 it received the name of "Cambridge Village", or 
"New Cambridge", until 1679. The General Court decreed that after December, 1691, it 
should be called "Newtown", and the change of the name from "Newtown" to "Newton" 
occurred in 1766, without formal authorization, and the change has ever since been accepted. 

In 1656 the inhabitants of this part of Cambridge organized a distinct congregation for 
religious worship. In 1661 they were freed from paying church rates for the support of the 
ministry at Cambridge. In 1662 the line of division between the parishes for religious pur- 
poses was that which now divides Newton from Brighton. In 1672 the inhabitants attempted 
to be set off from Cambridge as an independent town. The right was then secured to become 
a precinct, and to elect annually one constable and three selectmen among themselves, but 
they were required still to continue as a part of Cambridge. 

The attempts at separation were continued for about ten years. In 1679 they took into 
their own hands the management of the prudential afi'airs of the village as completely as any 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xxxix 

other town, and fondvicted them according to the will of the majority of the freeholders until 
Xewton became a city. The .-reparation wa.s finally consummated in 16S8 when Newton be- 
came a free and independent corporation. The town wa.s incorporated January 11, 1687-8, 
and received the name of Newton in December, 1691. 

The number of families in Xewton from 1639 to 1664 was twenty. The ages of the ma- 
jority were between tweuty-one and thirty-five. Five only were forty years old, and two were 
more than fifty. Their longevity was remarkable; only two died under the age of fifty, eight 
only under the ;ige of seventy, and fourteen out of thirty. — a selected number, — died when their 
age was more than eighty. 

In 1674 it was ordered that the inhaliitants of the precinct be a distinct military company 
by themselves. The Indian population never gave them any trouble in their own borders, 
but they furnished their quota of troops when trouble occurred in other towns. The Nonan- 
tum Indians, to whom the Apostle Eliot ministered, were residents of Newton. Many English 
customs were adopted by them, and they turned their attention more to agriculture. Strictly 
speaking, there was never an Indian church in Newton, and it was after their reinoval to Xatick 
that a church organization of theirs was first formed. 

The history of Newton gives a pertinent illustration of the peculiar distinction of town 
and parish. The laws of Massachusetts did not and do not recognize the church as distinguished 
from the parish; hence parish business was town business. The town called and settled the 
minister and provided for his support. The town also paid the funeral expenses of the pastors 
when they w-ere dead. The town also regulated the exercises of worship. It was not as a cor- 
poration always especially generous. On one occasion it was voted in town meeting "that 
trees be set out to shade the meeting-house, if any persons will be so generously-minded as to 
do it." It was also voted on another occasion "to let the velvet pall to other towns", when not 
in use in its own town. 

For a considerable period following the War of the Revolution it was mainly in Newton 
a time of silent growth, as the town was, as many of its neighbors and contemporaries were, 
a community devoted to the pursuits of agriculture. One of the important events was the 
founding of Newton Theological Institution. An excitement arose from an agitation which 
la.sted many years in reference to a division of the town. .■Ml the villages were disposed along 
the edges of the town and remote from each other. The place of worship was established at 
the centre of the town. There were four villages — Newton Corner, West Newton, Newton 
Cpper Falls, and Newton Lower Falls. Their inhabitants had no special interest in the Centre 
of the town, except as the voters travelled there to attend the town meetings. The villagers 
had little or no interest in each other, anil the Centre had no interest in them. From 1807 the 
town was distributed into eight wards for political purposes; but in 1830, owing to the action 
of the proprietors of the First Parish meeting-house, who after the separation of church and 
town by the State had objected to having the town-meetings held there, the controversy 
grew more violent and lasted with great vigor for twenty-five years. The extreme southern 
part of the town was set off to Roxbury in 1838, and the" Chemical Milage" was set off to Wal- 
tham in 1844. These losses of a small porton of their territory enabled the citizens to see the 
ill effects of a division of the entire town, and in 1855 a resolution was passed that the inhabi- 
tants of Newton "will oppose any and all measures for the division of the town." The Rev, 
S. F. Smith sums up the controversary as follows: "And now, as one great and populous city, 
one wide, wealthy, and prosperous organization, with its churches, its schools, its libraries, its 
Fire Department, its gas and electric works, its water works, its telegraphs and telephones, all 
its common interests, perhaps not a citizen walks in the streets of Newton, through its whole 
extent, who is not glad that the whole is bound together and cemented in one peaceful union." 

.Authorities: Homer, .lonathan, "A Century Sermon", (a century from the incorjxira- 



xl MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

tion of the town) 1792. Jackson, Francis, "A History of the Early Settlement of Newton", 
1854. Newton, "Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town 
of Newton" (1888) 1891. Newton, "The Centennial Celebration of the City of Newton", 1876. 
Smith, S. F., "History of Newton", 1880. Sweetser, M. F., "King's Handbook of Newton", 
1889. 

ANCIENT HOUSES IN NEWTON 

The ancient houses in the city of Newton are numerous. Among them is the Nonantum 
house at Newton, formerly Newton Corner. 

The residence of General William Hull was quite famous, and in 1803 and for several years 
after was used as a boarding school by the famous Susanna Rowson. In 1837 it was made 
into a hotel. 

The Jackson house, on Washington street, near Walnut Park, is ninety-nine years old, and 
was built on the site of one of the first houses in Newton (1638). The Jackson family had many 
soldiers and officers in the Provincial and Continental armies. Edward Jackson was a person 
of great prominence, and was accustomed to go with the Apostle Eliot on his journeys 
among the Indians, in order to write down the questions of the Indians and the Apostle's re- 
plies. His grandson was a rich merchant of Boston, and his son married Dorothy Quincy, 
grandmother of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Other names of note are Major Timothy Jackson, 
an officer in the French War; his son Timothy, whose early life was full of adventure and vicis- 
situde; Michael Jackson, who was among the minute-men on the nineteenth of April, and at 
Bunker Hill, the seventeenth of June; a year later, was wounded at Montressor's Island, New 
York, and afterwards became colonel of the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental 
line, and helil the latter rank until the war closed. William Jackson, son of old Major Timothy, 
did much for the welfare of his town. Francis Jackson, brother of William, wrote the "His- 
tory of Newton", in 1854. Frederick Jackson, another member of this family, was severely 
wounded in tlie Civil War, and held afterwards the office of superintendent of the Newton 
Public Library. 

The Shannon house was built in 1798 by Joseph Blake of Boston, and was once called the 
Sargent House. It came into the possession of Oliver N. Shannon, and later was the home 
of Miss Mary Clarke Shannon, a "noble and philanthropic woman". 

The Colonial Mansion on the west side of Centre street belonged in the early part of the 
nineteenth century to Nathaniel Tucker, the leader of the choir of the First Church, and a fine 
singei-. Then it was owned by Thomas Edmands, of the book firm of Lincoln and Edmands. 
The house is near the site of the ancient parsonage of John Eliot, Jr., inherited by the son of 
the latter (1668). In 1773 it was sold by order of the General Court to acquire funds enough 
to send the younger John Eliot to Yale College. The Spring house was the home of Lieutenant 
John Spring, who came to America in 1634. 

NONANTUM HILL 

The Brackett house, on Waverly avenue, was built by Colonel Joseph Ward, in 1792. 
Two mansions built by Messrs. Haven and Wiggin in 1807 and on land owned by General William 
Hull. The estate was former!}' of seventy acres. The Kenrick house was occupied in 1732 by 
Captain Edwai'd Durant, a rich Bostonian. It was inherited by his son Edward, who was a 
great patriot and a delegate to the Provincial Congress. The estate was sold to John A. Ken- 
rick in 1775. His great-great-granddaughter was the mother of Franklin Pierce. Another 
descendant, John Kenrick, was president of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, and wrote 
"Horrors of Slaverv". in 1817. The first large nurserv in New England was established here 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xli 

in 1790. It is supposed that the first Lombard}' pophir.s of New England were started here. 
The house of Frederick W. Sargent was built in 1805, on an estate of eighty acres, bought from 
Obadiah Curtis by his grandson, Dr. Samuel Clarke, father of James Freeman Clarke, and step- 
son of Dr. James Freeman. Mr. Curtis repurchased the place, and gave it to his daughter Martha, 
wife of Dr. Freeman, and grandmother of James Freenuui Clarke. The first tomatoes raised 
in Massachusetts were raised here from seed brought from Baltimoi'e bj- Dr. Freeman. 

The mansion of Colonel Joseph Ward was built in 1792. Colonel Ward was a prominent 
educator, and was aide-de-camp and secretar}' to General Artemus Ward. In 1777 he was 
made commissary-general of musters. He named the estate "Chestnut Hill". The place 
was sold to Charles Coolidge, and in 1810 to Charles Brackett. The Harback place, corner of 
Ward street and Waverley avenue, was the house of Thomas Harback, who came to Newton 
in 1805, The house was built about 1760. The mansion of Obadiah Curtis is near the Harback 
place. Mr. Curtis was a member of the Boston tea-party, and was detested by the Royalists. 
On the outbreak of hostilities he went to Providence until the siege of Boston was ended. He 
died in 1811. In a cottage on Waverley avenue, built in 1721, lived Roger Sherman, a signer 
of the Declaration of Independence and a United States Senator. Senator William M. Evarts, 
of New York, and Senator George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, are descendants of Roger Sherman. 

NEWTONVILLE 

At Newtonville the General Hull house, built in 1776, is on the corner of Walnut and Austin 
streets, and was moved here in 1846 from the site of the Claflin house. It was once used as a 
private school by Mrs. Weir. The Sturtevant house, built in 1680, is on Brooks avenue. 

In 182.5 Lafayette stopped at the Tavern in West Newton. A private school was estab- 
lished here in 1812 by Seth Davis. 

At Auburndale, the Bourne house, afterwards called Whittemore Tavern, stands on tlie 
road to the bridge. The Crafts house was built about 1765. 

At Newton Lower Falls, old house, formerly re.sitlence of Solomon Curtis. Old Hagar 
house. The mansion of William Hurd stands on the corner of Washington and Grove streets. 
Mr. Hurd was one of the pioneers in paper making. The old house on the next corner was for- 
merly occupied by Dr. Ebenezer Starr, who lived here from 1794 to 1830. The Baury house, 
on' the corner of Washington and (Joncord streets, was built one hundred years ago by Mr. 
Hoogs. It was for a number of years the parish rectory, and many famous bishops, also army 
and navy officers, have been entertained here. Others: Crehore house, William Curtis house, 
old Durant place. 

The Tower house at Waban is more than one hundred j'ears old. In 1889 it was occupied 
by H. Langford Warren. 

The Manufacturers' Hotel at Newton Upper Falls was the village inn from 1808 to 1850. 

The Bethnal Allen house on Woodward street. Newton Highlands, was long occupied by 
Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

The Marshall S. Rice place, Newton Centre, was formerly the old Prentice farm, bought 
by James and Thomas Prentice, 1657, and bequeathed to Rev. John Prentice, of Lancaster. 
It was bought by Henrj- Gibbs in 1742, who built the mansion house. Peck mansion, 179S. 

At Chestnut Hill: The Kingsbury house was built by John Parker, a carpentei-, about 
1650. The Hammond house, 1730, stands back to Beacon street. The Judge Lowell home- 
stead was built by one of the Hammonds in 1773. Judge Lowell of the United States District 
Court bousrht it in 1850. The Crafts house was built in. 1695, by Mncent Druce. 



xlii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

DRACUT 

Dracut was common land from 1664, and remained such until its incorporation as a town 
in 1701. The act describes the territory as "a tract of land for a township on the north side 
of Merrimack River" — and then follows its particular bounds. The earliest settlers were mem- 
bers of the families of Varnum and Coburn, and it is supposed that the town derived its name 
from the native place of Samuel Varnum, in England, — the first actual settler of Dracut, Massa- 
chusetts. In. early records the name is sometimes spelled Drawcutt, which may give some 
idea of its former pronunciation. 

In King Philip's War, about March 18, 1676, (1675-6) the Indians attacked the inhabi- 
tants of Dracut, and burned three or four houses. The people were pursued, but escaped 
across the river to Chelmsford. On April 15, 1676, a second attack was made, fourteen or fif- 
teen houses were burned, and fortunately no lives were lost on the part of the inhabitants. 
Two sons of Samuel Varnum were killed at this period, while crossing' the river in a boat. The 
Indians fired from a covert on the shore, and fled without continuing their attack. The sur- 
vivors in the boat returned the fire. A raiding party of Indians during the French and Indian 
War (1755-1763) captured two boys named Coburn, and carried them to Canada. 

The petition of the inhabitants for the act of incorporation gives the number of families 
already settled in 1701 as about twenty families or eighty souls. The common land was dis- 
posed of by gradual distribution by the legal voters of the town. In 1741, when the boundary 
line was established between New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the town of Dracut lost a 
considerable part of its territory, which was added to New Hampshire, and this portion with 
other territory became the town of Pelham, which was incorporated in 1746. The original 
church and society of Dracut left no records, and probably none were kept. The first records 
of the town begin with 1711, and those earlier are supposed to be lost. The first meeting-house 
was not finished until 1716. 

In 1851 the part of Lowell called Central ville was taken from Dracut and annexed to Low- 
ell. In 1874 about one thousand acres more of Dracut territory was added to Lowell, and in 
1879 another tract of Dracut, adjoining Tyngsborough, was annexed to Lowell. 

Authorities: M. E. Wright wrote a brief article, entitled "Old Dracut and some Histor- 
ical Houses", for the "Lowell Book", 1899. 

WESTON 

Weston as a settlement dates back to a very early period, as there are yet standing houses 
or parts of houses and foundations which go back to a time of which there are now no reliable 
dates. The Watertown Farms comprised what is now Weston. Another name was that of 
the Farmers' Precinct. In ecclesiastical affairs the inhabitants of Weston were connected 
with Watertown about sixty-eight years, and in civil affairs about eighty-three years. In 1699 
the}^ became a separate precinct, and in 1712 they were incorporated as a town by the name of 
Weston. In 1746 Weston lost a large amount of its territory in the formation of the town of 
Lincoln. The town is elevated above the common level of the surrounding country, and affords 
an extensive view of other parts. 

Authorities: Fiske, C. H., "Oration", 1876. Kendal, Samuel, "Century Sermon", 1813. 
"Vital and Municipal Records of the Town", edited by M. F. Peirce. 

Weston has at least twelve houses that are old, and all possess interesting histories. The 
old Whitney tavern on North avenue was once owned and occupied by the Mr. Whitney, who 
once kept the famous "Punch Bowl" tavern in Brookline. The old house has been used as a 
tenement for seventy-five years or more, and is now owned by Mr. Thomas Coburn. The main 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. 



xliii 



portion of the Warren house on Lexington street was built in 1743, and the new part, so called, 
was built in 1810. Before 1885 it was known as the Benjamin Pierce Junior house. In that 
year it was bought by F. W. Hastings, and in 1893 it was purcha.sed by Mr. George H. Ellis. 
The old Jonathan Warren place on North avenue was built before 1780. It was then occupied 
by the widow Wright, who afterwards became the wife of Jonathan Warren. The Cutting 
house on Lexington street is on the original Warren estate. John Warren Senior .'settled on 
this estate about 1631. It has been the home of the Cutting family for nearly a century. 

The old Nathan Hagar house on North avenue is supposed to have been built about 1775. 
A part of it was once occupied by old 'Squire Hobbs, the father of Mrs. Hagar. The old Mar- 
shall house on Church street "was confi.scated by the government and later bought by Colonel 
Thomas Marshall, great-uncle of Mrs. Knox and General Marshall, who, after service in the 
Revolutionary War, came here to live." 

The Artemas Ward house on Central a\-enue was erected about 1785 by two brothers named 
Eaton. About the year 1789 it was bought bj* Artemas Ward, Esquire, who was a son of Gen- 
eral Artemas Ward. In 1856 it became the property of Mr. Benjamin Pierce Senior, and the 
estate is still in the latter's family. 

In 1876 the Oliver Robbins house on Wellesley street was said to be from one hvindred 
and fifty to two hundred years old. The Abram Bigelow house was occupied by Mr. Bigelow, 
who was a selectman of the town, and was prominent in the history of the place from 1757 to 
1771. He was the original of the "Deacon Radirer" of Mrs. Stowp'.« "Oldtown Folks." 

The Golden Ball Tavern, on 
Elisha Jones' place, on Central 
avenue, was built-in 1751 by Col- 
onel Jones. It was a tavern for 
eighty years, and was the head- 
quarters of the Tories of the local- 
ity during the Revolutionary 
War. The old sign of the golden 
ball is still in existence. The 
Deacon Uriah Gregory house on 
Merriam street is said to be one of 
the oldest houses in Weston. The 
estate was in the Gregory family 
for over two hundred years. The 
old Jones Tavern on Central ave- 
nue was formerly owned by Eph- 

raim Bigelow. Later it was the wkskjn sgi aiu 

property of William Smith and his descendants. Before the Revolution his grandson kept the 
tavern, and "it was here that Howe, the spy, was traced by the 'Liberty Men' of Weston." 

Authority: Miss M. M. Pennock. 

LEXI.NGTOX 




I'llKdimiU-; JONKS IK II SI-; 



Lexington was at the head of the eight-mile line from old Cambridge meeting-house, and 
for about seventy-five years was a part of Cambridge territory. Her early clearings were known 
by the name of "Cambridge Farms", and Lexington, like Weston and a few other towns within 
a short radius of Boston, retains a very strong agricultural character, in spite of a very recent 
manufactural and residential change common to a large number of its inhabitants. In 1691 
the inhabitants were incorporated as a precinct of Cambridge, and in 1713 the precinct was 
incorporated as a town by the name of Lexington. The name was derived from that of an 



xliv MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

English nobleman of some prominence at that time. The population did not exceed 450, and 
there were few if anj' persons of wealth in the little community. In 1711 before becoming a 
town, the people had purchased an acre and a half in rear of their meeting-house for a common. 
The amount was raised by subscription. Later, in 1722, an additional acre was bought to en- 
large its area. This is the forever memorable Lexington Common, so intimately connected 
with the events of April 19, 1775. 

The first blood of the American Revolution was shed in Lexington, and this fact has given 
the name of the town a world-wide influence in behalf of patriotism and human freedom. It 
is not our design to tell the well-known story of the action here. No other hostile invasion of 
an armed enemy was ever made within its limits. Between 1712 and 1775 the town pursued 
the even tenor of its way, though its records contain many interesting and curious instances 
of the customs of the times. It furnished its quota of men for the colonial wars in creditable 
numbers. The firmness and heroism with which the Lexington company faced the British 
regulars on the common on the morning of April 19, 1775, was due to the previous experience 
of many of its members in the pi'evious wars. After 1775 its growth was no more remarkable 
than it had been before. Its population in 1790 was 940; in 1800, 1,006; and the increase from 
that period has not been large, until about 1900 the numlier of inhabitants and new buildings 
has increased, and the centre village has lost its former rather rural, and assumed a more met- 
ropolitan, aspect. 

Authorities: Hudson, Charles, "History of the Town of Lexington", 1868. Lexington 
Historical Society, "Proceedings", etc., etc. Williams, Avery, "Century Discourse", 1813. 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. 



xlv 



ANCIENT HOUSES IN LEXINGTON 



BY MAUGAKET L. SEARS 



The Hancock-Clarke house is situated on Hancock street, and the original part of the 
house, which is the gambrel-roofed L, was built in 1698 or 1699 by the Rev. John Hancock. 
In it his five children, three sons and two daughters, were born. His eldest son, John Hancock, 
was educated at Harvard, and afterwards became minister at Braintree, now Quincy, where 
his son John Hancock, of Revolutionary fame, was born. Another son, Thomas Hancock, 
was apprenticed to a bookbinder, and afterwards became the wealthiest merchant in New Eng- 
land. In 1734 he purchased the whole of Beacon Hill, including the present site of the State 
House, and built the celebrated "Hancock Mansion." 
Thomas built the two-storied addition to the Hancock- 
Clarke house, so that his parents might live in comfort 
and peace during their latter day.s. The third son Eb- 
enezer was graduated at Harvard, and became his 
father's colleague; he died in 1740. 

The Rev. Jonas Clarke succeeded Rev John Han- 
cock and married the latter's granddaughter. Mr. 
Clarke bought the estate and his thirteen children were 
born there. On the night of the eighteenth of April, 
1775, John Hancock and Samuel Adams were sleeping, 
in the west room of the lower story, and eight men were 
on guard about the house as the British were seeking 
the two noted men. It was thought advisable for 
them to go to a safer place, and they were conducted to 
the house of Madam Jones, four miles away, in Burling- 
ton. From here they were obliged to go two miles far- 
ther to the home of Amos Wyman in Billerica. Jonas 
Clarke was a very patriotic man, and his house was the 
meeting place of patriots and statesmen during the 
Revolution. ^linisters, professors, college presidents 
and governors have all been entertained here, and it is, 
consequently, a house of great interest historically. 

The Harrington house, on Elm street, was occupied 
by Jonathan Harrington and his fanuly. He was one 
of Captain Parker's company. He was mortally 
wounded, and dragged himself to the door of his home 
and died at his wife's feet. The house was built by Dr. 
the nineteenth century Mr. John Augustus, a prominent worker among children at the .Munici- 
pal Court, lived here. 

The Merriam house was occupied by the Merriam family on April 19, 1775. It was pillaged 
and set on fire, but was not destroyed. It is probably one himdred and seventy-six years old. 

In the Jonathan Harrington house, on Main street, lived Jonathan Harrington, fifor of 
Captain Parker's company. At the time of the battle, Mr. Harrington was only sixteen years 
of age, but he lived to be ninety-six years old, and was the last survivor of the Ijattle. 

The Marrett Munroe house was built in 1729, and was occupied by Marrett Munroe on April 
19, 1775. Caleb Harrington was running towards this house with some powder which he had 
obtained in the church, when he was killed. A British bullet passed th'-ough a window over 




STATUE OF CAPT PAKKEU. LEXINGTON. 

David Fiske, and during tlie middle of 



xlvi 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



the door and was imbedded in a bureau, wliere it still remains. The bureau is owned by a de- 
scendant of Marrett Munroe. 

The Briti.sh left a wounded soldier at the Sanderson house, and Mrs. Sanderson cared for 
him, but he was so afraid she would poison him that he refused to eat or drink until some mem- 
ber of the family had tasted of whatever food was offered him. Lewis Downing, the famous 
coach builder, was born liere. 

The Fiske house was occupied by Dr. Joseph Fiske at the time of the battle. He dre.ssed 
the wounded after the encounter on the common, and cared for them during the day. Three 
generations of Fiskes have lived in Lexington since then on this estate. 

The Lawrence house was the home of the Lawrence family, who located here in the early 
settlement of the town, and later removed from here to Groton. The well-known merchants 
Abbott and Amos Lawrence were descended from this family. 

The Wellington homestead has been the home of the Wellingtons for six or seven genera- 
tions. Benjamin Wellington was the first prisoner taken Vn' the British on the morning of April 
19, 1775. Others: Pierce homestead, and Muzzey homestead. 

The Buckman Tavern, on Bedford street, is now called the Merriam House, and was the 

meeting-place of the minute-men 
the night before the battle and 
on the morning of the following 
day. It has many bullet holes 
caused by the shots of the British. 
In the small L the first post-office 
in Lexington was kept. 

The Munroe Tavern was the 
headquarters of Hugh, Earl Percy. 
As the British, hard pressed Iiy 
the minute-men, retreated from 
Concord, they were met in the 
vicinity of this tavern by rein 
forcements under Lord Percy. 
They attended to their wounded 
at this place, and ate and drank 
whatever they could find, and 
enrled by killing the man who had served them, then, setting fire to the building, they contin- 
ued on their retreat. The fire was fortunately extinguished. In 1789 Washington dined here 
in the southeast room of the second story. The wounded British were cared for in the room 
underneath. On the right hand of the front door of the bar-room is a bullet hole in the ceiling 
made by the discharge of a British musket. The fire above mentioned was set in this room. 

The Simonds Tavern is a large building with two great chimneys, two front doors, and two 
kitchens. In the north parlor are seen a fine panelling and cornice, and a tall narrow mantel 
with blue and white Dutch tiling. Joseph Simonds was landlord of this tavern from 1802 to 
1828. 

On the Concord turnpike, not far from the Parker homestead, is the tavern kept by William 
Simonds from 1810 to 1828. It has brick ends. At one time a dancing school was kept here 
and many parties were given. 

The Bowman Tavern was made of two houses, one of which was taken down in 1843. There 
were five landlords before 1840. Their names were Bowman, Brown, Spear, Wyman, and Lem- 
uel Lakin. The last named kept the house from 1833 to 1840, and it was then called "Lakin 
Tavern." Afterwards the landlords were Messrs. Flint, Fields, and, finally, James W. Colburn. 




Ulil llarriiigtoii House, Lexington. Here Jonathan Harrington lived, and 
here he died on the doorstep after being shot on Lexington Common. 



HISTORIC HOMES A.Vf) PLACES. xlvii 

It has been a private dwelling house since 1S43. It was a popular house and in the busy sea- 
son put up sometimes as many as fortj' horses. 

The Hoar Tavern is just within the precincts of Lincoln. Here some of the Americans 
who harrassed the British on April 19th took food and refreshment. It was kept fiist by John 
Hoar, and then by Leonard Hoar, and finalh" by Joseph Hoar. It w^as not a regular tavern, 
but a place where one could get board and lodging. 

LITTLETON 

Littleton, from 1654 until its incorporation as an English town in 1714, was the place of 
one of several Indian plantations, or towns, incorporated through the influence of Rev. John 
Eliot, the apostle to the Indians. Its name was originally Nashobah. In order of its founding 
it was the sixth praying Indian town; its inhabitants numbered about ten families, 
or about fift}- souls. The dimensions of the village territory were estimated at four 
miles square. The prejudice which arose against all Indians at the time of Philip's War, 
1675-76, proved very fatal to the interests of the inhabitants of this Indian village. In 1675-76 
there were several English families living in the territory, which was afterwards Littleton, and 
in Februarj-^ of the latter year two brothers, Abraham and Isaac Shepard, were killed by hostile 
Indians. The treatment these friendly Indians received at the hands of the English was not 
creditable, and as time advanced the white people moved into the deserted plantation and settled 
there with no real right save that of possession. These first settlers had no town government, 
and for civic and religious purposes associated themselves, as was customary, with the neigh- 
boring towns. The report of a committee to view the plantation in 1711, after viewing the 
boundaries, recommended that, on account of its remoteness from other towns, a township be 
made of it; that, at that time, there were about fifteen families already settled there. In 1713, 
the Council finding that the Indian native proprietors were all removed by death except two 
or three families there remaining, directed that the said lands of Nashobah be preserved for a 
township. The act of incorporation followed in 1714, reserving five hundred acres for the ben- 
efit of any of the descendants of the former Indian proprietors that might be surviving. "The 
name of Littleton was given to the town by the court in 1715. The name was given, it is 
supposed, as a compHment to Hon. George Lyttleton, a prominent Englishman who sent a 
bell from England as a present. But on account of the error in .spelling the name Littleton, 
and not Lyttleton, the present was withheld on the ground that no such town as "Lyttleton" 
co\ild be found, and the party who had charge of the bell sold it. 

In 1776 the population of Littleton was 918. A part of Box bo rough was set off from Lit- 
tleton as a district in 1783. Up to 1822 there was but one church in the town, and the town 
to-day has a population of not much more than 1,179. 

Authorities: Foster, Edmund, "Century Sermon", 1815. Harwood, H. J., reprint of 
sketch of this town in Hurd's "Middlesex County", 1890. Littleton Historical Society, "Pro- 
ceedings". 

HOPKINTON 

Hopkinton was incorporated as a town December 13, 1715, and the first town-meeting 
was held in 1724. The town seems to have been hitherto under the direction of a committee 
of trustees, and there were no selectmen or other tow-n officers between these two dates. At 
that meeting they chose five selectmen, and one of the selectmen was elected towTi clerk. Pre- 
viously, the Ashland part of Hopkinton had been from 1669 the seventh town where the pray- 
ing Indians, converted by Rev. John Eliot, had inhabited. Here they had been taught to 
make cedar shingles and clapboards, in which work they displayed more skill than the English 



xlviii 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(lid. In 1674, according to the report of the Indian commissioner of that time, their settle- 
ment was partly within the bounds of Natick, and partly upon lands granted by the county. 
The inhabitants numbered about eleven families, or about fifty-five persons. When Philip's 
Indian War ended the number left of this tribe joined the Indians of Natick, and their lands 
were then voted in 1715 to be sold to the trustees of "Edward Hopkins' legacy." Permission 
was given in the same year by the General Court to the said trustees to make the said purchase, 
and a deed conveying eight thousand acres was accordingly executed by the Indians. After- 
ward the General Court gave to the trustees the province land, and thus increased their pos- 
sessions to twenty-five thousand acres, which, on petition of the trustees, was incorporated 
into a township by the name of Hopkinton. 

The name was derived from Etlward Hopkins, who came from England in 1637 and later 
became governor of Connecticut. He died in England in 1657, and bequeathed £500 out of 
his estate in this country to trustees, to be invested, after the death of his wife, in houses and 
lands in New England; the income to be devoted to the support of students in the grammar 
and divinity schools of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and to the purchase of books to be given to 
meritorious students of Harvard College. His wife did not die until the year 1698, and after 
a suit in chancery the trustees obtained a verdict in satisfaction of the legacy of five hundred 
pounds, amounting with interest to eight hundred pounds, and six hundred pounds of this 
was wasted in the piuchase of the Indian lands in Hopkinton. About one-half of these acres 

was leased for ninety-nine years, 
and the remainder was held as 
common land. The province 
land was granted on condition 
that the fee should remain in the 
province. After considerable le- 
gal action it was determined first 
by a special act that the trustees 
had power to execute leases for 
I term not exceeding ninetj'-nine 
\ears, and second, from 1723, 
I hat the rate be one penny sterl- 
ing an acre, until a certain time 
in 1823, when a considerable in- 

Taveru at Uopkinloii. wliere \\a.shiiigtoii and Webster cUned. CreaSe WaS demanded during the 

remaining time. Therefore, in 1S2.'5 trouble arose on this subject, and both parties resorted 
to the courts and legislature. The matter was settled in 1832 by the legislature agreeing tO' 
pay eight thousand dollars to the trustees, and to the tenants two thousand dollars. In 
1735 a part of the town was set off to the town of Upton. In 1846 another part was set off 
to Ashland. 

HOLLISTON 




Holliston was a part of Sherborn until its incorporation as a to\fn in 1724. Its terri- 
tory had been previously the site of several large land grants, and few families had settled upon 
them before 1700. No new settlers had been admitted before 1682, when a division of the com- 
mon lands was effected. The distance from the church in Sherborn was a serious obstacle, 
and in 1723 the number of subscribers to be set off as a separate town was only thirteen. The 
location of a new meeting-house in Sherborn, which proved adverse to the interests of this 
section of that town, greatly advanced the project of a separation of the inhabitants of this 
part of Sherborn from the older part. An attempt was made to make of them a parish, rather 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. xlix 

than a town, but the motion to make a town prevailed, and the new town called Holliston was 
accordingly incorporated December 3, 1724. It was named in honor of Thomas Hollis, of 
London, a benefactor of Harvard College. He accepted the compliment and presented the 
town with a large Bible. He is also said to have given a bell for the meeting-house, but the 
stories told regarding this bell arc of doubtful authority. The further history of the Bible was 
not especially creditable to the receivers. When worn out it was given to the poor-house, 
where after much difficulty a descendant of the donor, living in Boston, secured its pcssession. 
Latterly, the church again secured it and made a shrine for it resembling a great book, and it 
was safe from harm in the keeping of the church officers. 

It is a well understood fact that what is given to people, and for which they make no sac- 
fice, is not always appreciated, and soon cast aside. An example of this occurred in this very 
town in the case of a pewter flagon inscribed, "The gift of Mrs. Dorothy Ware, late of Sher- 
borne, to the church in Holliston, 1745", which was found in the village tinshop, destined to 
be melted for solder, as it was better metal than usual for that purjjose. This was saved, and 
given to an historical society. Another pewter flagon inscribed "The gift of the town of Sher- 
bourn to the church in Holliston - - - 1728", was found in a distant town, having been 
purchased of a tin-peddler many years before. This was recovered and saved. 

In 1826 the town sustained a small reduction in its territory by an exchange of land with 
the town of Medway, and a larger loss of its territory in 1846 by the incorporation of the town 
of .\shland. 

"At the end of the first century", says one of the historians of the town, "the population 
of Holliston had grown from one hundred to thirteen hundred." In 1753-54 a grievous sick- 
ness and mortality prevailed in the town and fifty-three persons died, being more than one- 
eighth of the population at that time, and aid was given the distressed town by the General 
Court. Many families were broken up entirely, and the population was almost decimated. " The 
people were engaged as a whole in reclaiming and tilling the lands. The shoemaker, black- 
smith, carpenter, and storekeeper were regarded only as adjuncts to society. It was conven- 
ient to have just enough mechanics and tradesmen to meet the wants of the people, and they 
desired no more. Even these did not pretend to live by their trades, but in addition cultivated 
their lands. Under these conditions the population continued to increase slowly from year to 
year", with the exception of the fatal sickne.ss mentioned above. Such was the condition of 
Holliston during the first one hundred years of its history. 

Authority: Morse, Abner, "Genealogical Register of the Inhabitants, and History of the 
Towns of Sherborn and Holliston", 1856. 

STONEHAM 

Stoneham was a part, — the northerly part, — of Charlestown, before its inhabitants, be- 
cause of "their remoteness from the place of public worship", petitioned the General Court 
to be set off as a distant and separate town, which was accordingly enacted, and the name of 
Stoneham given to the township, December 17, 1725. The lands granted appeared to have 
been laid out as early as 1657-58 by the town of Charlestown in a corporate capacity, and divided 
among the inhabitants in severalty. Range lines were run a quarter of a mile apart, and rules 
were laid down for the division of the land into smaller parcels. There appeared to have 
been at first no general settlement of the territory as in other places. But the solitary pioneer 
was the first to break the silence of the wilderness, and thus little clearings were begun, and 
the first farms started. In 1678 there were six heads of families occupying this territory. 
When the town was organized, a meeting-house was built, and measures were taken to se- 
cure a settled minister and a schoolmaster, as the court had ordered in the act of incorpor- 

l-4h 



1 MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

ation. Several ministers were heard on trial before one was chosen. The one selected re- 
mained from 1729 to the time of his death in 1746. 

The growth of the town was slow during the first seventy-five years of its history, and it 
was long subsequent to 1800 when Stoneham became a manufacturing town. In 1803 the sec- 
ond meeting-house built by the town was dedicated. In 1819 occurred in the town the brutal 
murder of one of its citizens, named Jacob Gould, for robbery, which created an immense sensa- 
tion at the time, and the memory of which, in those comparatively quiet times, lasted for many 
years afterwards. In 1837, during the anti-slavery agitation, the town refused to allow lec- 
tures and discussions on that subject to be held in the town-house, and the excitement eventually 
culminated in mob violence and the homicide of Timothy Wheeler. The population in 1837 
was a little over 900. As one of the town's historians remarked, in" 115 years Stoneham had 
made but little material progress. In fact, during the first century the growth had been hardly 
perceptible and the changes slight." Outside of agriculture, the principal occupation was shoe 
manufacture, carried on in a small way in comparison with the expensive plants of a later period 
in the history of the town. During the twenty-five years succeeding 1840, great changes took 
place, great factories sprang up, and a few scattered houses grew into a compact and thrifty town. 

Authorities: Dean, Silas, "Brief History of the Town of Stoneham", 1843. Stevens, W. 
B., "History of Stoneham", 1891. 

In Stoneham are a number of ancient dwellings, of which the following is a partial list. The 
old Parsonage house on Central street was built in 1747. Its occupants have been Rev. John 
Games; Rev. John Searle; Rev. John Gleaveland, and Rev. John H. Stevens. The house has 
been remodeled and is no longer used as a parsonage. The house of Jesse Dike is said to have 
been built by a man named Hadley. The house owned and occupied by Captain Rufus Rich- 
ardson was formerly owned by a man named Wiley. It was afterwards owned by the father 
of Benjamin Gerry. The building owned by Elias P. Bryant and occupied by Phineas Green 
was formerly owned by Nathan Simonds. The house of Nathaniel Stevens was built many 
years since by a man from Charlestown, by name John Wright. The house of the late Elienezer 
Buckman is one of the oldest dwellings standing. It was a place of rendezvous during the time 
of the Revolution. The house on Summer street occupied by Deacon Jabez Lynde and James 
H. Gould is very old. The house of Thomas Gould was standing in 1714. This is where the 
well-known Stoneham murder happened. The old Sprague house is the last building on the 
old road to Medford. Here lived Captain Samuel Sprague, who commanded the town com- 
pany at the time of the Revolution. Others: House of Oliver Richardson; house of Caleb 
Wiley, remodeled; house of James Hadley; house of John Buckman; the Sweetzer house, 
called the old Hill house. 

BEDFORD 

Bedford and Westford were incorporated as towns on the same date, September 23, 1729. 
Bedford was a part of the towns of Concord and Billerica. It was an outlying district of both 
towns. Efforts to form a new town were made in 1728, the reasons given being the usual ones 
of distance from the place of worship in the older towns. "In the extreme difficult seasons 
of heat and cold we were ready to say of the Sabbath: 'Behold what a weariness is it!' The 
extraordinary expenses we are at in transporting and refreshing ourselves and families on the 
Sabbath has added to our burdens. This we have endured from year to year with as much 
patience as the nature of the case would bear, but our .increasing numbers now seem to plead 
an exemption." The application to tlie General Court for a separate town was successful, 
and the town was incorporated in 1729. Among the early purchases made by the town was the 
law book ordered to be passed about according to the judgment of the selectmen, and the town 
'.book of records. The meeting-house was nearly completed before the act of incorporation was 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. li 

passed and the first town-meet iiig was held in it. The house then offered Init few attractions 
save as a sheher from the storms. In seating the meeting-house the committee had respect 
to them that were fifty years of age or upward. Those under fifty were to be seated according 
to "their pay." "The man and his wife" were to sit in the pew, excepting deacons, and the 
church was organized on the day the first minister was ordained. While garrison-houses were 
provided at the time of Philip's War, the homes of the scattered settlers of the section now 
represetited by the town of Bedford did not suffer from any general invasion on the part of the 
Indian enemy. 

"Bedford has always been classed", says one of its historians, "with the agricultural towns 
of the State." One peculiarity of this town was the "English Right", or an annuity from es- 
tates in the mother country enjoyed by several of the early families for several generations. 
The Lane and Page families were the beneficiaries. It Ijegan in New England with Job Lane, 
and came to the Page family through the marriage of a granddaughter with Nathaniel Page, 
the second of the name in this country, who was born, like his father, in England. There is 
extant in Bedford a collection of scores of bills and letters between the custodians of the English 
estates and Job Lane, dating from 1651, and extending through the intervening years to a date 
as late as 17S5. Sometimes the annual remittance was made in goods instead of money, at 
the request of the beneficiary, and in 1721 six large quarto bibles were received. Biblical in- 
voices were also sent in 1748 and 1754. Dress fabrics were often ordered and received. The 
goods were sent in large leather-covered trunks. The town exacted a tax on the income, and 
an attempt being made for its abatement, it was voted in 1744 "not to abate the rates that 
the Lanes and Pages, gentlemen, were assessed for their income from England." Remittances 
during the war of the Revolution ceased, but after the Revolution the full amount came in one 
payment. The legal claimants of the Lane income at length became very numerous, and the 
first division very difficult; therefore, the claims were sold in the early part of the nineteenth 
century. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries persons having incomes from English 
estates were numerous in the Massachusetts towns about Boston, and, from the facts connecting 
the relationship of these heirs, many items of interest to genealogists have been discovered. 

Authorities: Abram E. Brown, wrote the sketch of Bedford for Kurd's "History of Mid- 
dlesex County," issued this sketch in a much enlarged form, under the title of "History of the 
Town of Bedford", 1891. Under the title, "Glimpses of Old New England Life, or Legends 
of Old Bedford", 1892, Mr. Brown issued another work on that town of popular character. Shat- 
tuck's "Concord" contains a chapter on Bedford. J. F. Stearns delivered an historical dis- 
course at the 150th aimiversary of the town, 1879. 

The Mrs. Lawrence estate, or "Dominie Man.se," so called, was built by the Rev. Nicholas 
Bowes, who was ordained as the first minister of Bedford in 17.30. His wife was Miss Lucy 
Hancock, daughter of Rev. John Hancock, of Lexington, and the couple had eight children. 
Their daughter Lucy went to Lexington to live with her grandmother, and she married her 
grandfather's successor in the ministry, the Rev. Jonas Clarke. The mansion was sokl to John 
Reed in 1767. In 1805 it became the property of his son John. At his decease it came into 
the possession of his widow, Hannah Reed, and at her death it was inherited by the daughter 
of her son Otis. Annie Reed Stiles was the owner in the fourth generation, and at her death 
Mrs. Melvina Reed Lawrence came into possession of the estate. 

The Page farm has been in the family and family name for over two hundred years. It 
was purchased in 1GS7 by Nathaniel Page (1), and was inherited by his son Nathaniel, followed 
by Christopher, Jol^, Nathaniel, Nathaniel, and Cyrus, in successive generations. The house 
has been removed to another location in recent years. The name of Page has always been a 
prominent one in the history of Bedford. 

The estate of descendants of William Hartwell, on the Concord side of Bedford, was owned 



lii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

by the Hartwell family for two hundred years, the house being built in 1758. The homestead 
of Benjamin Fitch has been in the family and name since 1730. (1891.) " Stone Croft Farm" 
was bought by the family in 1766, and in 1891 was owned by Miss Caroline M. Fitch. The house 

was built about 1700. 

The Stearns house was built by the Rev. Joseph Penniman, the third minister of the town, 
and was purchased by the Rev. Samuel Stearns, the fourth minister of Bedford, who was ordained 
in 1796. For thirty-seven years Mr. Stearns did much to mould the character of the towns- 
people. The Stearns house was designed by Reuben Duren, a local architect of considerable 

ability. 

The Davis estate has been in the family for about two centuries, and the origmal deed is 
in the possession of the present owner. (1891.) The present house is upon the site of the orig- 
inal homestead, and is over a century and a half old. The possession of the property has al- 
ways been in the male line. The Davises have been noted in military affairs from early times. 

Colonel Timothy Jones built the house on the Murrey place soon after the Revolutionary 
War. It was a fine house at that time, and was designed by Reuben Duren. The Bacon house 
is supposed to be the original homestead, and six generations of Bacons have been born in it. 
Captain Jonathan Wilson, who was killed at Concord, April 19, 1775, lived on this estate. It 
has had several owners. 

The ancient house on the Winthrop farm may be the one built by Job Lane in 1664. The 
farm representing this estate covered fifteen hundred acres and was in the possession of the Win- 
throp family for a long time. Another old house on a part of what was once the Winthrop 
farm was built, it has been supposed, by Joseph Fitch, who married Sarah Grimes, in 1731. 

The house occupied by Miss Abby L. Hartwell in 1891 was built by Jonathan Bacon, in 
the beginning of the nineteenth century. The next owner of this place was John Merriam, 
Esquire, who was succeeded by Deacon Amos Hartwell, who died in 1870. The "Bedford 
House" was built in the first quarter of the nineteenth century by Joshua Page. It was, at 
first a private house, but was enlarged and made into a public house. The Pollard house. 
The Sampson house. 

The old meeting-house in this town was built in 1816. The frame was prepared and put 
together on the ground, and then pulled into place, a side at a time. The bell was imported from 
England, and was given by Mr. Jeremiah Fitch. It was destroyed some years ago. Mr. Fitch 
gave the clock, which is ornamented with a gilt eagle and balls. The edifice is a fine example 
of Colonial architecture, and shows the influence of Sir Christopher Wren in the storied tower, 
which stands on the ground, and the same influence in the urn shaped ornaments which deco- 
rate it. 

WESTFORD 

The town of Westford was formerly in, greater part, a portion of Chelmsford, and known 
as the West Precinct of that town. In 1729 it was incorporated as a town by its present name. 
A small part of Groton was annexed to it in 1730. The eastern portion of the town was the 
part first settled, and there was its oldest burying-ground, a mile east of the town meeting- 
house. The oldest headstones bear the date of 1702. The church was organized in 1727, and 
remained the only church of the town until 1828. In 1792 was founded the famous Westford 
Academy, incorporated in 1793. 

The Unitarian Church is an old structure, built during the year 1794. It was the third 
house of worship built in Westford for the town. On the estate known as the Cameron place, 
dating from 1762 was a house, the front part of which was built originally for a Sunday "noon- 
house." Here the Sunday worshippers who came from a distance could find fire and warmth 
and a place to eat their food, the meeting-houses being devoid of stoves until about the year 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. liii 

1819. The Prescotl house, burned iu 1876, was an old house of the early period. The Dr. 
Asaph Fletcher house, removed to another site in 1875, was formerly known as the old Byam 
house. Forge Village is beyond doubt the oldest in this town. The Central Village, i)uilt on 
a commanding eminence, contains the church edifices and the academy and the town hall. 
The good influence of the academy and the general intelligence and social refinement of the 
people, entitle this town and village to high rank among the desirable country villages of north- 
ern Middlesex. 

Authority: Hodgman, E. R., "History of Westford," 1883. 

WILMINGTON 

Wilmington, like many of the towns of the second period after the first settlement of the 
country by the older towns in the previous century, was made a town by itself,because of its 
remoteness from the usual place of worship in the older town. Thus the act for its incor- 
poration states particularly that it was an act for erecting the northeasterly part of Woburn 
and westerly part of Reading into a township bj' the name of Wilmington, because the region 
was so remote from the place of the public worship of God in either of the said towns. The 
date of the act of incorporation was September 25, 17.30. 

The people occupying the lands were agriculturists, as they are to-day. The settle- 
ment had suff'ered from Indian depredations, but, when the new town was formed, comparative 
peace prevailed. A meeting-house was erected in 1732, and a church with seventeen male 
members was formed in 1733. Wilmington was never a separate precinct of another town, 
the court believing that the arguments in favor of a new precinct were stronger in favor of es- 
tablishing a new town. In 1813 a new meeting-house was erected to take the place of the one 
erected in 1732. In 1864 this meeting-house was burned, and another erected. This was the 
only church organization in the town until 1840. 

Authorities: Bond, A. T., "History of Wilmington", in preparation, .\oyes, D. P., 
"Historical Address", 1881. Wilmington Vital Records, edited by J. E. Kelley, and published 
by the town, 1898. 

By 1730, Sergeant .\braham .Jaquith, who lived in Goshen (or the region now covered by 
the central and western parts of Wilmington) occupied a garrison house which stood over a 
cellar, near the house of Mr. Aldrich (1880), and Deacon James Thompson occupied the place 
known as Mr. Rich Carters'. These houses were seven miles from the center of the old town 
of Woburn, where the meeting-house then was. A saying of Benjamin Jaquith, a son of Abra- 
ham, in reference to this distance from religious ordinances, was "Early to meeting, early to 
heaven, I vow you." 

In 1880 there were standing several ancient houses in the town which were extant in 1730 
or later. The Stockwell place, near the Andover line, belonged in olden times to a family named 
Jones. The eastern half of the Pearson house dated back to 1730. The frame was filled in 
w-ith brick. The original dwelling was evidently much smaller than the present. The plank 
covering and the brick filling answered the purpose of protection against the weather and the 
Indian enemies. These houses were not plastered within for the want of lime. The Stanley 
house, in the same "Land of Nod," a large square house with an open green and great elms, 
belonged originally to a family who.se name has disappeared from the town. The Upton place, 
once belonging to a family named Rich. The smaller house of Mr. Holt, in the same vicinity, 
was raised July 4, 1776. It had onginally a gambrel roof. The similar old house of Levi Man- 
ning is another structure of those times. The Silas. Brown farm was the Samuel Dummer place 
one hundred and fifty years before 1880. The house stood at the foot of the hill, in the rear 
of the present house which was built about 1795 by Colonel Joshua Harnden. Near by is the 



liv 



MIDDT.ESEX COUXTV 








HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. Iv 

site of the Jolm Harnilen house, where in 1706 some Indians killed four persons and captured 
four more. The lihinchard farm-house marks the liome of Cadwallader Ford, a native of Ire- 
land. This house was huilt liy him and is still occupieil liy his descendants. It i.s a hand.some 
specimen of the best houses of the period beciiniiinii; in 1730. The ancient house of the Scales 
family dates back at least to 1741. A pane of glass over the front door bore the inscription 
" Aug. 2, 1769." It is a specimen of an ordinary style of building of its day, the rear roof sloping 
to within a few feet of the ground. Its one great chimney had its bricks laid in clay. Its con- 
dition in 1880 is described as speaking plainly of hartl times and rough usage. The Samuel 
Gowing house was built by Joseph Harnden about a hundred years ago. It was a Gowing place 
fifty years before that. The N. Bradley Eames house was the home of the Hathornes; the 
Pickering, that of an Evans. The Lemuel C. Eames house was standing one hundred and fifty 
years since, and the w-hole or a part of Benjamin Buck's house. The gambrel-roofed house 
opposite the tannery belonged to Esquire Samuel Eames, and is supposed to have been in his 
family name as long ago as 1730. An ancient Blanchard house stands at the top of the hill, 
probably that of Daniel Killam in 1730. The William Eames house, the Timothy Carter and 
Deacon Cadwallader Morrill houses, are over seventy years old. The dwelling of the .Taque 
family stood on the spot where Joseph Ames lived. Further down on the same side of the .street 
is a Carter house — the family of Mr. Rich Carter. On the Woburn road was the Flagg place. 
The house of Mrs. Benjamin Perry belonged to John Gowing. The Lorenzo Butters house wa 
that of his forefathers. In the same neighborhood was a second Butters place, and a third, a 
garrison house, is now owned by Mrs. Avery and Mrs. Spalding. Part of a fourth Butters house 
is occupied by George Taylor. A fifth site is at the Johnson place, and a sixth at the Addison 
place: and the whole wa.s known as Butters' Row. The Bell farm lay below, the old house 
standing over the cellar opposite the barn on the right. 

In the west district is the old Walker place, occupied by Edward Carter and Roxanna 
Carter. The house built by Peter Corneille is that occupied by Mrs. Jonathan Jaquith. Abra- 
ham Jacpiith in 1730, occupier of the "garrison house," was fifty-seven years old (born 1673, 
died 17.53, aged eighty); his wife Sarah died 1771, in her ninetieth year. " He must have spoken 
with some of the first settlers of Woburn (and of Wilmington) and some now living (1880) have 
spoken with his son." The Joshua Jaquith hou.se was not quite so ancient iis the Abraham 
Jaquith house; another, owned by Mr. Aldrich, was built by Captain James Jaquith, grandson 
of Abraham. Near the old canal locks in this neighborhood was a dwelling-house built by 
Jonathan lieard, and sold by him to Colonel Samuel Hojjkins, and by him to Timothy Carter, 
and this, with the houses of WilUam Nichols and Joseph Burnap near by, were burned i)y fires 
kindled by sparks from a locomotive. 

If the ancient houses which remain are any evidence, their former owners were comfortable 
and respectable farmers. The majority of these people may have been poor, according to mod- 
ern standards, and they sat down, perhaps, to what their descendants would consider coarse 
fare. These serious-minded, sensible people were scatteiod over a wide surface, and none had 
many near neighbors. A general reputation for stability and trustworthine.ss has always char- 
acterized the people of this town. They make no pretense, give occasion for little talk, and mind 
their own business, and do their duty. The ancient hou.ses of this people are emblematic of 
their tastes and the permanency of their families. 

Authority: Noyes, "Historical Address," Sept. 2.5, 1880, Boston, 1881. 



Ivi MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

TOWNSEND 

Townsend, whose name was derived from a friend of the provincial governor then in power, 
was incorporated June 30, 1732. Its namesake was Viscount Charles Townshend, of England, 
who held the office of His Majesty's Secretary of War at that time. The name was spelled 
Townshend, until about the year 1780 the town clerk began to spell the name by omitting the 
h, and after 1800 the custom of spelling it that way became general. The township of Town- 
send was called into existence by an order or grant of province lands in 1719, from a territory 
formerly called Turkey Hills. In 1728 a few families settled here from Chelmsford, Groton, 
and Woburn. It was called the northerly part of Turkey Hills, and in 1732 was constituted 
a town by the name of Townsend. By the running of the province line in 1741 the town lost 
about one-third of its territory to New Hampshire, but acquired a northeast corner located 
considerably south of the point for which it had formerly contended. 

The town of Ashby was chartered in 1767, Townsend contributing more than half the 
territory. The present boundaries of the town have remained unaltered since 1792. 

After 1800 sectarianism began to be the cause of discord among a hitherto united people 
and in 1829 there arose a disagreement between the two leading orders of sectaries in the 
town in regard to the use of the town meeting-house. The sect which had a majority of sym- 
pathizers among the voters acquired the use of it more Sabbaths than the other, and the mi- 
nority, resenting the victory, seceded from the town's meeting-house in a body, one Sabbath 
morning, and never used it afterward. 

The high standard of culture in these rural towns during the first half of the ninteeenth cen- 
tury culminated in the founding of academies of good local reputation. Denominational in- 
fluences had considerable to do with their foundation in many instances at that time, and Town- 
send had its share of such institutions. But with the advancement of town high schools, a 
more liberalizing and sensible policy has prevailed in relation to private opinion, and the town 
schools are opened to all, irrespective of religious belief. 

Authority: Sawtelle, I. B., "History of the Town of Townsend", 1878. 

Mr. Sawtelle, in his excellent "Historv of Townsend," published in 1878, mentions a num- 
ber of old houses — "relics of the distant past" — which were then standing. First, the hou,se 
of Mrs. Sarah Conant, innholder, in the year 1765 — house located at the southerly end of the 
dam at Townsend Harbor. The house of Daniel Taylor, on the west side of the road leading 
from the Harbor to Lunenburg, "one of the oldest in town." The house of Samuel Stone Haynes; 
here a hundred people dined with the owner on the day of an ordination on January 1, 1800. 
The council, pastor elect, and invited guests, dined on that occasion at the widow Sarah Con- 
ant's tavern, mentioned above. The parsonage house, given to the town by Amos Whitney 
in 1769 was renovated and wrought into another structure before 1878, and is described as 
"elegant and unostentatious." An old house painted red. standing on the north side of the 
road, nearly opposite the mill yard at the Harbor, occupied as a store by Joshua Smith, a Tory 
during the Revolution. The house of Joseph Adams, a physician, "who was loyal to the crown 
and the British ministry," was the same building occupied as a dwelling in recent years by 
Daniel Dix. 

In 1787 Townsend Harbor was the only collection of houses in town which could be called 
a village: it contained a tavern, the large, old house (yet standing) at or near the south end 
of the dam at the river, kept by John Conant, a popular landlord; a saw and grist mill, a black- 
smith shop, a clothier (1790), a tanner, a trader (Life Baldwin, in 1788), who occupied the build- 
ing for a store, which is painted red and stands at the north side of the road, nearly opposite 

to Jonas Spaulding's counting-room About 1800 there was a heavy growth of 

pitch-pine where the Central Village now stands, the nearest houses to which were the red house, 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. Ivii 

now standing on the north side of the road, south of the Walker Pond, and two or three small 
dwellings situated at the westward of the old burying-ground, or in that vicinity. (Sawtelle, 
Hist., p. 252.) At the west village, the hotel now standing and two or three houses constituted 
all the buildings of that locality. The borders of the town, at that time, contained probably 
as many inhabitants as now. (Ibid.) The house of Dr. Isaac MuUiken (1780). The hotel at 
West Townsend dates from 1793 to 1800. The village of West Townsend in 1818 had for its 
nuclei, the hotel and two or three small dwelling-houses, besides Jonathan Richardson's house, 
in what is the present postal centre of that community. (Sawtelle, Hist., p. 339.) 

TEWKSBURY 

Tewksbury, previous to its incorporation, was a part of Billerica. The distance in going 
to worship in the old meeting-house caused unea.siness which led to a separation and incorpor- 
poration of the tract as a town. Hence in 1783 the northern section of Billerica asked the an- 
cient town to erect a meeting-house in the centre of the town, so as to accommodate the north- 
erly part of the town, or set them off, so that they maintain preaching among themselves. The 
last part of this request was granted. This was followed by a petition for a grant for a town, 
and Tewksbury was incorporated December 23, 1734. The southeast part of the present town 
was that first settled. The first minister was called in 1737, and for sixty years he was the sole 
pastor of the only church, until his death in 1796. For the second settled minister it was nec- 
essary "to prop up the galleries in the meeting-house and make it secure against the day of 
ordination." This was in great contrast with the earlier time, when it was not definitely known 
when the church was first formed and what the exact date of the completion of their first meet- 
ing-house was. In 1818 the town voted to build a new meeting-house. This building was not 
finished until 1824. The separation between church and town occurred in 1833. The first 
church was the only church in town till 1843. Since 1854 Tewksbury has been the site of the 
State Almshouse. 

Authorities: Coggin, .Jacob, "Sermon", with historical appendix, at dedication of a new 
meeting-house in Tewksbury, 1824. Pride, E. W., "Tewksbury; a short history", 1888. 

Tewksbury offers some fine specimens of old time New England architecture. At the 
centre village are the church and the village tavern. The church dates back to the year 1824. 
Originally it contained galleries on three sides, now reduced to one, and there were box pews 
against the walls, with pews in the centre nearer the shape of those now in use. In 1841 the 
church was transferred from the town to the present parish. Some improvements and radical 
alterations were made in this building after 1860, and a hall and vestry were added to it at a 
cost of six thousand dollars. The age of the village tavern has not been reported to us, but 
it is said to be an old structure. Among the characteristic old houses in this town are the 
Spaulding homestead, in excellent preservation, the residence of the first settled town minis- 
ter, located in the centre village, and built by him in 1738. The Coggin mansion, the home of 
the third minister of the church, is a house of large proportions common to the taste of the min- 
istrj' of a century or more ago. Other houses of common pattern, all of the two-story order, 
are the old Chapman house, the Jaques house, and the Bridges house, the last named at East 
Tewksbury. All of the latter group have been, with the exception of the Bridges house, sub- 
jected to some extent to modern alterations, especially by the addition of porches. 



Iviii 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 





HISTORIC IloMl'.S AXl) PLACES. 



lix 



ACTOX 

Acton was incorporated as a town on .Inly 21, 17o5. Its territory was originally a jxirt 
of Concord. In 1780 Acton lost a part of its area to help form the new town of Carlisle, but 
from 1754 to 1780 the township of Acton was larjier in territory than its jjarent town of Con- 
cord, but not its equal in ])o]nilation or in wealth. Acton's territory was not at first a part 
of the original territory of Concord, but was added to Concord a few years after by the name 
of "Concord Milage." The settlement of the tract l)egan as early as 1656, when by order of 
the General Court it was laid out. Captain Thomas Wheeler, who died in 1676, of wounds 
received in battle with the Indians at Hrookfield, when he was in command of the English 
forces there engaged, built the first house. 




Iiaac Oa«ii Monum«nl. Acton 



The act of incorporation recites that the inhal)itants aiul proprietors of the nurtliwesterly 
part of Concord, called the Village, or New Grant, have represented to the court that they "la- 
bor unfler great difficulties by rea.son of their remoteness from the place of public wor.ship, " 
and that for this they desire that they and their estates be set off as a distinct town. The 
name of Acton was given, it is supposed, from Lord Acton of England. The meeting-house 
was slow in com|)letion, but no other public building in the town existed so long as this. It 
was used for public purposes from 17.37 until 180S, and then was torn down shortly after. 

Acton is famous for the part her men took in the fight at Concord Bridge on the morning 
of April 19, 1775. To those who fell a monument was erected at Acton on the Common by the 
town and state in 1851. As the unit of leadership in the town military company was the cap- 
tain, so in ecclesiastical affairs the unit of leadership was the town minister. It was he who 
was expected to influence for good the temporal as well as the spiritual affairs of the parish, 
and in the da3-s when the town supported the minister the common testimony was that the 
whole town's people were supposed to be present at the Sabbath services, which had an inter- 



Ix 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



est, civil, social and religious, that can to-day be little realized, and there was an attendance 
which always filled the meeting-house. It was so in Acton, and it was so in other places. 

After 1807 the town of Acton became divided into villages, and hence came first the Centre 
Village, and afterwards West and South Acton. In 1840 the town granted leave to set trees 
on the Common, and a general invitation was extended to all the inhabitants to bring suit- 
able trees for that purpose. On the morning of the day appointed the citizens came into the 

village from all parts of the 
town, loaded with trees, and 
almost all the trees then plant- 
ed lived. In 1862 an incendiary 
fire destroyed a greater part 
of the Centre Village, and sev- 
eral buildings possessing much 
historic interest were burnt. 

Authorities : Adams, Jo- 
siah, "Centennial Address", 
published in 1835, contains con- 
siderable concerning the history 
of this town, and its part in the 
Concord fight. It was a work 
very much appreciated at the 
time of its appearance. Fletch- 
er, James, published in separate 
form the sketch of Acton he pre- 

Fauikner House, South Acton, over two hundred years old . , ^ tt n n tt- ^ r 

pared for Hurd s History oi 
Middlesex County", 1890. Shattuck's "Concord" (1835) contains a chapter on Acton. 




WALTHAM 



Waltham, whose date of incorporation wa.s in January, 1738, was for its first century of 
existence a part of Watertown. It had no defined local parish interests until shortly before 
its incorporation. The territory was explored by Governor Winthrop and others in 1632, 
when the party gave names to certain local features, which are retained to the present time, 
such as Beaver Brook, Mount Feake, and others. The course of the settlement at first followed 
only the hills skirting the northern part of the town. The population being composed exclu- 
sively of farmers, they probably preferred the more fertile uplands to the sandy lowlands of 
Waltham Plain. 

The people were at a distance from the east end of Watertown, where the church was lo- 
cated. In 1691 Waltham was the Middle Precinct of Watertown, and a military company 
was formed of its inhabitants. The town meeting-house was built in 1696, about half a mile 
east of the Waltham line, and a new pastor was chosen for this church. This church subse- 
quently became the First Church of Waltham, and its establishment caused a controversy 
between the older part of the town and the new, which caused the General Court to order in 
1712 the building be moved at the expense of two precincts to such a spot in the Middle Pre- 
cinct as that precinct should select. This order was disobeyed, and the Middle Precinct in 
time became the Western Precinct. As the meeting-house was not considered worth mov- 
ing, another was purchased in Newton, and removed and set up in the present Waltham. 

The Western Precinct of Watertown had repeatedly petitioned for a separation into a 
town, and it was accomplished and the name of Waltham given it, but why that name was 



HISTORIC TIOMF.S AND PLACES. Ixi 

selected is not known. The name is that of a town in England. In 1S49 it received an ac- 
cession of territoiy from Newton, and in 1859 it lost a part to form the town of Belmont. The 
thickly settled part of the ctiy is on an undulating plain, through which passes the Charles 
river. Waltham was a town of slow growth, and its inhabitants were mainly agriculturists 
until 1813. In 1764 the town contained ninety-four houses and one hundred and seven fam- 
ilies, or a population of 0G3. In 1783 the population was only 683, the natural increase being 
affected by the Revolutionary War, and its demand on the people for soldiers. In 1813 the 
Boston Manufacturing Company selected Waltham as the site for its operations, and since 
then it has competed with such cities as Lowell and Lawrence for preeminence in manufac- 
turing cloth and in watch-making. 

The sectarian division in Waltham al)out 1820 did not partake so much of a separation on 
religious lines, as on local and sectional lines. The jealou.sies of a scattered comnumity man- 
ifested themselves in a singular way. The difficulty began with a sleigh ride gotten iip in the 
parish, to which several were not invited who felt that they were entitled to recognition. Ex- 
planations and apologies were of no avail. The compact which had united the different parts 
of the town heretofore, was broken forever. The agitation extended to the utmost borders, 
and faction hereafter ruled. Manufacturing increased the population of the southern section 
of the town, and the farmers of the other parts did not view with favor its introduction. They 
opposed the factory people in town meetings and in church, and the newcomers were regarded 
as temporary sojourners and not permanently interested in the affairs of the town. In a few 
years those feelings were changed. Those who worked in the mills did participate after all in 
the advancement of the town for the general good; difTerences on account of occupation or 
locality were subordinated to higher considerations. 

Waltham became a city in 1884, and the change from a town to a city form of govern- 
ment was made in January, 1885. 

Authoiities: Barry, E. L., "City of Waltham, Mass.", 1887. Nelson, C. A., "Waltham, 
Past and Present", 1879. Rutter, Josiah, "Historical Address" (1876) 1877. Waltham, 
"Proceedings at the Celebration of the Sesqui-centennial of the Town", (1888) 1893. 

The Governor Gore place was built between 1790 and 1800. Christopher Gore married 
Rebecca Payne, November 11, 1783, and died March 1, 1827. He was Governor of Massachu- 
setts. The estate of twenty acres in 1799-1804 was laid out by William Payne, brother of Mrs. 
Gore. Tradition says the plan of laying out in plots still remains. On the night of Novem- 
ber 19, 1799, the house and barn were burned. The saitie estate was occupied in early times 
by different families. Rev. George Phillips owned it from 1636 to 1650. In 1651 it passed 
to Job Bishop, son-in-law of Rev. George Phillips. It was then owned by Captain Edward 
Garfield, and then by Captain Benjamin Garfield, and in 1717 by Captain Samuel Garfield, 
and from 1791 to 1829 by Governor Christopher Gore, as above: from 1827 to 1834 by Mrs. 
Gore; from 1834 to 1835 by William Edward Payne; from 1835 to 1840 by Theodore Lyman; 
from 1842 to 1852 by J. S. C. Greene; from 1852 to 1856 by Miss Sara Greene; from 1856 to 
1890 by Theophilus W. Walker, and in 1890 by his widow Sophia Walker. At her death the 
estate went to her sister, and when the latter died the property was given to the Episcopal 
Church. The Walkers left over one million dollars. 

Others: Alvin Adams place. The Nathaniel P. Banks residence was built by Jacob 
Gale and owned by him in 1798. In the Bemis house, on Saturday, July 19, 1794, was held 
the first Methodist preaching. Bishop Asbury was the preacher. The house of Henry Kim- 
ball, on the corner of Newton street, was taxed in 1798 for $870. The Leonard Gushing house 
and the Warham Gushing house are both owned by heirs and descendants of the Gushing fam- 
ily. The house nearly opposite Newton street is where Warham Gushing resided in 1798. The 
front part had been one of the soldiers' barracks at Camliridge durintr the Revolution. It 



Ixii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

passed from Warham Gushing to Samuel Wellington, and through various hands to Edward 
O. Howes, who died in 1850. 

The Fiske house on Main street was once the property of Isaac and Benjamin Hagar. In 
1798 William Fiske was the owner of this house and forty acres of land. From him it passed 
to his youngest daughter Caroline who, upon her death, devised it to the town of Waltham. 
The town did not accept her bequest. A house which before 1798 was occupied by successive 
blacksmiths, whose shop stood near by. Later it became the property of Seth Wellington. 
The house of N. L. Sibley was formerly the residence of Nathan Locke, and was owned and oc- 
cupied by Bradshaw Smith before him. The Lyman mansion, with two acres of land, was 
valued at $8000 in 1798. The land of the Lyman place is supposed to have been the fifty acres 
of land in the First Great Dividend granted to William Paine. The grounds are now laid out 
in an artistic and elegant manner. The house of Samuel Wellington was afterwards the prop- 
erty of John Welsh, of Boston, who added a third story to the house. It was one of the finest 
residences on the street, with an extensive garden, and coach and summer houses kept in the 
best style. It was removed to Lincoln street, then to Charles street, and then divided into 
two houses. 

Authority: The facts with regard to Governor Gore place are furnished by Mr. Alberto 
Haynes. "Waltham, Past and Present", by Charles A. Nelson, A. M., 1882. 

PEPPERELL 

Pepperell in 1742 was a tract of territory about four miles square, and well situated for 
a precinct, or division of a town for religious purposes. It was then a part of Groton, and the 
inhabitants of the town of Groton voted in town-meeting, on May 25, 1742, that the part of 
their town, now Pepperell, should be a separate precinct. The number of families was forty 
at the time, and the General Court in November of that year voted that they be set off as a 
separate precinct. Trouble about locating their first meeting-house soon followed, and the 
General Court, when appealed to, fixed the site. With considerable opposition on a part of 
a large number, a meeting-house was erected, and was ready for occupation in 1745. 

The people of Pepperell were generally exempt from serious attacks from the Indians. 
However, in 1724, one John Ames was surprised and fatally shot in his door-yard by one of 
five Indians who had been lurking about the place for several days. His death was imme- 
ediately avenged by his son Jacob, who shot the Indian from the house with his father's gun. 
By 1744, when another war began, Pepperell had ceased to be a frontier town, and was out of 
the range of danger. 

On April 12, 1753, Groton West Parish, by act of the General Court, on petition of its in- 
habitants, was made a district by the name of Pepperell. By this act they were entitled to 
all the rights and privileges of a town except that of sending a representative to the legislature. 
In 1786 all districts that had been incorporated previously to 1777 were made towns, and Pep- 
perell became a town accordingly. The name of Pepperell was given in honor of Sir William 
Pepperell, the hero of Louisbourg. Sir William appreciated the compliment by the present 
of a bell, which for unaccountable reasons was never received. The bell was cast in England 
and got as far on its journey as Boston, and there its actual history ended. What became 
of it is not knovm, only conjecturally. Dishonesty, it is supposed, had something to do with 
it. It was claimed in one story that the bell was sold by a dishonest agent of the town to a 
society in New Hampshire, and the proceeds pocketed by the seller. In 1770, on the dedica- 
tion of a new meeting-house, the minister of that day expressed the reasons of the people for 
gratitude: the preservation of the church when threatened with destruction; the increase 
of population since his settlement from seventy-two to one hundred and fifty-two families, 



HISTORIC II().M1-:S .WD PLACES. 



Ixiii 




iiLI) WAUNKli llolSE. I'f:PPERELL 




HOMESTEAD OF COL. WILLIAM PRESCOTT, PEPPERELL 



Ixiv MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

and a proportional increase in their substance, so that they had been able to pay the charges 
of their becoming a parish and then a district, and of building a house for worship; and their 
preservation from savage enemies when they were under the necessity of taking their firearms 
with them. to meeting, as they had done since his settlement. 

Pepperell was the home of Captain Thomas Lawrence (generally called, of Groton) who 
lost his life as a Captain in Colonel Ebenezer Nichols's (Massachusetts) regiment, in a battle 
with the Indians at Half Way Brook (Glens Falls, New York) July 20, 1758. Pepperell was 
also the home of Colonel William Prescott, the hero of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. 

A writer on the history of the town says, "The principal industry in the early history of 
the place was farming. The prevailing style of architecture was a square, two-storied house, 
with a large chimney in the centre, around which were clustered four or five rooms on each 
floor. Sometimes, however, the house was two stories in front and one in rear, the roof de- 
scending steeply to within eight or ten feet of the ground. If painted, the color was either 
red or yellow, with white trimmings. The barn usually stood at some distance from the house, 
often on the opposite side of the road. ... It was furnished with but few implements 
of husbandry, and those of primitive and ponderous make." 

In Pepperell are a number of ancient houses. The Levi Woods house on the main road 
to Groton is at least two hundred years old. Four and probably five generations of the family 
have lived here. The old Bancroft homestead owned by Captain Edmund Bancroft is in the 
western part of the town. This was the headquarters of several British officers of high stand- 
ing, prisoners of war on parole. The old Warner place near the Pepperell line towards Town- 
send dates back to or before the Revolution. In the Marcellus Spaulding house the first white 
child was born after Pepperell was set off. The homestead of Colonel William Prescott, the 
hero of Bunker Hill, was probably built in 1746. 

Other houses are the Charles Winn house in the centre of Pepperell ; the Griffin homestead ; 
the Thomas Bancroft homestead; the Francis Peirce homestead on Lower Hollis road; the 
Alfred Boynton house; the Lorenzo Blood house; the Luther Bancroft house, and the Edwin 
Richardson house. 

SHIRLEY 

Shirley was set off from Groton and incorporated as a district in 1753. Its inhabitants 
had complained that they lived in the extreme parts of the town and were unable to attend 
public worship constantly. The name of Shirley was given in honor of Governor William Shir- 
ley, of Massachusetts. At the first meeting the officers for the district were chosen, as other 
towns by law were enjoined to choose at their annual meeting. The population of the dis- 
trict at that time is supposed to have been about 400. In 1800 it was 713. In 1860 it was 
1460. The incorporation of the town of Ayer in 1871 took away a part of its territory and a 
part of its population. 

The first settlement within the territory was made about 1720. From 1754 to 1839 the 
meeting-house was the place where town-meetings were held. During the greater part of this 
period the meeting-house was the property of the town. At the time of the separation of Church 
and State, the "First Congregational Society" became the successor of the town parish in Shir- 
ley, and the house was closed to all secular gatherings afterwards. With the death of the first 
settled minister in 1819, the administration of ecclesiastical affairs by the town ceased, and their 
management passed into the hands of religious societies, maintained by the voluntary con- 
tributions of individuals. 

From the date of the first organization as a town parish in 1762 to 1879, there were in the 
First Congregational Society of Shirley but tw-o pastorates. There was, however, an interim 
of about fifteen years between the death of the first pastor and the settlement of the second. 



HlSroKii' HOAIES AND PLACES. Ixv 

A feature of interest regiuxliiij; this society ami the lowti is tiie miiiiluT of |)ul)li(' hcquests, and 
the same is true in regard to bequests for the puliiic schools. In many cities and towns of New 
Enghiiul jienerous-ininded and puljlic-spirited sons and daughters of the Puritan first settlers 
have endowed the institutions of their liirtliphice in tliis numner. Modern conditions will 
proliatily prevent hereafter the life settlement of ministers over religious societies, and the ahove 
instance, covering the period of one hundred and one years, is a remarkable example of a cus- 
tom which was once very general. The Shaker Community of Shirley was started in 17S1. 
The Shakers were at first called by the name of Shaking (Quakers, from the jieculiar movements 
and exercises of their worship. The society became in time <|aite large and prosperous. 

Rev. Seth Chamller, in his "History of the 'I'own of Shirley." ])ulilished in ISS.'C conveys 
the infornuition that the private dwelling where the first town meeting was held was purcha.sed 
subsecpiently by the town for a "work and almshouse." .\fter a trial of this plan for ten years 
the town voted to dispose of this property, and it was again devoted to private purposes. 

The second meeting-house, dating from 177o. of which nuich of the original structure yet 
remains (188.3) is a relic of a former age. It was enlarged and imjiroved in 1S()4 and moved 
to another site in 1851, a hall was ailded in the basement, and the buililing. as a whole, was 
otherwise improved. It retains its original windows. The house of the late Rev. Seth Chand- 
ler. Other ancient houses of note mentioned by this author ai'e the house of Mrs. Lucy Hoklen, 
the brick house of .lohn tldgarton, the house of Joseph Hazen. and the Whitney residence, 
built and occupied by Rev. Phineas Whitney, the first settled town minister. 

Authority: Chandler, Seth. " History of the Town f)f Shirley". I8S.3. 

LINCOLN 

Lincoln was incorporated as a town, April 19, 1754. Its territory was made up of parts of 
Watertown, Cambridge, Concord, Lexington, and We.ston. Aiiout one-half of the present 
town was once a part of Watertown. The first meeting-house was built in 1747. In this 
house all the secular business of Lincoln in its cajiacity as a parish and a town was transacted 
for a period of ninety years. In those limes it was custoinary for the whole population to at- 
tend the Sabbath service. Refusal to attend at least once in three months implied a legal 
penalty. The first movement for the incorporation of the town was made in 17:54. It was 
the usual story of distance from the places of worship in the older towns, and the petitioners, 
citizens of three different towns, prayed to be estal)lished as a separate township. This pe- 
tition failed of acceptance. Another petition followed for a separate town. This failed also. 
The next movement was made in 1744 for incorporation as a precinct. This succeeded better 
than the others, and in 1746 the area now Lincoln became a precinct. The first .settled min- 
ister remained until his death, after a pastorate of thirty-two years. The second minister, 
who was ordained in 1781, remained until his death in 1826, the length of his ministry being 
forty-fivp years. In the latter part of the second pastorate, divisions in religious sentiment 
arose, and sectarian strife caused a tiisintegration; that where in a small town like Lincoln 
one congregation of worshippers was sufficient, now seven weekly congregations take its place, 
with a large percentage of non-churchgoers. 

In a portion of the town of Lincoln, a part of the battleof Concord and Lexington was fought, 
on the nineteenth of .\pril, 1775. 

Authorities: Lincoln, "Account of the Cclei)ration by the Town of the loUth .\nnivcr- 
sary of its Incorporation", 1905. Shattuck's "Concord" has a chapter on the history of Lin- 
coln, 1835. 

The old town of Lincoln contains many ancient houses that are worthy of mention, and it 
is believed there that the Henry Hartwell house dates from the year 1636. Some of the hard- 



Ixvi MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

est fighting was done near this house on the day of April 19, 1775. The Samuel Hartwell house 
was built by Samuel, the brother of William. The front and main part of the Farrar home- 
stead was built in 1692 by George Farrar. Many people of note have lived in this house, and 
all by the name of Farrar. 

The Garfield house is a good example of the old colonial mansion. In 1702-03 the farm 
of one hundred and twenty acres was purchased by Benjamin Garfield. In his will, dated 
May 22, 1717, he gave the land to his son Thomas, who probably built the present house. It 
is a square, unpainted two-story house, with a great central chimney; and is surrounded by 
apple and old elm trees. It is at* present owned and aceupied by Mrs. George B. Wheeler. 

The Nelson house was probably built by Thomas Nelson, and has a heavy oak frame, and 
a large chimney with a brick oven and fireplaces. The house has always been owned by the 
Nelson family, but has not been occupied for nearly forty years. 

The Hoar house was built in ISIS from timber blown down in the great September gale of 
1815. It is a square two-storied house, with two large chimneys, and is solidly built, and has 
the fine classic doorways typical of the colonial architecture of this period. Senator Hoar took 
pride in saying: "My grandfather, two great-grandfathers, and three of my father's uncles 
were at Concord Bridge in the Lincoln company, of which my grandfather, Samuel Hoar, was 
lieutenant, on the nineteenth of April, 1775." The Hoar house is now the residence of Mr. 
Edward W. Pope. 

The Foster house was built by Solomon Foster in 1785. In 1841 it was remodeled, and the 
old house was used as an L. In 1891 it went out of the Foster family, when it was sold to Mr. 
John B. Sawin. In 1S92 it was sold to Mr. William S. Briggs. Mr. Moorfield Story bought 
the house in 1897, and in 1898 it was again remodeled. A part of the original homestead is 
preserved in the present Iniilding. 

The Dr. Russell house was occupied by Dr. Richard Russell, who was born in Charlestown, 
in the middle of the eighteenth century. His son George Russell practiced medicine here for 
several years. In 1856 Deacon Henry C. Chapin bought the house and lived in it for fifty years. 
He died in 1896, and his two daughters, Misses L. Jennie and EUzabeth Chapin, now occupy 
the house. 

The Rice house was formerly an old inn, and the present owner is Mr. Robert Donaldson. 
The house now owned and occupied by Mr. James B. Wheeler was another old inn. Other 
ancient houses are the house owned and occupied by the Misses Alice and Jennie Pierce, the 
house occupied by -Mr. George Browning, said to be the oldest house in Lincoln, and the Flint 
house. 

Authority: Miss Lydia J. Chapin. 

ASHBY 

Ashby was formerly a part of Townsend and two other towns not in Middlesex county. 
The fear and dread of Indian enemies prevented the settlement of this district until about 1750. 
For this reason certain of the houses first erected were block-houses, or garrison houses. In 
1748 John Fitch, an early settler, and his family, were made prisoners by the Indians and taken 
to Canada. A party of them, about seventy in number, fell upon him and two soldiers, a short 
distance from his garrison, killed one of the latter, and chased the two survivors to the garrison, 
where from within the house they exchanged shots with the enemy for an hour and a half, when 
the soldier who escaped with Fitch received a fatal wound. The wife of Fitch loaded the guns 
while he continued to fire. The Indians by a threat to burn the house, and a parley, promised to 
spare the lives of all inside if he would surrender. This he did. His buildings were burned 
by the Indians, and he and his wife and their five children were started on their journey to 
Montreal. When the alarm was given in the other settlements, soldiers arrived very quickly 



HISTORIC- HOMES AND PLACES. 



Ixvii 



and followed in pursuit. In the township of Ashburnhani the soldiers found fastened to a tree 
a written request from Fitch not to follow further, for the Indians had promised to spare the 
lives of the family provided the captors were unmolested. On the other hand they had threat- 
ened death to all, if a rescue was attempted. The pursuit was then given up. The captives 
endured the severest hardships, and eventual!}' were rescued by their friends in Massachusetts. 
The hrave wife died on her way homeward. Mr. Fitch died in 179.5. 

From 1750 to 1765 the inhabitants of the tlistiict now comprised within the town of Ashby 
increased considerably, and the people were willin"; to have a tgvyn of their own, and an easy 
distance to a meeting-house. Therefore, on March 5, 1767, the present town was incorporated. 
The petition was before the General Court for more than two years liofore it was granted. A 
slight alteration in its line was made between Ashby and Fitchburg in 1829. In 1792 a section 
of Ashburnham wa.s added to Ashby. 

This town, like other towns, had difficulty in adjusting sectarian conditions arising from 
the doctrinal differences that arose in the early part of the nineteenth century. In 1818 an 
ex parte council advised the church to withdraw and worship separately from the town. A 
year afterwards a large majority of the church finally left the town's meeting-house and held 
separate services. A part of the people of the town went with the church. There were one 
hundred and ten church-members, properly so called, and all but nine of them left — one man 
and eight women. After the separation by law of the State in 1819, the church and minority 
of the town worshipped for a time in a private dwelling-house. From that time to 1885 the 
church was connected with a society, which then 1)ecame incorporated under a changed name. 
In the other case the church organization was perpetuated by the nine mombei's and the con- 
gregation which worshipped with them. The nine members, small as the number was, con- 
stituted in the eye of the law the body known as the original church. These members remain- 
ing with the original parish, or the town parish, were the church of that parish. 




OLDEST HOUSE IN ASllUY, UflLT 1701. 

The old meeting-house of the church organized in 1776 was moved from its original site 
and is still standing, the lower part being used jis the town hall and the upper part as a grange 
hall. The Unitarian church occupy the house erected by the town in 1809. It is a fine old 
building, containing many of the features, such as box pews, which were in use when it was 
built. The Historical Society of the town occupy the building which was formerly the town 



Ixviii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

school house. There is one house considered to be the oldest house in town, of the pattern 
designated as of the "two stories in front, and one in the rear," which was built previously to 
the Revolution, which was known in former times as the Deacon Jonas Barrett house. Deacon 
Barrett wrote a valuable historical sketch of the town, which in the vicissitudes often accom- 
panying such manuscripts, was destroyed by fire when in the charge of a stranger. The Wil- 
lard" house is a grand old mansion, and the famous Willard clockmakers' shop is still stand- 
in". Mrs. Ida Damon's house is very old, and the large elm near it is seven to nine feet in 
diameter. The Gould house is an old structure refitted by Mr. Gould, a storekeeper, who gave 
the clock on the Unitarian church. The Wellington houses, two in number, are old, but are 
now occupied by foreigners. The Oliver Kendall house is another old one, and the old hotel at 
the centre is a very old building, entirely refitted. The Congregational meeting-house, once 
occupied by the famous Ashby Academy, was dedicated in 1820. The inhabitants of this town 
are noted for their industry, frugahty, and hospitality, and the majority are engaged in agri- 
culture. 

CARLISLE 

Carlisle existed as a district for about two years, and then ceased to exist as a district for 
nearly twenty-four years, when by an act of the General Court it was allowed to again become a 
district for nearly twenty-five years, when it was incorporated as a town. Its territory was 
taken from Concord. Its settlers occupied an outpost on the frontier of that period and were 
remote from the town meeting-house. 

Thus began the usual story of an attempt to meet conditions of public worship on their own 
territory. They began in 1732 by signing an agreement to support meetings for religious pur- 
poses in a private house. The subscribers also organized as a society, and chose a clerk and held 
meetino-s for prudential affairs. Soon afterwards a petition was sent to the General Court to 
erect the inhabitants into a separate precinct. The opposition on the part of the town of Con- 
cord prevailed, and the petition was dismissed. The grounds for separation, as stated in the 
words of the petitioners, were "in order to their more convenient coming to the public worship 
of God, from which they are many times hindered by the difficulty of passing the river in times 
of flood, and by the great distance of their abode from the place where the public worship of 
God is now upheld." 

In 1754 the inhabitants were erected by an act of the General Court into a separate dis- 
trict by the name of Carlisle. The district was vested with all the powers and privileges of a 
town, except in choosing a representative to the General Court. The inhabitants having failed 
to decide upon locating the place for their meeting-house, they decided later to petition the 
court to return the whole of the district to the town of Concord again, and in 1756 the inhabi- 
tants and their estates were annexed to the town of Concord. In 1772 the General Court was 
again petitioned by certain inhabitants of Concord, Billerica, Chelmsford, and Acton, living 
near together, and far distant from the place of public worship in their respective towns, that 
they might be erected into a separate town or district. Six years afterward a second petition 
of similar import followed, which was favorably reported upon and the district of Carlisle was 
established for the second time in 1780. 

By an act of the General Court passed in 1776, all existing districts in the Colony were 
made towns, Carlisle, therefore, being the first district to be incorporated after the passage of 
the above act. It was not, however, incorporated as a town until the year 1805 when, by act 
of the General Court, the district of Carlisle was incorporated as a town by the name of Carlisle. 

In 1760 a meeting-house was built for the town on land given for the purpose by a liberal 
citizen. The church and town were then identical, and the church was supported by a tax 
levied upon all the inhabitants. Here persons living on the outskirts of several towns found 



I 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. Ixix 

a central place of worship, aiui these persons were subsequently included within the bounds 
of the district. The location of the nieetinii-house, erected by voluntary contributions, finally 
determined the centre of the present town of Carlisle. In 1780, when the district was again 
incorporated, the house became virtually |iublic property by consent of a committee of the so- 
ciety. The church was organized in 1781, and the first tninister elected held the office for forty- 
six years, until his death in 1827. The first meeting-house was .struck by lightning and burnt 
to the ground in 1810, and the town voted to build a second meeting-house near where the 
former one stood. This house was dedicated in ISll. .A.fter the death of the first minister, 
discontent arose among those who had worshipped in the town, and a number withdrew to out- 
of-town societies, and "signed off", as it was called, from the parish. They thus considered 
themselves as disconnected from the church and released from pecuniary obligation to support 
religious worship in the town. The spirit of discord increased until the former relations be- 
tween town and church were ended by law in 1833; after that time each was conducted as a 
separate institution. Those of the town who were orthodox seceded from the majority of the 
town, who were liberal or Unitarian, by signing off to a Trinitarian Society in Concord. The 
town in 1830 chose a committee to take all of the property belonging to the church into their 
possession. The separates then formed themselves into a religious society calleil the Union 
Colonistic Society. 

In the town of Carlisle there are ten houses formerly owned by families by the name of 
Green. All are at least one hundred years old, with one exception. That one was built in 1811, 
and a stone in the cellar liears that date. The first owner of the Zaccheus Green farm, which 
is about two miles from Carlisle centre, on the old Concord road, w-as Zaccheus Green. On the 
road by this house Thoreau used to walk, and where he said "everything grew." This farm 
has been in the Green family ever since Zaccheus Green came to that part of Concord wliich is 
now called Carlisle, and he was among those who petitioned to be set off as a separate town in 
1756. His son Isaiah inherited the place, and the latter's two daughters (unmarried) came 
into possession. Hannah, one of the daughters, lived to be ninety years old On her death 
Thomas A. Green, great-grandson of Zaccheus, l)ought the farm, and it was sold later to .\lvah 
Carr, great-great-grandson of the first owner. 

Isaiah added an upper and a lower room to the house, and Hannah built two bay windows 
and a piazza. The house is in a good state of preservation. In another Green house, Acadians 
or Nova Scotians were kept for some time, and "perhaps some Evangeline there sat longing 
for her lost Gabriel." The Litchfield house on the road to Lowell is a large two-story house, 
and was the home of Rev. Paul Litchfield, the first minister of Carlisle. He was settled No- 
vemlier 7, 1781, and was minister of the parish for forty-six years, and died at the age of seventy- 
six. Three generations have occupied the house. The name of the present owner is Lahm. 
The Zebulon Spaulding house in the northern part of the town is the largest old house in Carlisle. 
"From the front hall one descends to the cellar by means of a flight of stairs formed by a series 
of beams, cut with their faces so that their ends are in the shape of triangles." The Spauld- 
ing family was a family "of means, education, and sterling qualities." 

The first parish church in Carlisle was Iniilt in 181 1. It is of a common form in use at that 
period in the country towns of New England. There are two stories of small windows, a porch, 
a clock tower, and above that a steeple. 

Authority: .Mrs. T. A. (ireen. of Carlisle. 

WAYL.XND 

Wayland was originally a part of Sudbury, and set apart as a town l)y the name of East 
Sudbury in 1780, and took its present name in 1835. It is mostly on the easterly side of Sud- 



Ixx MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

bury river. Here the settlement of Sudbury was first located. Its territory was cut up into 
grants called farms, which were owned by persons who never became settlers. The actual 
settlers were agriculturists, and many of their houses were on spots where only depressions in 
the ground remain to show their sites. These groups of house-lots were near together for do- 
mestic convenience and protection. They are supposed to date as far back as 1638. The 
first houses are supposed to have been very small, the largest thirty feet long, sixteen feet wide, 
and ten feet high, with two rooms. Corn was laid in the story overhead. A grist-mill was 
erected in 1639. 

In 1640 a church was organized. Nothing now remains to mark the site of the parsonage. 
Shortly after the formation of the church the meeting-house was built. The building stood 
in the westerlj- part of the old burying-ground. It was agreed that every inhabitant that hath 
a house-lot shall attend the raising of the new meeting-house, or send a suitable man to help 
raise it. 

At the time of Phflip's War the minister's house had been fortified by himself with a stock- 
ade and two flankers. On the 21st of April, 1676, the day of the battle of Green Hill, a detach- 
ment of the Indian enemy crossed the town bridge and began to devastate on the East Side. 
The inhabitants fell upon them with fury; beat them from the very thresholds of their humble 
houses, and snatched the spoil from their clutch. They even forced them to flee on the run 
and seek a place of safety. While the work of beating back the enemy was going on, a com- 
pany of reinforcements arrived from Watertown. The attack had begun about daybreak, 
and took the inhabitants somewhat by surprise, and the reinforcements arrived before noon. 
There were about two hundred Indians on the east side of the river when help arrived, and the 
company of town's people at the stockade was not large enough to spare men sufficient to drive 
the enemy over the other side of the river. The united forces compelled the foe to make a 
general retreat. A reinforcement of twelve men from Concord was not so fortunate. They 
were attacked and killed on the river meadow. Their bodies were found and buried the next 
day. 

The division of the town of Sudbury into an East and West Precinct occurred about 1723. 
In 17S0 the town of Suilbury was divided, and the east side became East Sudbury. In 1835 
the town took the name of Wayland, after Francis Wayland, the president of Brown University. 

Authorities: Hudson, A. S., ''The Annals of Sudbury, Wayland and Maynard," 1891. 
Sudbury, " Quart er-millenial", 1891. 

BOXBOROUGH 

Boxborough is a town formed of parts of three older towns — Stow, Littleton, and Harvard. 
Its inhabitants who first settled on its territory found themselves inconvenienced by their re- 
moteness from any place of public worship. Therefore they proceeded to form a society among 
themselves, purchased the old meeting-house in Harvard in 1775, and petitioned the General 
Court to be set off as a separate town. The Harvard meeting-house was bought at auction, 
taken down, and moved to the place it was to occupy. It was not until 1783 that the district 
became incorporated by the name of Boxborough, with all the privileges of a town except that 
of sending a representative. A disinclination on the part of certain farmers of Littleton to- 
include their estates in the new district caused trouble regartling boundaries, and in 1791 the 
district invited all within the bounds of Boxborough who had not joined with the said town to 
do so. Thus, one farm joined in 1807 and others joined until 1838, leaving two farms only- 
after that date who continued to pay their taxes to Littleton. Town meetings were held in. 
the first meeting-house until 1835. The old church organization of one hundred years was 
divided in 1829, the Universalist Society retaining possession of the old edifice. Boxborough 



HISTORIC Ho.MKS AXI) PLACES. Ixxi 

remained a district until 1836, when it became a town under a clause of the revised statutes 
of 1836. 

A division similar to that which occurred in other towns regarding; relijiious belief, raised 
the sectarian banner here, and caused a separation between the evangelical body and the par- 
ish. The former seceded and formed a new society. The community is agricultural, and no 
business except that of ordinary farming has obtained a foothold for a number of years. 

Authorities: Mrs. L. C. Hager enlarged her sketch of Boxborough in Hurd's "Middlesex 
County", to a book, entitled, "Boxborough: a Xew England Town and its People", 1891. 

TYNGSBOROUGH 

Tyngsborough was a part of Dunstable until its incorporation as a town in 1789. The 
terrible experience of this section of Dunstable during the Indian Wars has alreadj"^ been told 
with some particularity under the history of that town. The cause of the disintegration of 
this large township was that the new settlements wdthin its borders needed " greater conven- 
ience of public worship." The location of the meeting-house was the cause of the separation 
of the present town of Dunstable from Tyngsborough. From 1755 to 1789 Tyngsborough was 
known as the First Parish of Dunstable, ami in 1789 it was incorporated as a district by the 
name of Tyngsborough, from the name of the influential Tyng family. It became an incor- 
porated town in 1809. 

Mrs. Sarah Winslow, whose death occurred in 1791, aged seventy-two, was the last sur- 
viving child of Colonel Eleazer Tyng (who died in 1782, aged ninety-two). Mrs. Winslow was 
"the truly benfactress of the Church of Christ and Grammar School in this place, in honor of 
whose name and family it is called Tyngsborough." Shortly after the tleath of her husband in 
1788 she made a donation to the town upon conditions which, instead of uniting the town in 
peace, as she intended, only strengthened the spirit of dissention. She gave the income of £1333 
to the town to promote learning and piety and to unite "the town in peace." The conditions 
related to a meeting-house and grammar school house to be erected in the Ea.st part of the town, 
or the First Parish, and they could not be accepted by the Second Parish, and she next ten- 
dered the donation to the First Parish, instead of the town. The next move in the case was to 
incorporate the parish as a district by the name of Tyngsborough, in 17S9, which became a 
town in isn9. .\ church was formed in 1790, and the first pastorate was remarkable for having 
continued forty-nine years. In 1815 the town contained two taverns, two stores, one public 
grammar school, and a library of 140 well selected volumes. The income of .Mrs. Winslow's 
fund was about £80 per year. Population about 704. 

One peculiarity of the situation in Tyngsborough was that, when the present town became 
a parish in 1755, it proceeded to erect a house of worship, but for many years it had no church 
organization or settled minister. Its first pastor was of the Orthodox order, and its second a 
Unitarian, of which denomination the church has been since that time. 

.\uthorities: Lawrence, Nathaniel, "Historical Sketch", 1815. Tyngsboro' Young 
People's League, "Centennial Record", 1876. 

BURLINGTON 

Burlington was originally a part of Woburn. It was incorporated as a separate town in 
1799. From 1730 to that date it was known as the Second Parish of Woburn, and it also bore 
the names of the West Parish of that town, and Woburn Precinct, and it then included in ad- 
dition to its present limits a small section of territory which wsis afterwards set off to Lexington. 
The parish was incorporated September 16, 1730, and tiie meeting-house now standing was 



Ixxii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

built originally in 1732, though it has lieen subjected to several alterations of its shape. The 
community has al\va3's been agricultural, and farms then, as now, were the principal property. 
In 1777 near half the roof of the meeting-house was blown off by a hurricane. The old parish 
burial-ground was the gift of an early citizen. In 1798 all the houses were built of wood. The 
total number above the value of one hundred dollars was eighty-three. The population of the 
town in 1800 was 525. Houses, according to this enumeration, 74. The exact date of the in- 
corporation of the town was February 28, 1799. The first town meeting was held March 11, 
1799, and on March 18 following a celebration of the event occurred, being described by a writer 
of the day as a "general meeting of men and their wives, a rejoicing on account of this Parish 
being incorporated into a Town." In 1850 the population was 545. It was to this town that 
Hancock and Adams retreated on the morning of the nineteenth of April, 1775. The two 
houses in wliich they tarried have both disappeared from the vision of man; one was burned in 
recent years; the other was demolished before the memory of anyone now living. 

Like other towns in the eighteenth century, this town owed its origin as a parish to its 
distance from the mother church in the older town. As the church records in this town have 
been destroyed by fire, brief notice will here be made of some events connected with the church. 
There has never been but one chuich in Burlington, although a few families have always at- 
tended the churches of their choice in adjoining towns. The church was organized October 
29, 1735, or November 8, 1735, according to modern reckoning. It consisted, when organ- 
ized, of ten male members, including the pastor. From 1735 to 1800, .943 persons were bap- 
feed. 

Just previous to King Philip's War a white maid servant was murdered in the limits of 
this town by a drunken Indian, who was afterwards execvited. This was the only lilood that 
was shed as a result of Indian vengeance in any of the savage wars of the colonial and provin- 
cial perio(i on the soil of Burlington. 

The oldest house now standing in Burlington is the one known as Francis Wyman's farm 
house, near the Billerica line. The house was originally built about 1666. Documents are 
extant which prove that it was used as a garrison at the time of King Philip's War, 1675-76. 
It has lately been repaired and remodelled, and is the property of the Wyman Historical As- 
sociation. 

The Sewall house, famous in history as the resort to which Hancock and Adams fled on 
the morning of the eventful nineteenth of April, 1775, was built liefore 1733 by a member of 
the Johnson family, then numerous in Burlington, and after being occupied by several successive 
generations of ministers settled over the church of Christ in Burlington, it was burned to the 
ground on April 23, 1897. 

The tavern of Captain John Wood, still standing in an excellent state of preservation at 
the centre of the town, contained in 1799 a hall, called, in the parlance of the citizens of that 
day, "Captain John Wood, Jr.'s, Social Hall," and here on a very cold, windy, and snowy night 
in March, 1799, a general meeting of the men and their wives of this town was held, with a sump- 
tuous dinner, "to rejoice on account of this Parish being Incorporated into a Town." The 
social hall has since been made into chambers. The elder Captain Wood began his military 
life as a private soldier in the French War, and heKl the office of captain in Colonel Loammi 
Baldwin's regiment in the American Revolution. 

The meeting-house, yet standing in a much altered shape, was iiuilt in 1732. A hurricane 
swept off near half its roof in 1777. At the same time the wind destroyed some buildings in 
the neighborhood and tore up by the roots many large and strong trees. On October 1, 1798, 
a list of the occupants or possessors of dwelling-houses in this Parish, above the value of one 
hundred dollars, was made, and of the names in this list the houses of the following are sup- 
posed to be extant, either in their original or in an altered form; William Abbott. John Rad- 



H1ST()K[C I1()M1-:S AND I 'LACES.. 



Ixxiii 



fortl, John Caldwell, Nathaniel Cutler, Jr.. William Carter. Reuben .((ihuson, Jo.siah Locke' 
L'^hniael .Munroe, Isaac Marion, Jcsoph Mchitire, Josiah Parker, Jacob Keetl, James Reed 
fcJamuel Keed, Samuel Shedd, John Wood, Abel Wynian. Kzra Wyman, Josiah Walker, Joseph 
Winn, James Walker, Samuel Walker, Philemon Wright, i-ldwanl Walker, Rebecca Wilson, 
David Winn, Timothy Winn. Some of these houses were located on the center of the farms 
and many were situated on the public road. The total number included in the enumeration 
was eighty-three. As the Woburn Precinct, or Burlington, then included within its limits 
all the territory in the present westerly part of Woi)urn and Winchester, the names in the above 
list marked with a star refer to houses now located in one or the other of those towns. 

The above selection doubtless does not include all the houses entitled to a place in the 
list, but it gives some idea of the proportion of houses remaining in this and similar quiet farm- 
ing towns that have survived the vicissituiles of a centvu-y. Fire has been their great enemy, 
as well as the weather and the iiand of time. Tiie use of fireplaces, so general in the country 
in the former days, caused not oidy conflagration^ of the houses, but in nianv instances the death 
of their inmates as well. 



^HS^I 



/t-^:f 



t ^ ■» u: I 




Francis Wyinaii House: ererleil 1666; repaired IflflO. 



On a road plan dated about 1797, certain iiouse owners named in the above list are men- 
tioned, and the approximate location of their houses is given. For examjile: Joseph Winn, 
Deacon Timothy Winn, William Abbott, — the late Klijah Marion place; Samuel Walker, Cap- 
tain John Wood, father and son, Ezra Wyman, and the meeting-house, (still standing). 



Ixxiv .MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

The house of Captain James Reed, where the first prisoners captured from the British 
in the battle of the nineteenth of April, 1775. were confined, is still owned by his de.scendants. 
The house owned by Deacon Samuel Reed, where a portion of the library and public records 
of Harvard Colleaie were stored in those troublous times, was standing in 1890. 

The William Winn house, formerly known as the Captain Timothy Winn house, is a fine 
specimen of the best architecture in this vicinity one hundred and fifty years ago, and it is still 
in excellent preservation. The Lieutenant .Joseph Winn house, its neighlior, the property of 
the family of the late John Winn, was built in 17:54, and comes down to its present estate through 
many generations of the family of Winn, as we have shown elsewhere in this work. 

The house known as the Josiah Walker place, in the southerly portion of the town, is an 
ancient structure standing on an old estate, whose history is traced back to the time of the first 
settlement of this section. Nicholas Davis, one of the signers of the Woburn Town Orders of 
1640, sold these premises in 1648 to William Reed, the ancestor of the Woburn Reeds. In 
time William Reed sold the premises to Samuel Walker, Senior, who in turn sold them in 1674 
to his son Samuel Walker. On the place at that time was a house in which the son dwelt. The 
Walker line of ownership then followed in this order: John, Edward (died 1787, aged ninety- 
three), Josiah, died 1804, Josiah. The place remained in the Walker name until 1847. The 
present house dates back to 1699. 

The Samuel Winn house near the school-house in this neighliorhood is an old structure. It 
was once the residence of Jeremiah Winn, 1797. The John Kendall place and the Jennison, 
Cummings, the Caldwell and Skilton places in this vicinity, all represent ancient estates, and 
the present houses upon them were extant in 1831 and 1841. The Deacon Blanchard place of 
1831 was the original Nicholas Trarice estate of 1S40 to 1646. Trarice or Travice was a master 
mariner. In 1651 this homestead was bought by George Reed, and occupied by him and his 
descendants. This George Reed was a native of England. The ilwelling-house of Travice 
disappeared many years since. The Samuel Shedd house, near the Billerica line, was standing 
in 1798, and a number of other houses standing in its vicinity are old: — the N. Hunt place and 
the I. Reed place of 1831-41, the Nevers place, the J. Mclntire place, the D. Skilton place, the 
Nichols Tavern, and the Osgood house, all standing in 1831, were every one old places long be- 
fore that time. So also were the houses on Carter Row, of which there were six in the eighteen 
hundred thirties. Likewise, nearer Woburn, were the Deacon Marion (former Joshua Jones), 
the Captain J. Cutler, the Cutler houses on the Wood Hill road, and others in that neighbor- 
hood, whose disappearance has occurred within the past fifty years. 

The Farlow house (1831) near the Marion Tavern at the Centre, was the old house of Simon 
Thompson about 1730; the Gleason house, the N. Cutler, Jr., the Jonathan Bell, and the sev- 
eral Simonds houses of seventy years ago, all represented estates of a former day. Any one 
who has lived in Burlington — beautiful for its situation — can recall perhaps many more of 
these old relics, silent in the atmosphere of a quiet, conservative, non-mercantile community, 
where, as one descendant of the town has expressed it, "It is Hke Sunday all the time." Houses 
such as these have witnessed the birth, life, and death of many human individuals, and such 
structures in the time of their old age offer suggestive reflections on their past history. "As 
the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up 
no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more." 
Job vii, 9-10. 

BRIGHTON 

Brighton, which was incorporated as a town on February 24, 1807, w-as merged into the 
city of Boston, by an act of annexation, May 21, 1873, and on January 5, 1874, its connection 
with Middlesex county was severed, and its union with Boston was consummated. The town 



HISTORIC" H(^MKS AND I'LACI^S. Ixxv 

was originally a pai't of Cainliridue. and bore unoffii-ially the name of "Little ( 'anihridge." 
Older names employed to designate the place were "South Cambridge". "'South Side", "Third 
Parish", "Thinl Precinct", "Southerly Part of First Parish", and the "Inhabitants on the 
South Side of the River." The church established was called "The Third Church of Christ 
in Cambridge", the others being the First at Old Cambridge; and the Second at West Cam- 
bridge, now Arlington. 

To give an idea of its origin a few facts are stated. Permission was first given to the in- 
habitants to worship by themselves during the inclement sea.son of the year, and this they did 
in a deserted private house. The first meeting-house was erected at their ow^n expen.se in 1744. 

In 1774 the people gave this history of themselves in a petition to the General Court. They 
had for a long time labored under many disadvantages regarding religious privileges, and for 
about forty years past had maintained preaching. "It being impracticaljle when the tides 
were high, and the snow and ice lodged in the causeway leading to the town of Cambridge, to 
pass and repass." They bought the house they met in, and ten years afteiward built a meeting- 
house. In 1779 they were incorporated as a separate precinct. It was not tmtil 17.S4 that 
they were al)le to afford a settled minister. The famous cattle-market of this town began with 
the Revolutionary War, with the demand for supplying the army with beef. With the an- 
nexation of this town to Boston, its existence in this county ended. 

Authorities: .1. P. C. Winship has issued two volumes (a third being in press) entitled: 
"Historical Brighton, an Illustrated History of Brighton and Its Citizens". 1899-1002. 

.ARLINGTON 

Arlington was formerly the westerly or Second Parish of the town of Cambridge. In an- 
cient times the tract of territory was called Menotomy: this name, supposed to be of Indian 
origin, was also that of a river, now a stream called the Alewife Brook. This stream formed 
the boundary between the old First and Second Parishes in Cambridge. This part of Cam- 
bridge was opened to settlement as early as 163.5. Dwelling-houses in this part were erected 
to a consi<leral)le extent from 1642 to the year 1700. In the lot reserved for a burying-place 
there are supposed to be no interments before 17.32, and few if any until 1736, the date of the 
earliest gravestones. The people of this part of Cambridge as early as 1703 found it necessary 
for their proper accommodation on Sabbath days to erect a shed, or "conveniency," near the 
meeting-house and against the college fence, "for the standing of their hor.scs" on those days; 
and, therefore, in 1725, the people on the Arlington or westerly side of Menotomy river, desiring 
better accommodation for public worship, petitioned the town to consent that they and their 
estates might become a separate precinct. The first attempt meeting with refusal, the request 
was renewed in 1728, and granted in 1732, when the General Court orilered that the section be 
set off as a distinct precinct. The precinct has already a school-house, erected as early as 
1693. In 1733 several inhabitants of the adjacent part of Charlestown entered into an agree- 
ment to assist in building the precinct meeting-house and for supporting preaching. In 1734 
the meeting-house was built. It stood as a house of worship just seventy years. It was open- 
ed and consecrated in 173.5. A church was formed in 1730. and the first minister ordained- 
In 1762 the precinct with certain inhabitants of Charlestown was incorporated as a district 
by the name of Menotomy. 

During the action known as the battle of the lOtli of April. 177.5, more men fell in this 
district, then generally known as Menotomy, than were slain in any other part of the engage- 
ment on that day. Everybody knows the part played by Concord and Lexington and Cam- 
bridge, but fewer persons are probably so familiar with the subject as to know that the Brit- 
ish passed three times through this village on their way to and from their retreat from Concord. 



Ixxvi MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

It was on the retreat that the most mischief was done. The time was about five o'clock in the 
afternoon. There was a sharp engagement at Jason Russell's house; another on Menotomj- 
Plain below the spot towards Boston, on which then stood the village meeting-house. All 
through the town the firing on both sides was brisk, and the British, galled by their losses, killed 
all they could find in houses on the line of march, whence they had been fired upon. The de- 
struction of property also was considerable. The meeting-house and school-house were dam- 
aged. Houses were plundered and set on fire. Bullets were shot into them, with no consid- 
eration for the safety of the inmates. Quarters were so close on lioth sides that much execu- 
tion was done with the bayonet. 

After the Revolution the parish was feeble, but a factory built about 1799 for making 
cotton and woolen cards originating with the invention of a machine by one of the citizens, 
created more prosperity for the precinct. A new meeting-house was built in 1804 and dedi- 
cated in 1805, and the parish was incorporated as a town by the name of West Cambridge, 
February 27, 1807. The name was changed to that of Arlington by act of legislature, April 
13, 1867. 

The part of Charlestown which had been hitherto a portion of the district of Menotomy 
was annexed to West Cambridge, or Arlington, in 1842. Market-gardening and fruit-farming 
became general in this town after 1820, and holds its own even now. The town after 1840 
also became famous for ice-cutting, a product even more valuable than that of the best lands 
adjacent. For many years much of the land continued in the ownership of the same families, 
the generations succeeding each other being agriculturists, but in recent years, from the near- 
ness of the town to Boston, the farms have been for the most part cut up into house lots, and 
the community has become residential. 

In 1848 a granite monument nineteen feet in height was erected by citizens over the grave 
of the Revolutionary victims of April 19, 1775. It is a conspicuous object in the old burying- 
ground. It was placed over the common grave of twelve men, three of them inhabitants of 
the precinct, who were killed by the British troops in the limits of this town, on that never-to- 
be-foi'gotten day. 

Authorities: Cutter. B., and W. R., "History of the Town of Arlington", 1880. W. R. 
Cutter wrote the "Sketch of Arlington" in Drake, 1880, and J. P. Parmenter, in Hurd, 1890, 
the latter being a sketch of considerable length. Parker, Charles S., "Arlington, Past and 
Present", 1907. 

For a town which has experienced so many modern changes, Arlington has still left a num- 
ber of structures of the ancient days, but the number has been greatly lessened during the past 
fifty years. 

Jonathan Whittemore, who owned the Jonathan Whittemore house, was a son of Samuel 
(2) Whittemore, and married Rebecca Munroe of Lexington, in 1795. He was selectman of 
Cambridge in 1806 and 1807, precinct committeeman in 1806 and '07, and precinct assessor in 
1802. The owner of the Josiah Whittemore house was also a son of Samuel (2) Whittemore, 
and married Olive Winship of Lexington. Major Josiah died in 1836. The house of Solomon 
Bowman, on Massachusetts avenue, built as early as 1756, was plundered and set on fire by the 
British, April 19, 1775. Solomon Bowman was lieutenant of Captain Benjamin Locke's com- 
pany of Menotomy minute-men. Here the family of Amos Whittemore, the inventor, lived 
for a long time. The house of Stephen Blake was formerly that of Mrs. Fidelity Blackman, 
and was- sold to Lemuel Blanchard in 1778. The owner of the Edward Russell house was a 
son of Seth Russell, who was made prisoner by the British, April 19, 1775. He was exchanged 
with his fellow townsman Samuel Frost, June 6, 1775. The house of David Hill, on corner 
of Walnut street, was built in 1800. David Hill married Betsey Adams in 1799. 

The house where the public library was first started in 1837, stands on Massachusetts ave- 



MISTOKH HOMES AND I'LACES. Ixxvii 

mie, near tlie Boston ami Maine lailroail. Il was also the homo of tlu' lirst lihrarian, .lonathan 
Marsh Dexter. The old John I'owic honse is now on the .lolni !'. S(|uii(' estate. The house on 
Ma.ssachnsetts avcnvie. t)\vneil l>y the Rebet-ca Whitleniore antl Fowle estates, was l)uiit by 
John Davis in ISOti. The hoiise of Deacon Ephraini Cvitler, at corner of .Massachusetts avenue 
and Water streets, was built in 1S()4 or '0.5. The house of Stephen Cutter was formerly that of 
a .John Cutter, whose death occurred in 1797. The barn of Rev. Sanuiel Cooke, now on Schouler 
Court. The L of the Locke house on Massachusetts avenue was formerly a ])art of Deacon 
Joseph Adams' house, of Revolutioiuu-y e.xperience. The Isaac Warren house, now standing 
on Chestnut street, was removed from ant)ther site. It was the house of an Isaac Cutter familv, 
before 1798. The house formerly known a.s the Charles 0. Gage homestead, on Pleasant street, 
was the original frame of the old parish meeting-house. It was removed to its present site 
in 1840. The house of Jason Russell, where a severe conflict occurred on April 19, 177,5, be- 
tween the British troops and the New England militia, is still standing near its original site. 
Here more men were killed on that day than were killed in any other part of the battle of Lex- 
ington and Concord. 

The Francis Locke house, at the corner of Massachusetts avenue and Forest street, was 
erected about 1720, by the first of the family name here. Samuel Locke, son of Francis, and 
father of Captain Benjamin Locke and Lieutenant Samuel Locke, Jr., was living in this house 
when the British marched by on the early morning of April 19, 177.5. Six generations of the 
Locke family resided in this house, which passed out of the family name about 1890. The Cap- 
tain Benjamin Locke house was built about 1760, on land ailjoining his father's estate. Cap- 
tain Locke was the eldest son of Samuel Locke. A store was kept in the western part of this 
house, which has since had a story added. William and Benjamin, sons of Captain Benjamin, 
later occupied the same premises and kept a store together. Captain Benjamin Locke was 
captain of the Menotomy mimite-men on the 19th of April, 1775. The house and store are 
now Nos. 119:^ and 119.5 Massachusetts avenue, and remained in the family ownership until 
1892. The Nathaniel Hill house was built by Nathaniel Hill about 172.5. Lydia Locke, 
the second child of Samuel Locke, married Daniel Hill, son of Nathaniel Hill. They lived 
on Forest street. A second Benjamin Locke house, now numbered 21 Appleton street, 
was built by Captain Benjamin Locke previous to 1775. In 1781 he sold this house to the 
Baptist Society for a "hundred dollars silver." In 1790 the society ptu-chased land on the east 
corner of Brattle street, and erected a house of worship, now occupied as a dwelling-house. 
This change made it possible for Benjamin Locke Jr. to buy back the house built by his father, 
and it has remained in the family since that time. The Benjamin Locke store, so called, de- 
rives its origin from the fact that in 1810 a new road to Lexington was opened and the Middle- 
sex turnpike was built to Lowell. At the junction of these tw'o roads Benjamin Locke Jr. built, 
about 1816, the new store, which has since been made into a double house now standing on Low- 
ell street. The store was carried on by the Locke brothers, Benjamin and William, and was 
patronized by teamsters, drovers, and by the patrons of the stage-coach which daily ran through 
the tow^n to Boston, connecting at Bedford for the journey to New Hampshire. This store 
was made into the present dwelling-house by the heirs of Benjamin Locke, .Jr., about 1S54, 
and it remained in the family until 1901. In this neighborhood was a luiique building called 
the "North West District School-House." It w-as situated on land now owned by Theodore 
Schwamb, on ^lassachusetts avenue, between the lanil of Kimball Farm(>r and that of Charles 
Cutter. The first building on this spot was a wooden structure, erected in 180]. In 1S22 a 
committee was appointed to build a new school-house here, and make a sale of the old one. 
The purchaser moved the wooden building to land situated between Appleton street and Paul 
Revere road, where it was made into a dwelling, and later burnt. The second building was of 
brick, built in 1822, and torn down 1894. The first Simday school in West Cambridge was 



Ixxviii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

held in this Iniilding. Its first teacher was Miss Patty Frost, daughter of Seth Frost and Sarah 
(Hill) Frost. The Locke school-house, a modern structure, is situated on land formerly be- 
longing to William Locke. 

Authorities: Mrs. James A. Bailey, Mrs. Margaret L. Sears. 

W.\KEFIELD 

Waekfield is the modern name of South Reading, which was incorporated as a town Feb- 
ruary 25, 1812, and which was the original town of Reading, the curious circumstances being 
that the original part of an older town seceded for political reasons from its younger branches, 
which by a singular arrangement retain the old name. In Wakefield is the old burying-ground 
of Reading, and here in 1639 was made the first settlement of the town, which is described 
under the name of Reading in another place. 

"In 1812 the old town was divided, and the First or South Parish, then commonly known 
as the Old Parish, including the present territory of Wakefield, was incorporated as a new town, 
with the name of South Reading. This separation, by which the Old Parish lost the birth- 
right of its original name, was due to political causes. The North and West Parishes were 
strongly Federalists, and opposed to the impending war with Great Britain, while the people 
of the Old Parish were nearly all Republicans and enthusiastic for the war. The Old Parish 
was the largest of the three in population and voters, but not equal to the two others. Party 
feeling ran high, and as a consequence the citizens of the -South Parish found themselves with- 
out offices or influence in the administration of town affairs. . . . Taking advantage of 
an opportunity when the Republicans were in power in the General Court, the Old Parish ob- 
tained a charter for a distinct town, and South Reading was born. The new town began with 
125 dwelling-houses, a population of 800, and a valuation of $100,000." — Chester W. Eaton, 
Kurd's "Hist. Midd. Counln," ii. 718. 

From the time of its incorporation, South Reading or Wakefield was prosperous, and in 
1844 — the time of the two hundredth anniversary of the original settlement of Reading — it 
had about doubled the number of its inhabitants and its valuation. 

In 1844 also was opened the Boston and Maine railroad through the west centre of the 
town, following which the town rapidly advanced in material prosperity, with large additions 
of business, wealth, and citizens. Notable industries were those of the boot and shoe manu- 
facture, the iron foundrj^, and the rattan works. 

The years succeeding the Civil War, in which the town amply did its part, showed still greater 
progress. The industries flourished, people flocked to the town, real estate advanced in price, 
and "graceful dwellings and business structures rose on every hand." The population in 1865 . 
was 3245, and in 1875, 5349. In 1868 the town changed its name. An unsuccessful attempt 
was made in that direction in 1846, when the name of "Winthrop" was sent in a petition to 
the legislature with the concurrent consent of a large part of the citizens, but leave was given 
to withdraw. 

In 1868 Cyrus Wakefield, Senior, unconditionally offered the town a new and costly town 
hall. The voters accepted this princely gift and changed the name of the town to Wakefield. 
This name was assented to Ijy the General Court, and the new name went into effect on July 
1, 1868. A celebration was held on July 4, following. 

Authorities: Eaton, Lilley, "History of Reading", 1874. Eaton, W. E., "Hand-book 
of Wakefield", 1885; same, "Proceedings of the 250th Anniversary of the Ancient Town of 
RedcUng", 1896. Wakefield, "Inaugural Exercises", on change to a new name (1868) 1872; 
same, "Wakefield Souvenir", 25Gth anniversary celebration ... at Wakefield, 1894. 
"Wakefield Almanac for 1876". 



HISTORIC ilo.MI'-.S AM) PLACES. 



Ixxix 



LOWKLL 



Tlie territory of the city of Lowell einbraces that part of the old town of Chelnisfoni which 
was known as East Chelmsford. T^ie inhabitants of the older municipality were from the 
earliest ^ays devoted mainly to the pursuit of agriculture. At the heginninsi- of the nineteenth 
century Ea.-<t Chelmsford, the name by which the site of Lowell was tlien calleil, was a village 
containing forty-five or fifty houses. Its natural advantages were its waterfalls and fertile 
meadows, attracting not only tiie farmer but the artisan. 

In 1822 the great manufacturing company, The Merrimack, began its operations in 
the village of East Chelmsfoid. It -was here that the Middle.-^ex canal had its termi- 
nus as early as 1793. The canal was opened for navigation in I8O0. Its width was 
thirty feet, anrl its depth foui'. There were twenty locks between Chelmsford and 
Boston, seven aqueducts, and it was cro.ssed by fifty bridges. It was supplied with 
water by the Concord river at Rillerica. and its cost was about SoOO.OUO. \'ast quan- 
tities of lumber and wood were transported upon it. Passengers were accommodated 
by a neat boat, which occupied almost 

one entire day in reaching Boston from ^^H.K T^J -^ si 

the terminus at Chelmsford, or Lowell. 
From ISIO to 1S:56 were the iialiny 
days of the enterjii-ise. The beginning 
of the Boston and Lowell railroad in 
183.T reduced its usefulness. The open- 
ing of the Nashua and Lowell rail- 
road in 1840 still further impaired its 
prosperity, and in a few years the canal 
was given uj). In 1S.")'.I the supreme 
covu't issued a decree cancelling all its 
privileges. 

Pawtucket canal was i)uilt around 
the falls of that name and ojxmed in 1796. 
Its oliject when built was the transporta- 
tion of produce, but in 1821 it began to be 
relied upon to f\n-nish water-power for 
the inanuf.acturing enterprises of the city, which were then liecoming important, and to the 
present time it has been thus employed. Boston capitalists soon controlled the situation, 
anrl a very general advance was made in the increase of capital and prosperity. 

Bridges, next to canals, were the second clement in the early succe-ss of Lowell. The Paw- 
tucket bridge, or one on its site, called the Middlesex-Merrimack river l)ridge, was the first 
one built. It was opened for travel in 1792. It was a' comparatively cheap and short-lived 
affair, and was in a few years succeeded bj' a better one. A bridge over the Concord river was 
built very early in the histoiy of Chelmsford, and the first bridge at the mouth of Concord river 
was erected in 1774. The first structure was blown down by a gale before it was finished, 
and a second was erected in its place. A third bridge was built in 1819. 

The rise of Lowell as a great manufacturing centre was due in general to the American spirit 
of independence. Dependence upon England for clothing was the source of dissatisfaction 
on the part of the American farmer, and this dependence weighed heavily upon the minds of 
patriotic American citizens. The argument used was, that if a country such as the United 
States was to be really free, it must have within itself all the means of supplying the people with 
every necessity and comfort of life. It was therefore a sequence that when the advantages 




Toll House of OKI MUUilesex Canal. Middlesex Village. 



Ixxx 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of the site were seen, that the present Lowell was selected as a place where cotton cloth could 
be manufactured on a large scale for the American trade. Hence several men, great in their 
way, planned and e.xecuted the projects which brought the manufacturers of Lowell into being. 
One of them was Francis Cabot Lowell, (1775-1817) after whom the city was named. Others 
were Patrick Tracy .Jackson, Nathan Appleton, Kirk Boott, Paul Moody, Ezra Worthen, and 
John Amory Lowell. Six hundred shares was the number in the company first organized. 
It was the original design to start at Waltham. The insufficiency of the water-power in Wal- 
tham demanded a better place, and the Pawtucket Falls at Lowell was the spot selected. 
Boarding-houses for the operatives were built and placed under the care of matrons, and 
every means was used to maintain for the girls of American birth, who worked in the mills, 
the simplicity and purity of their country homes. 

Improvements from the first went on rapidly. The names of the great corporations from 
the earliest were as follows: Merrimack Manufacturing Company, incorporated 1822; this, 
was the first of the great manufacturing companies. The Print Works of the Merrimack Com- 
pany, begun 1824. Locks and Canals Company, .1792; purchased by the Merrimack Manu- 
facturing Company in 1822. The Hamilton Manufacturing Company, incorporated in 1825. 
The Appleton Company, incorporated in 1828. The Lowell Manufacturing Company, incor- 
porated in 1828. The Middlesex Company, incorporated in 1830. The Suffolk Manufacturing 
Company, incorporated in 1831. The Tremont Mills, incorporated in 1831. The Lawrence 
Manufacturing Company, incorporated in 1831. The Lowell Bleachery, incorporated in 1833. 
The Massachusetts Cotton-Mills, incorporated in 1839. The Lowell Machine-Shop, incorpor- 
ated in 1845. 

The town of Lowell was incorporated March 1, 1826. The number of inhabitants in East 
Chelmsford hail increased from 200 in 1820, to 2300 in 1826. The centre of the old town of 
'Chelmsford was four miles distant, and the two villages had no common business relations. 
The popidation continued to rapiilly increase after the incorporation. A steam railroad be- 
tween Lowell and Boston was 
F i^HLaija opened in 1835. In the winter ice 

had closed the Middlesex canal, 
and transportation over Ijad roads 
by wagons was slow and costly to 
the inhabitants, and six stages 
passed daily from Boston to Low- 
ell and back. To remedy the dif- 
ficulties imposed upon the com- 
numity by these circumstances, a 
macadamized road between the 
two places was suggested. But it 
was soon ascertained that the tram- 
waj^s of England, formerly moved 
by horse-power, could be pro- 
pelled by steam, and the railroad 
was the result . 

In 1836 the town of Lowell 
«as chartered as a city. The act 
was dated April 1 . This was the 
third city charter granted in Mas- 
sachusetts, Boston and Salem be- 
ing the others. The population was over 16,000 at that time. Lowell held its first political 
election under a citv charter. The people have been always remarkably energetic, and the 




Old Bowers Hovise, Mickllese.\ \ illage. Sairt to lie first hou.sc built in Lowell. 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. Ixxxi 

city's fame is world-wide. Before its day there was nothing hke it in America. It hiis been 
visited by Presidents of tlie United States from the days of Jackson onwards, and ijy the dis- 
tinfTiiished of all lanils. Eminent writers have sounded its praises in all modern languages. 
Authorities: Bayles, James, "Lowell: Past. Present and Prospective", 1891; enlarged 
edition. 1893. ('lia.se, C. C, reprint of history in Hurd"s ".Middlesex County". 1890. Cowley, 
Charles. "A History of Lowell". 18(5S. Hill. F. P.. "Lowell Illustrated". 1884. "Illustrated 
History of Lowell and Vicinity". 1897. "The Lowell Book", 1899. Miles. H. A., "Lowell, 
as it w:us. and as it is", 184.5 4(). Old Residents" Historical Association of Lowell. "Cf)ntribu- 
tions". 187.S-1904, etc., etc. 

SOMERVII.LE 

8omerville was separated from Cliailestown and incorporated in 1842. In the previous 
year the people living in the westerly part of Charlestown becoming di.ssatisfied with the bur- 
dens of taxation, for which they had no corresponding benefit, held a meeting on the subject 
of dividing tiie town. It was determinecl later to secure an act of incorporation. A previous 
attempt of that kind had been made by the citizens in 1828, Init it failed. The name then se- 
lected was Warren, and in 1841 Walford, after the first white settler of Charlestown. but this 
name was abandoned, and Somerville. having no special significance, was substituteil. The 
area of the territory embraced alxjut four square miles, and a population exceeding fifteen 
liundred. The act pa.ssed the legislature March 'A, 1842. At the time of the incorporation 
there was no religious society or meeting-house within the borders of Somerville, and there 
never was any distinct parish, as in other towns. Neither was there any factory on any stream 
within its limits to form the nucleus of a new population about which to organize a new munic- 
ipality. But Somerville, as one writer has said, was a mere extension of the people of Charle.s- 
town out into the surrounding country, without any well-marked or natural line of division. 
In 1868 a local census gave the town a population of 12, .585. A city charter was granted to 
Somerville on .\pril 14, 1871. Its present population is 61.643. 

The Oliver Tufts house, on Sycamore street, is still in the possession of the Tufts family, 
and is now owned by Mrs. Fletcher, only child of the late Oliver Tufts. The house has been 
one himdretl and sixty years in the family, anil is, by several years, the oldest structure in the 
city. It is the headquarters of the Somerville Historical Society, and was the headquarters of 
Major-Ceneral Lee when he commanded the left wing of the American army, during the siege 
of Boston, in 177.5 and 177G. Here Washington came in consultation with his generals, and 
slept in the front chamber over the parlor. The house is not exactly on the .site which it form- 
erly occupied, as Sycamore street was straightened in 1892, and the building was moved back 
about forty feet. When occupied by (ieneral Lee, it was two stories high in front, with a long 
pitched roof descending to a single story in the rear. (From "Handbook of the Historic Fes- 
tival in Somerville, Mass.," Nov. 28, 29, 30, Dec. 1, 2, and 3, L898; written by Charles D. Elliot.) 

The Caleb Leland house is on Elm street, and is owned by John Tufts. Jr. The Timothy 
Tufts house is on a farm at the corner of Elm street and Willow avenue. It is owned by Tim- 
othy Tufts, a man about eighty-six years of age, and the house was built about 1735. The 
.\bner Blaisdell house, on Somerville avenue, was the headquarters of Brigadier-Ceneral (after- 
wards .Major-General) Greene, who commanded the left wing of the Rhode Island troops during 
the siege of Boston, 1775 and 1776. It is now owned by the heirs of J. A. Merrifield. The 
Wynuui house is a brick structure on Broadway, near the corner of Cross street, and was after- 
wards owned by the late Edward Cutter. Its date of building is doubtful. It was in existence 
in 1834, as refugees from the Ursuline Convent fled there in that year. 

The Caleb Leland house (?) on Elm street, was built by Joseph Tufts, youngest son of 
Timothy, Sr. Joseph removed to Kingfield, Maine, and is ancestor of a large family of Tufts 

i— «h 



Ixxxii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

in that and neighboring towns. The Rand house, which has been moved from its original 
site, received a volley from the retreating British. The Samuel Shed house has been raised, 
and a new story built under it. A British soldier entered the house and began ransacking a 
bureau, when he was shot, in the act, by a minute-man. Thi.s bureau is still in the family of 
Nathan Tufts. The Miller house on Washington street. 

The Odin house is between Broadway and Main street, on the top of Winter Hill, and was 
built in 1805, according to a date found on one of the corner posts. Colonel John Sweetser 
was the architect and builder. It was occupied by Hon. Edward Everett from 1826 until 1830, 
while he was a member of Congress from this district. The ill-fated Dr. Parkman once owned 
the pi'operty. 

The Stearns house on Broadway is the only Revolutionary house now standing in East 
Somerville. 

The Perkins house, east of Austin street, was probably built about 1804. The toll house 
stood near, and the toll-keeper lived in tlie larger house. At the time of the burning of the con- 
vent, this house was occupied by a man named Kidder Perkins, the last toll-keeper of the turn- 
pike, and who died in 1S81. It is the only building in Somerville, if not in Medford, that stood 
originally on the turnpike. It is still owned by the Perkins family. 

As Somerville was until a comparatively few years ago, a part of Charlestown, the history 
of these old houses belongs to that municipality also. 

Authorities: "Citizen Souvenir of the Semi-centennial of Somerville", 1892. Elliot, 
C. D., "Somerville's History", reprint from "Somerville, Past and Present", 1896. Furber, 
W. H., "Historical Address", 1876. Haley, M. A., "The History of Somerville", 1903. Ha.s- 
kell, A. L., "Historical Guide-book of Somerville", 1905. Samuels, E. A., "Somerville, Past 
and Present", 1897. Somerville Historical Society, publications. Somerville Journal Com- 
pany, "Souvenir of the Semi-centennial", 1892. 

.\SHLAND 

Ashland was incorporated as a town on March 14, 1846, its land being taken from Fram- 
ingham, Holliston, and Hopkinton. The village was previously called Unionville, and very 
few houses in the place were older than the town. This town lost its water-power by the taking 
of its privileges by the city of Boston for water purposes. 

WINCHESTER 

Winchester was incorporated as a town, April 30, 1850. Its name was derived from a 
person, and not from the celebrated city of England. Colonel William P. Winchester, of Water- 
town, proffered aid in a financial way to the enterprise, and made a present to the new town of 
$3000. His death occurred August 6, 1850, at the age of forty-nine years. The town of Win- 
chester was formed of. a large part of Woburn and of parts of Medford and West Cambridge, 
now Arlington. It dates its era of prosperity from the opening of the Boston and Lowell rail- 
road through Woburn in 1835. At that time the community had been made up of farms, one 
of the most prominent of which was called the Abel Richardson farm, and it was on this farm 
the village of South Woburn was started when railroad facilities became available. After 
that time the community grew sufficiently large to maintain a separate church, of the so-called 
Orthodox order, and before the Civil War other churches came into being, either by worshipping 
in halls, or by other means, until the community became a large and strong residential town, 
filled to-day with beautiful residences and modern churches, and school buildings not equalled 
by any community of its size in the part of Middlesex county in which it has its situation. 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. Ixxxiii 

It was in this part of Wobuni that tlic first houso in tliat town was imilt in 1640, and on 
the strength of this event the town of Wiiicliester t-elehrated its two iiundred and fiftieth anni- 
versary in 1.S90, refpriin!>; not so mucli to its age as a town hut as a conununity. Winrhester 
territory was also the htrgest section of the surveyed lands of Charlestown which iiore the ap- 
propriate name of Waterfield, as early as 16:58. In \\'inchester also was the home of the family 
of Edward Converse, with several distinguished nienihrrs ])roininently connected with the early 
history of the town and of New England. In Winchester also was liuilt the first bridge within 
the limits of the town of W'ohurn. hi Winchester also were two large farms granted to Rev. 
Zachariah Symmes. an early minister of Charlestown. and the Hon. Increase Nowell, a magis- 
trate, — men deeply interested in founding the town of Wohurn. It was the Rev. Zachariah 
Symmes who preached the first sermon in Wolnun, when the town was a wilderness. Win- 
chester was also the scene of the murder of some members of the Richardson family in the time 
of King Philip's War, an event described under the history of Wobtu-n. 

Beginning with the period of 18.35, South Woburn. or Winchester, started as a character- 
istic village of mechanics of American birth, and the mahogany mills of Stephen and Henry 
Cutter and Harrison Parker, and the blacksmith establishments of Francis .lohnson and the 
Symmes family, were iirominent features. There were also some productive farms, such as 
those of the Lockes and others at the \Vest Side, and those of the numerous Richardsons and 
others on the East Side. Begininng with 18.50 many business men of Boston built here their 
residences, the steam railroad facilities of that time being relatively of greater importance than 
now. though greatly added to by electric roads. 

Winchester contains several ponds, now enlarged by name into lakes, and many hilly crests, 
on which houses have been recently built. The policy of its local government has always been 
ba.sed on modern ideas, and it has good roads and every feature which it can afford. It conr 
tains a part of the Metropolitan Park System within its borders, in which is situated its wate- 
system. The ancient is not now much in evidence here. Old houses are not so numerous as 
formerly. The old stock is largely supplanted by new-comers — some of them transient, others 
l)ermanent, — but a more cosmopolitan community of .settlers than those who bore the brunt a 
half century or more ago. 

-Authorities: RoUes. .1. A.. "Oration", 1860. Richardson, Nathaniel A., and Thomp.son, 
Abijah, numerous articles in the local press on the "Winchester of the Pa.st", and "Woburn 
and Winchester Town History". Winchester, "250th Anniversary of the First White Set- 
tlement within the Territory of Winchester", 1890. "Winchester Record", 188.5-1887. 

Among the ancient houses in Winchester which have been in existence in this modern 
town since 18.50 were the following, the greater part of the number having now passed away. 
The most notable of them to residents and to travellers was a public house known as the Black 
Horse Tavern, erected, it is said, in 1724, and famous for a long period as a resort for stage- 
coach travellers before and after the time of the Revolution. Its name was applied to the 
straggling village in its vicinity, which was called "Black Horse Village," l)efore it was named 
South Wot)urn. In later times the original building in an altered form was used as a residence. 
Its site is now covered by a modern dwelling-house. 

The old house owned in the eighteenth century by Deacon .Jeduthun Richard.son. and in 
the nineteenth by Deacon Luther Richard.son, his great-grandson, was a landmark of distin- 
guished importance in its part of the town (W'ashington street) from its association with the 
pa.st. and as being one of the more modern of several early homesteads in the near vicinity 
where the thousands of descendants of the three brothers Richardson had their American origin. 

Thomas Richardson one of the three brothers who settled in Woburn in 1640, would ap- 
pear to have occupied the late .John S. Ricliardson estate on Richardson's Row, or Washington 
street. This estate in 1798 was occupied by an old two-.story house and a barn, the latter so 



Ixxxiv MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

"old and pdor, with a lean-to almost fallen down." that writers have supposed both to have 
belonged to the original Thomas Richardson. 

Samuel Richardson, another of the above three brothers who settled in Woburn in 1640, 
located on Richardson's Row on an estate which a hundred years ago was known by the name 
of the Job Miller estate. Miller's wife was a descendant (Samuel 1, Samuel 2, Jonathan 3, Jon- 
athan 4, Richardson) niece of the last named Jonathan Richardson, who died in 1798. The 
house she occupied was old more than a hundred years ago. Here three persons were killed 
by roving Indians on April 10, 1676. The Miller place <vas known latterly as the Smith place. 
The estate of the first Samuel was traversed by Prince street, and extended from the Boston 
and Maine railroad (the Lowell railroad part) to the Stoneham line. The J. F. Stone estate 
is its modern equivalent. The original house of the first Samuel disappeared before 1800, 
and was in a little valley on the opposite side of the street from the Job Miller house. 

Ezekiel Richardson, the third of the first three brothers, lived on the spot occupied by the 
Wetherby house. He died early after the settlement of Woburn, or in 1647. His property 
descended to his son Theophilus (died 1674), then to John Richardson (died 1749), to Deacon 
Nathan Richardson (died 1775), to Nathan, son of Nathan (died 1817, aged ninety-two years), 
Abel, who died 1824, and to Richard Richardson, who died 1848, killed by the fall of a tree in 
the woods on this estate. The only ancient building on this estate in 1798 was a "very old 
barn," evidently a relic of the early Richardson period. 

The house evidently very ancient, occupied in its later years by the late Thaddeus Parker, 
on Cambridge street, was an object to attract the attention of passers by. Thaddeus Parker 
occupied this house after his own was burned in 1840. 

The Parker and Collins house on Chm'ch street, whose history is traced back through the 
Converse family to an early generation, was owned ami occupied by Benjamin Converse in 
1798, when a census was taken for the United States direct tax of 1800. It was owned by 
James Converse, the last survivor of the thirty-two signers of the Town Orders of 1640, who 
died in 1715, aged ninety-five. The descent of the property is then traced to his grandson 
Robert, to Ebenezer, son of Robert, and to Benjamin Converse, above, son of Ebenezer. Ben- 
jamin died in 1824, aged ninety-three. In 1798 the house was so old as to be "not tenantable." 

The Le Bosquet house, at Symmes Corner, originally on a part of the old Symmes estate, 
was built by a member of the Brooks family between 1715 and 1721. General John Brooks, 
of the Revolutionary Army, and Governor of Massachusetts, was born in this house. Captain 
John Le Bosquet married a daughter of one of the owners by the n;mie of Brooks, and the prop- 
erty was theirs from 1781 to 1847. 

The Samuel Thompson house was situated on the foi-mer line between Medford and Wo- 
burn, and is remembered as a large structure possessing the appearance of great antiquity. A 
local writer once made it the subject of a fantastic story which was published in the local press. 

Others: The Zachariah Symmes house. The old homestead of Edmund Symmes, senior. 
The house of John Swan, now standing on Cambridge street, was purchased by Swan in 1818. 
It was formerly the Edward Gardner place. The Caleb Richardson house, now standing, and 
occupied by the family of Josiah Stratton, is justly regarded as one of the oldest houses in pres- 
ent Winchester. It was called a one story house in the census of 1798. Its owner at that 
time was Joseph Richardson, the father of Caleb. Philemon Wright's house, which certainly 
existed in 1798, is known latterly as the Josiah Locke house, on the Hills, adjoining Arlington 
and Lexington town lines. Wright left shortly after the Locke occupation and founded the 
town of Ottawa, Canada, about 1800. The old .lonatlian Locke house in the same neighbor- 
hood was also a very ancient hovise, staniling within a recent period. 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. Ixxxv 

MELKDSE 

Melrose was originally, when the country was first settled, a part of Charlestown, and a 
little later the north part of Maiden. It was incorporated as a town on May 3, 1850. Most 
of its territory had previously been known as N'orth Maiden, and a small portion of Melrose 
was set off from the town of Stoneham in 1853. The name of Melrose was suggested by a native 
of Scotland, one William Bogle, who had been a resident before the railroad was opened in 
1845. It is seven miles north of Boston, and from the first has been largely occupied with fine 
residences. When incorporated the town had a population of 1260. March 18, 1899, it be- 
came a city, and its population in 1905 was 14,125. 

Authority: Goss. E. H., "The History of Melrose", 1902. 

Melrose, though a modern city of active growth, has still a few old structures left of a long 
past period. The Ensign Thomas Lynde homestead, which stands on the corner of Main street 
and (loodyear avenue, was the first house built on Melrose territory. Six generations of Lyndes 
have lived here. It is a good example of colonial architecture and is in a good state of preser- 
vation. Joseph Lynde homestead. Warren Lynde homestead, built 1820. The John Lynde 
homestead was built about 1700 by Ca])tain Lynde, and, about the same time, the latter, also, 
built a house for his son Thomas, situated about one hundred rods west of the previous one. 
It has been remodeled and modernized. The Sprague house was built in 1812 by Captain 
Phineas Sprague, who was born in 1777, and dietl in 1869, aged ninety-two.. The house is now 
owned by Samuel H. Nowell. The Jonathan Green house near the line between .Melrose and 
.Maiden was built early in the eighteenth century, and has been occupied by five generations 
of Jonathan Greens. The house known as the "Mountain House" was built after 1742. It 
was owned by Captain Jonathan Barrett in 1806, and was one of the largest and finest houses 
in the north part of Maiden. It has been removed from its present site and has become a tene- 
ment house. The old Amos I'pham house is a fine example of early architecture, with a large 
square chimney in the centre. The walls are filled with brick and clay, and some of the oak 
beams of the frame are eighteen inches thick. The Jesse Upham house is probably one hundred 
and fifty years old, and is in good condition. It is the only old homestead in Meli'ose which 
has a well sweep. Other old houses are the old homestead built by Nathan Upham in 1816. 
Brick house on "Parker Place" built by Joshua Upham, 1810. The Dolly Upham house is 
a small one story house built in 1818. The Pratt homestead, built in 1806, now belongs to Mel- 
rose. The Ezra \'inton homestead was erected soon after 1790 and is strongly l)uilt with a 
huge chimney. The house is plain but large and comfortable. The Ezra Waite house is prol)- 
ably two hundred years old. and has bi'ick lined walls and wooden cross-beams in the ceilings. 
Heinenway house. The Abijah Boardman house is just over the line in Saugus, but its history 
is closely connected with Melrose. " It is one of the oldest, if not the oldest house now standing 
on New England soil." It was built in 1635-'06, by Samuel Bennett, and is one of the best 
specimens of overhanging upper-story architecture. It has old-fashioned huge chimneys, 
fireplaces and ovens of the early colonial days, with beams across the ceilings and hand wrought 
nails. The cellar stairs are hewn logs and the walls are lined with luick from top to bottom. 
The upper story projects eighteen inches. 

Authoiity: Elbridge, Henry Goss. 

NOKTH KE.\I)IXG 

Nortli Reading was the north part of the old town of Reading, to which its territory was 
added by a grant in 1651. Till that year the northern boundary of Reading had extended 
to the Ipswich river, and, more room being wanted, the court granted this additional territory. 



Ixxxvi MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

Later it became the Second or North Paiish of okl Readiiii;, and in recent times (March 22, 
1853) the town of North Reading. 

This tract was formally laid out in 1666. Its history has been included in that of Reading 
until the date of its incorporation as a separate town in 1853. Because of the distance its peo- 
ple had to travel to attend public worship, it became a parish by itself, after several attempts 
to that end, in the year 1713. Six families were located in the precinct before 1680, and many 
others were added before the close of that century. The number' of members of the church in 
1720 was thirty-nine. The current of events was not always even, for in 1721 there was an 
alarming epidemic of the small-pox, and on October 29, 1727, an earthquake which, according 
to the parish record, "lasted at times three months, and at the end of three months very hard." 
The first settled minister died in 1759, and the second was ordained in 1761. The number of 
voters in 1771 was sixty-six. The somewhat scattered population was devoted to agriculture, 
with boot and shoe-making as an acce.ssory. In this manner the precinct was carried down 
to the period when it eventually became a town. The population in 1855 was 1050; In 1860 
it was 1193. The town still possesses much the same character that it had when incorporated. 

The Congregational Church was the original church of the parish, and its first meeting- 
house was erected in 1717. In 1752 the second church edifice took its place. The third build- 
ing was erected in 1829 and was occupied until 1836, when a division occurred in the parish, 
resulting in certain members, holding Universalist views, retaining the old Iniilding, and the 
others erected in that year the church which is still in use (H. C. Wadlin, Kurd's " Hist. Midd. 
County", ii. 810). 

BELMONT 

Belmont owes its existence as a town directly to railroad enterprise. Because of the 
growth of the ice trade a railroad was built from Charlestown to Fresh Pond for carrying ice 
to tide-water. An extension of this road was made in 1843 to Waltham, and later to Fitch- 
burg. At this time the region was sparsely populated. It fornied the outskirts of two old 
towns — Watertown, and West Cambridge, now called Arlington — and because of its remote- 
ness it was occupied only by farmers. A still older name for the place was Floh, or Flop End. 
One of the inhabitants named Deacon Frostwore an old Continental three-cornered hat of such 
a slipshod character that one of the sides for want of proper fastening would hang down, and 
when he walked would flop, hence the name of flop for the district, construed later into the 
name of Flob End. 

Improved facilities for communication led to an increase of population. There was no 
place of public worship nearer than Arlington Centre or Watertown — no store, no post-office, 
or public-hall — practically nothing of public interest except the railroad station. Still the 
inhabitants were not without ambition, and an unsuccessful attempt was made in 1854 for an 
act of incorporation as a town. In 1855 the attempt was renewed, and again in 1856. In 
1857 and 1858 unsuccessful attempts were again made, but in 1859 success attended the efforts 
of the petitioners, and the act was approved March 18, 1859. The new town was made up of 
parts of Waltham, West Cambridge (Arlington) and Watertown. Its town hall is six and a 
half miles from the State House in Boston. The population in 1859 was 1175. 

While Belmont has been pre-eminently an agricultural community, it has been from the 
beauty of its situation largely residential. Houses are taking po.ssession of the hillsides, and 
confining the husbandmen, who have always had narrow acreage, to still narrower limits. The 
name of the town was derived from that given to his own estate by the proprietor of the well- 
known Cushing estate, who called his house and lands Belmont. The mansion house on his 
lands was built about 1830, and after the death of Mr. Cushing, in 1862, it became the 
property of Samuel R. Payson, and is remembered by many as the Payson estate. It was 



HISTORIC lll)Mi:S \\l) I'l.ACl'.S. Ixxxvii 

estimated after Mr. I'ayson's ownership liad ceased that up to that lime more tliaii hah' a 
milion dollars had been expended upon it. 

The Nathaniel Bright house, which was the oldest house in VVatertown before the incor- 
poration of Belmont, stood in the present limits of Belmont until after 1876, when it was torn 
down. To within the past twenty-five years the land has been in the possession of the family. 
Aside from this house there were in 1820 only four houses in that part of Watertown which now- 
comprises that part of Belmont known as the village of Waverley, all of which had disappeared 
before the town of Belmont was formed. The grounds of the Massachusetts General Hospital 
are in this part, also the three hundred acres which were included in the plan of the Waverley 
(.'ompany, which w;is incorporated in ISoo. The village of Waverley was the outgrow'th of 
this enterprise. In 1875 the company disposed of one hundred acres upon the Waverley High- 
lands to the Ma.ssachusetts General Hospital. Here also the former McLean Asylum from 
Somerville w-a.s removed. 

This modern residential town has still a few old houses of note in its present limits. On 
the corner of Pleasant street and Concord avenue in Belmont is the old Eleazer Homer home- 
stead. The house is a combination of brick anil wood. The ■Wellington homestead recalls 
the name of Jeiluthun Wellington, a leading citizen of his day. He was sergeant and lieutenant 
in the Revolutionary army; colonel of the militia; selectman; and representative to the Gen- 
eral Court for nine years. The homestead of the Livermore family on School street was built 
in the early part of the eighteenth century. Colonel Thomas Livermore. a descendant in the 
sixth generation from John, the first representative of the family, was a man of considerable 
note and filled many important offices. The house of George Prenti.ss, 1775, was later included 
in the estate of Mansur W. Marsh, now located on Prospect street, Belmont. House of Oliver 
Russell, Pleasant street, Belmont. House of Josiah Locke Frost, Pleasant street, Belmont. 

HUDSON 

Hudson is a town made U|) out of parts of the older town of Marlborough, and named for 
a native, the Hon. Charles Hudson. The early owners of the tract believed in farms rather 
than in towns, but the introduction of small but good manufacturing industries gave the place 
a healthy beginning, and from that time its growth was slow but steady, until in 1866 its inhal)- 
itants numbered about 1800, and were desirous of separate corporate existence. The usual 
story of distance from the place of town meeting also influenced the desire for separation on 
the part of the active and increasing inhabitants of a manufacturing village remote from the 
centre of the older town. The village had already received the name of Feltonville in 1828, 
after one Felton, a postmaster. Financial offers seemed to influence the choice of a name for 
the new town, and a vote of the citizens was taken to settle the matter. The names of Felton 
and Hudson received the greater jiart of the votes, and Hudson received the larger number. 
The act of incorporation was dated March 19, 1866. In 1868 and addition of territory was made 
by the setting off of a portion of Bolton and adding it to the town of Hudson. 

Authorities: Hudson, Charles, "Abstract of the History of Hudson from its first settle- 
ment", 1877. Worcester, E. F., "Hudson, Past and Present", 1899. 

EVERETT 

The city of Everett was formerly a part of the town of Maiden, called South Maiden, and 
was incorporated as a town March 9, 1870, and named after Hon. Edward Everett. It was 
incorporated as a city on .June 11, 1892. Its population when incorporated as a town was 
2220, and in 1890 it had increased to 11,043. In 1905 the population was aBout 30,000. 



Ixxxviii MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

Soutli Maiden liatl heen distinct in several features from the present city of Maiden for 
many years, or from the time it was made a separate precinct for religious purposes in 1737. 
It became first a fairly prosperous farming community, with convenient communication with 
Boston, by means of the l;)uilding of Maiden bridge in 1787, which offered a direct route to 
Charlestown and Boston. The South Parish was succeeded by the South School District in 
1799. In 1842 the South District was divided into two districts, and at that time there were 
in South Maiden eighty-eight houses and one hundred and five families as compared with fifty- 
two houses in 1828. An unsucee-ssful effort was made in 1848 to have South Maiden set off 
and incorporated as a town by the name of '' Winthrop", and the several following years were 
devoted to a strenuous attempt to effect a separation. Success did not attend the effort until 
i870. In 1850 the number of inhabitants was 1169. In 1853 the town of Maiden abolished 
the district system. In 1860 the population was 1547, and in 1867 it was 1986. In 1870 it 
had increased to 2290, in 1875 to 3651, in 1880 to 4159, in 1885 to 5825, and in 1890 to 11,043. 
The present population is about 39.000. 

.\YER 

The territor}- now covered by the town of Ayer was formerly in large extent a part of Gro- 
ton. It is the youngest of the Groton family of towns in the northwestern part of this county, 
and the length of its territory is about four miles in one direction and about two miles in width 
in another. The soil as a rule is poorly adapted for agriculture. The new town of Ayer was 
incorporated in 1871. 

The tract was settled as early as 1662. It shared in the Indian attacks on Groton during 
King Philip's War, and in later wars, lint this belongs to the history of the older town. The 
development of steam railroads is what made the village of South Groton, later the town of 
Ayer, a "railroad town." From a dozen farms of doubtful prospertiy in 1843, by the beginning 
of the Fitchburg railroad in that and the next few years it started first as a railroad station 
for Groton in general, resulting in a Union Station for several railroads in 1848. 

An agitation to be incorporated as a new town possessed the inhabitants of South Groton 
as early as 1855, when a debating society decided the question in the affirmative. In 1869 
the agitation assumed a more definite shape. The population in 1870 was 1600. A petition 
signed by 270 of the citizens was presented to the legislature of 1871. The name of Groton 
,lunction was first selected. A census of the proposed new town was taken, showing the fol- 
lowing figures: from Shirley 90; Littleton, 31; Groton, 1890; total, 2003. The name did 
not meet with entire approval, and the name of Ayer was suggested " as easy to spell and speak." 
The name was given in compliment to Dr. James C. Ayer, a prominent citizen of the city of 
Lowell. The act of incorporation w-as passed by the legislature February 14, 1871, and the 
first town meeting was held March 6, 1871. 

Authorities: Charles Cowley wrote a work entitled "Reminiscences of James C. Ayer 
and the Town of Ayer", which attained three editions (Lowell, 1879). Daniel Needham de- 
livered an oration at the dedication of the town house in Ayer, which was published in 1876. 

M.\YN.\RD 

Maynard was incorporated as a town on April 19, 1871. Its territory was made up of 
parts of Stow and Sudbury. Its name was taken from that of an individual. The town is 
divided into two sections by a stream called the Assabet river. Lands in this section of Sud- 
bury were early laid out by the first settlers. The early inhabitants depended for a livelihood 
largely upon the products of the soil, for which the country was fairly suited, but in process 
of time the water-power of the Assabet river began to be considered as valuable for manu- 



HISTORIC HOMES AND PLACES. Ixxxix 

facturing purposes, and a hamlet or village was begun. In 1845 the water-power which up 
to 1822 had been used for grain mills was sold, and in 1846 the Assabet Mill Works were begun. 
Carpets and carpet yarn were made the first year. In 1862 the Assabet Manufacturing Com- 
pany was organized, and manufacturing became the feature of the place, wiiich was popularly 
known as Assabet Village. The town was named in honor of Mr. Amory Maynard, to whose 
energy the development of its business prosperity was due. 

Authority: Hudson, A. S., "The Annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard," reprinted 
from Kurd's "Middlesex County," 1891. 

The town of Maynard was at one time a part of Sudbury and Stowe, and there is nothing 
of especial historic interest connected with the old houses of the place, and most of them have 
passed into "hands in no way connected with the original owners." The old Daniel Puffer 
place is more than a century old and is the oldest house in Maynard. It is now owned by for- 
eigners. The old Harry Rice tavern is owned by Mrs. Abram Ray. It is called the Vose place. 
Mrs. Ray's maiden name was Vose. Others now old are the Parker house on paper mill land. 
The Daniel Whitney house, now owned by Joel Parmenter. The Bent place and the Wilder 
place, owned by Herbert Fowler, and the Silas Brooks place now owned by James Bent. 

Note. — As every town in the county has a sketch of more or less length in Drake's or 
Kurd's histories of the county, these are omitted in the enumeration of authorities given under 
towns in this article, except in the case of reprints or enlargements. The "Guide to M:vssa- 
chusetts Local History" by Charles A. Flagg, 1907, contains a much fuller list of works con- 
cerning the different towns of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, than is here pre.sented, and to 
this the reader is referred. 



THE NEWTON FREE LIBR.IRY 

As a factor in the development of public education, the free circulating library is second 
only in importance to the public schools themselves. The fact that the mission of each is iden- 
tical has long been recognized by the philanthropic and benevolent citizen, as well as by the 
governing board of every well organized municipality, hence a city or town unprovided with a 
public library is lax in the promotion of its educational facilities. 

Through the liberality and foresight of Hon. J. Wiley Edmonds and several other public- 
spirited citizens, the Newton Free Library was established some forty years ago, and the edifice, 
a handsome granite structure, was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies in 1870. In the fol- 
lowing year the institution was incorporated by the state legislature, and continued under pri- 
vate auspices for the succeeding, five years, or until 1876, when it was formally presented to the 
mimicipality, from which it has since derived its support jjrincipally from amuial apjiropria- 
tions. The development of its importance as a public institution has kept pace with the city's 
growth, and its usefulness in the field of education, healty amusement and moral enlightment 
cannot be too highly estimated. 

At the present time the library has seven branches, situated at convenient points where 
citizens may obtain books for home use, and it circulates annually one hunderd and seventy 
thousand volumes. Its well-appointed reading rooms are not only resorted to by tho.se de- 
siring special information — technical, scientific, historical, etc., — but the lover of high class 
fiction goes there to spend an hour or two with the novelists, and the delving student may be 
also seen striving through the aid of profoimd cruilitioii to still further enhance his intellectual 
attainments. 

Fully appreciating the importance of the work accomplished by the library, various philan- 



xc MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 

thropic citizens have emphasized their interest in its behalf either by personal donations or 
bequests, and the income arising from this source is used for the purchase of books, thus con- 
stantly increasing the number of volumes. The "Aleden Speare Fund" has been set apart 
for the purpose of supplying works upon the industrial and mechanic arts; the "Jewett Art 
Fund" of $10,000 is devoted solely to the fine arts department, embracing, beside standard 
literature upon this subject, a fine collection of pictures, etc.; and the "Charles Read Fund" 
is also used for the purchase of general books. The "Farlowe Reference Fund" serves to keep 
the supply of reference works up to date. The "Elizabeth L. Rand Fund" furnishes books 
of a miscellaneous character, while the "John C. Chaffin Fund" provides for a goodly increase 
of works of an elevating and instructive nature. 

A young people's room in the main library is proving of great advantage to youthful read- 
ers, who signify their appreciation of its privileges by their frequent attendance, and pupils 
from both the public and private schools, as well as members of the various local clubs and other 
organizations, depend largely upon its bookshelves for assistance in the propagation of their 
studies. The sheet music department, which receives additions from time to time, contains 
at present some six hvmdred volumes, representing the famous composers. Among the other 
attractive features of the library is an excellent collection of photographic reproductions of 
famous paintings by the old masters, and also of geographical views, which prove exceedingly 
helpful to teachers, art students and travel clubs. Bulletins are issued at regular intervals 
ten times a year, and a weekly list of new books appears in the local newspapers. 

WESTON PUBLIC LIBRARY 

In the winter of 1856-7 a movement was started among the citizens of Weston, Massachu- 
setts, to establish a free public library. Subscriptions of money were secured and books were 
contributed. On November 3, 1857, at a legal town meeting, it was voted that the town should 
establish a library to be called the Weston Town Library, and to be free to all inhabitants of 
Weston of a suitable age. The money and books already given were delivered to a committee 
chosen by the town to receive all donations. The books of the several district school libraries 
were added to those given by individuals, and the volumes remaining in the Weston Social 
Library were also given. In 1859 one thousand dollars was given by Mr. Charles Merriam to 
the library. This sum was invested, and the income from it is annually expended for books. 
Since that time the funds of the library have gradually increased through the generosity of 
public-spirited citizens, several of whom have contributed large sums. In addition to the 
Charles Merriam fund there has been given to the library three hundred dollars by Mr. Isaac 
Fiske, one hundred dollars by Mr. Charles Fiske, one thousand dollars by Mr. Charles A. Cow- 
ing, five thousand dollars by Mr. Henry A. Cowing, and one thousand dollars by Mr. Herbert 
Merriam, amounting to $8,400. The income from these funds is to be expended for books and 
periodicals, and by the terms of the gifts cannot be used to pay the incidental expenses of the 
library. By vote of the town the trustees receive also the proceeds of the dog tax, which aver- 
ages not far from $450 per annum. 

For seventeen years in succession, Mr. Francis Blake has placed at the disposal of the trus- 
tees the salary of his office as a member of the board of selectmen, amounting this year to one 
hundred dollars, and in addition he has promised such further gifts as will enable the trustees 
to buy, at his suggestion, for the Reference Room, the most valuable and costly set of reference 
works that the library has ever possessed, namely, Sargents's "The Silva of North America", 
costing $350. There are few libraries richer in reference works. There are 17,198 volumes 
in circulation. 

The library occupied a rf»om in the town house for several years, l)ut in 1899 steps were 



HISTORIC- IIO.MRS AND PLACES. xci 

takpii by the town toward better accommodations by purchasing a site for a new librarj' build- 
ing. In 1900 a handsome brick building with stone trimmings was erected, and in November 
of that year the new library was o])ened to the public, Miss Elizabeth S. White, librarian. Thi.s 
projjcrty is now valued at $()0,000, viz.: Land, $7,500; buihhng, $41,000; and books, $11,- 
500, and is a splendid nionunient to the culture and refinement of the citizens of Weston. 

WOBURN PUBLIC LIBRARY 

The noticeably beautiful stone structure occupied by the free public lil)rarv, known to 
the world as the Woburn Public Library, is one of the masterpieces of the celebratetl architect, 
the late Henry H. Richardson. The building has a frontage of 163^ feet. Its architecture 
is of a style called "original composite," and its ornamentation was left to the uninterrupted 
will of its designer. The result is one of the most remarkalile buildings in the country in this 
particular aspect. 

The building was erected with fvmds which were bequeathed by a private citizen, named 
Charles Bowers Winn. Mr. Winn died in 1875, and the building was ready for occupation 
in 1879. It has a well-stocked art gallery, a museum, and its collection of books now numbers 
over fifty thousand volumes. It is provided with ample funds, all the gift of private citizens 
of the city, has many autographs, rare books, and manuscripts, and for its size may be regard- 
ed in every way well provided with all that is needed to make an all round equipment for in- 
tellectual work. 



Genealogical and Personal Memoirs. 



The name of Winthrop, — 
WINTHROP that of the Governor of the 
Massachusetts Bay Com- 
pany at their emigration to New England, — 
may be traced back in various speUings for at 
least six centuries and a half. The family can 
be traced to various places in the mother 
country, and latterly there to Groton in Suf- 
folk, "where they lived many years." In a 
volume by the late Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, 
entitled, "Life and Letters of John Win- 
throp," the line of descent is there corrected, 
and begins with a man called the second 
Adam Winthni]), born October 9, 1498, died 
November g, 1562, (eldest son of Adam and 
Joane (or Jane) Burton, married November 
16, 1527, Alice Henry, or Henny. Children: i. 
Thomas, born November 8, 1528, died .\pril, 
1529. 2. William, born November 12. 1529, 
died March i, 1581, at London; had wife 
Elizabeth, died June 2. 1578, and six chil- 
dren : Jonathan, Adam, William. Joshua, 
Elizabeth, and Sarah. 3. Bridget, born Janu- 
ary I, 1530, died January 1536. 4. Christopher, 
born January 4, 1531, died aged nine months. 
5. Thoinas (2d) born June, 1533, died 1537. 
Adam Winthrop was married (second) in 
1534 to .Xgnes Shar])c, daughter of Robert 
Sharpe, of Islington, she eighteen, and he 
thirty-six. Children : 6. .-Mice, born Novem- 
ber 15, 1539, die.i November 8, 1607, married 
Sir Thomas Mildmay, and had six sons. 7. 
Bridget, born May 3, 1543, died November 4, 
161 4, married Roger Alabaster, and had four 
sons and one daughter ; one of the sons was a 
celebrated poet. 8. Mary, born March i, 
1544, married Abraham Veysie. 9 and 10. 
John and .\dam, twins, born January 20, 
1546: Adam died in six months and John died 
in Ireland, July 26, 1613, having married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Risby, of 
Thorpe Morieux, Suflfolk county. 11. Adam 
(2) born August 10, 1548; see beyond. 12. 
Catharine, bom May 17, 1550, married and 
had children.* 13. Susanna, born December 
10, 1552, died August 9, 1604, married D. 



•This last Item Is challenged by Robert C. Winthrop. 



Cottie (Dr. John Cotta?) and had children. 
The widow of the father Adam Winthrop 
married William Mildmay. She died May 13, 
'5''5- 

(11) .\dam Winthrop (3d) son of .Adam 
(2(1), born in London, .\ugust 10, 1548, died 
March 29, 1623 ; married first, December 16, 
1574, Alice Still, daughter of William of 
(jrantham, Lincolnshire ; she and her first 
born child died December 24, 1577, and he 
married (second) February 20, 1579, Anne, 
daughter of Henry Browne, of Edwardston; 
her mother's name was Agnes. Adam W^in- 
throp (3d) was a man of good education and 
high social standing, lord and patron of the 
manor of Groton. Children by second wife : 
I. .\nnc, born January 5, 1 580-1, died Janu- 
ary 20, 1580-1. 2. Anne, born January 16, 
1585-6, died May 16, 1618; married February 
25, 1604-5, Thomas Fones. 3. John, born 
January 12, 1587, the governor of Massachu- 
setts: see forward. 4. Jane, baptized June 17, 
1592: married January 5, 1612. Thomas Gost- 
ling. 5. Lucy, born January 9, 1600-1 : mar- 
ried .April 10, 1622, Emailuel Downing. 

( III) John Winthrop, governor of Massa- 
chusetts, son of Adam (2). born in F.dwards- 
ton, a little village in Suffolk county, Eng- 
land, immediately adjoining Groton, January 
12. 1687, died in Boston, New England, 
March 26, 1649, nineteen years after his 
embarkation on ]\Iarch 22, 1629-30, in that 
harlxir. For details regarding his early life 
the reader is referred to the admirable work 
on that subject by his descendant. Hon. 
Robert C. Winthrop, already named, and to 
the various standard histories of Massachu- 
setts and New England for the latter part. He 
married first, April 16, 1605, Mary, born 
January i. 1583, died June 26, 161 5, daugh- 
ter and sole heir of John Forth, Esq., of Great 
Stambridge, in the county of Essex, and 

Thomasine, only child of Hilles, in 

the county of Essex. Her own immediate 
family was a wealthy one. Sixteen children : 
1. John, the eldest, born in Groton, England. 
February 12, 1606. died in Boston, April 5, 
1676, known to history as John Winthrop. the 



(I) 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



governor of Connecticut. 2. Henry, born 
(baptized January 20) 1607; drowned at 
Salem, Massachusetts, July 2, 1630, aged 
twenty-two 3'ears, the next day after his land- 
ing in America. (See his father's journal.) 
He was somewhat adventurous, had been in 
the Barbadoes, was married, April 25, 1629, 
to his cousin Elizabeth I<"ones ; had daughter 
Martha, baptized at Groton, England, May 9, 
1630. He was left behind in his father's first 
voyage, but arrived safely on a later one. He 
was drowned in a small creek. His widow 
came to New England afterwards and married 
Robert Feake. 3. Forth, born December 30, 
1609, died (buried at Groton, England, No- 
vember 23) 1630: was educated in the uni- 
versities, and was betrothed to Ursula Sher- 
man. 4 and 5. Daughters named Anne, bap- 
tized 1614-1615, who died in their earliest 
infancy. 6. Mary, eldest of the first three 
daughters, came to America, and married, 
about 1632, Rev. Samuel Dudley, son of Gov- 
ernor Thomas Dudle}-. and died April 12, 
1643, having had four children, two of whom 
survived her. Governor Winthrop married 
second, December 6, 161 5, Thomasine Clop- 
ton, died December 8, 1616, daughter of Wil- 
liam Clopton, Esq. Child : 7. Daughter, born 
November, 1616, died 1616, two days old. 
Governor Winthrop married third, April 29, 
1618, Margaret Tyndal, died in Boston, June 
14. 1647, daughter of Sir John Tyndal, 
knight. Her mother was Anne Egerton, 
widow of William Deane, Esq. Children : 8. 
Stephen, born March 24, 1618, came with his 
father to America, was recorder of Boston, 
member of Parliament for Scotland under 
Cromwell, and colonel of a regiment in the 
civil wars of England ; was married and left 
posterity. 9. Adam, born April 7, 1620; see 
forward. 10. Deane, baptized March 23, 1622, 
died at Pullen Point (now Winthrop), March 
16, 1704; married first Sarah, daughter of 
Jose Glover; and left a widow, Martha and 
children. 11. Nathaniel, baptized February 
20, 1625, probably died young. 12. Samuel, 
baptized August 26, 1627, married in Holland, 
had estate in Antigua, where he held the office 
of deputy governor, and died there about 1677. 
13. Anne, baptized April 29, 1630, died on her 
passage with her mother to New England, 
when aged about a year and a half. 14. Will- 
iam, born at Boston, August 14, 1632, prob- 
ably died soon. 15. Sarah, baptized June 29, 
1634, probably died soon. Governor Winthrop 
married fourth, December 4, 1647, Martha, 
daughter of Captain William Rainsborough, 
and widow of Captain Thomas Coytmore, of 



Charlestown, and sister of Increase Nowell. 
After the death of Winthrop she married, 
March 16, 1652, John Coggan. Child by 
Winthrop: 16. Joshua, born December 12, 
1648, died January 11, 1651. 

(I\') Adam Winthrop, son of John (3), 
born in Groton, England, April 7, 1620, died 
in Boston, suddenly it is inferred, August 24, 
1652, thirty-two years and four months old; 
came to New England in 163 1. Adam's Chai'-, 
a rock in Waltham, Massachusetts, was 
named for him (1631); married first, about 
1642, Elizabeth, died September, 1648, daugh- 
ter of Joss or Jose Glover ; married second 
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Hawkins. 
Children: i. Adam, born October 15, 1647; 
see forward. He was his parents' only 
child in 1652, and the only one, unless 
there was a daughter Mary, who died 
near the same time with her mother, Septem- 
ber, 1648. The widow of Adam (4), married 
May 3, 1654, John Richards; no children by 
either husband. 

(V) Adam Winthrop, son of Adam (4) 
born in Boston, October 15, 1647, died August 
3, 1700, aged fifty-two; will dated July 29, 
proved September 5, 1700. He was gradu- 
ated at Harvard College, 1668 (Sibley's 
"Graduates." II. 247), was for some time a 
merchant at Bristol, England, and married 
there, Mary, daughter of Colonel Luttrell. and 
there his children were born, one of whom 
was Adam, see beyond. His daughter Mary 
married, March g', 1703, John Ballentine. 
The father was an orphan, about five years old 
in 1652. He returned with his family to Bos- 
ton in 1679. He was captain of a military 
company in Boston in 1689; representative 
1689-1692; named as one of the governor's 
council, but left out in the first popular elec- 
tion. May, 1693. No time of marriage or 
births of his children or baptism of them is 
found here, as his marriage was in England, 
and there the children were born. Mary, his 
widow, married March 13, 1706, as the third 
wife of Joseph Lynde, of Charlestown. Her 
death occurred October 30, 171 5. 

(\T) Adam Winthrop, son of Adam (5), 
graduated Harvard College, 1694, and died 

October 2, 1743; married Anna . He 

was of the council of the province. Children : 
I. Adam, born August 12, 1706, died Decem- 
ber 12, 1744. Harvard College 1724: mer- 
chant of Boston, and lived in Brattle street. 
He was also clerk of the judicial courts. Mar- 
ried Mary, daughter of Hugh Hall, Esq., of 
Boston. 2. John, Harvard College, 1732; see 
bevond. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(\'II) John Winthrop, son of Adam (6), 
born in Boston. December 19. 1714. died in 
(."ambridge, May 3, 1779; married first, Re- 
becca . died August 22, 1753, aged 

twenty-nine, daughter of James Townsend of 
Boston ; married second, pubhshed Marcli 25, 
1756, Hannah, died May 6, 1790, widow of 
Tohnan of Boston, and daughter of Thom- 
as and Sarah Fayerweather. Cliildren : i. John, 
born September 17, 1747. graduated Har- 
vard College. 1765. hved in Boston, a mer- 
chant ; married Sarah PhiUips, and died in 
1800, leaving posterity — John, Harvard Col- 
lege, 1796, and .\dam. Harvard College, 
1800. 2. Adam, born November zj, 1748, 
died February 11, 1774, aged twenty-five, 
graduated Harvard College, 1767: left home 
contrary to the desire of his father, became 
a shipmaster in Governor Hancock's einploy- 
ment, and in the Downs was knocked over- 
board and lost. He "was unfortunately 
knocked overboard by the boom of his vessel 
on his passage from hence to London, and 
was drowned." February 11. 1774 (Boston 
News Letter). 3. Samuel, born July 20, 
1750, died July 28, 175 1. 4. James, "a man 
of much curious erudition," born March 28, 

1752, graduated Harvard College 1769, LL.D. 
I Allegheny College 1817: postmaster 1775 

(t. e. with headquarters at Cambridge, 
Boston being invested by the Ameri- 
can troops), register of • probate from 
September 6, 1775 until 1817; for several 
years judge of court of common pleas ; li- 
brarian of Harvard College, 1772-1787; one 
of the founders of the Massachusetts Histori- 
cal Society : resided in Cambridge, and died 
unmarried September 26, 1821. A character- 
istic letter written him in 1775 is jiublished by 
Paige, "History Cambridge," p. 700, note. 
5. William, "the last survivor," born April 19, 

1753, graduate Harvard College 1770; town 
clerk 1782-1788; selectman ten years between 
1786 and 1802: senator in 1799: a gentleman 
farmer, residing in Cambridge, and died un- 
married, February 5, 1825. The father of 
this intelligent family was a man of great dis- 
tinction in his day. He was graduated at 
Harvard College in 1738, appointed Hollis 
professor of mathematics and natural philoso- 
phy in 1738. He was in 1771. as already stated 
elsewhere in this work, the preceptor of Count 
Rumford and Colonel Loammi Baldwin of Wo- 
burn. He was elected Hollis professor of 
mathematics and natural and experimental 
philosophy August 30, 1738. He was then a 
resident of Boston, and his inauguration with 
appropriate ceremonies occurred January 2, 



1738-9. He declined the office of president of 
the college in 1769. His age and "bodily in- 
firmities" were urged as objections against 
him. it was a time when the office went beg- 
ging. The choice was made of Samuel Locke, 
a clergyman of a small parish about twenty 
miles from Cambridge, against whom was 
made the still greater objection of "a want of 
knowledge of tlie world, having lived in re- 
tirement, and perhaps not a general acquaint- 
ance with Ijooks." In 1774, after the resigna- 
tion of Locke, Winthrop was again chosen 
president and declined. President Quincy* 
says of him, "The literary and scientific at- 
tainments of John Winthrop acquired celeb- 
rity in his own country and in luirope, and 
entitled him to be regarded as one of the 
brightest ornaments of Harvard College. . . 
The zeal, activity and talent with which he 
applied himself to the advancements of the 
sciences justified the expectations which his 
early promise raised." As a lecturer he was 
skilful and attractive, and during forty years 
he fulfilled the duties of the professor's chair 
to universal acceptance." His labors were 
both practical and scientific. He transmitted 
in December. 1740, to the Roxal Society of 
London, "observations of the transit of Mer- 
cury over the Sun." These observations were 
published both in London and honorably 
noticed in Paris. He gave a lecture on the 
earthquake of November 18. 1755. in which 
he deliberately set out to calm the apprehen- 
sions which the superstitions of the age had 
excited, with actual fear, throughout the terri- 
tory of New England, where the quake had 
been experienced. He explained his theory 
of the phenomenon of earthquakes with 
originality, research, and intellectual power, 
and advanced the consolatory fact that though 
earthquakes had occasionally occurred in New 
I-'ngland from its first settlement by the Eng- 
lish, not a single life had ever been lost nor 
anv great damage been done by them. He 
supported the theories of Benjamin Franklin 
concerning lightning, and protection from it 
by the use of "iron points." Even in this 
he met with opposition, even from the ignor- 
ance of natural laws on the part of clergymen 
and the superstitions of that age. One thought, 
and ptiblished the fact, that the 'iron points" 
(in the buildings in New England drew the 
lightning from the clouds and caused the 
earthquake of 1755. Professor W'inthrop, in 
reply, proceeded to show that earthquakes 
could not be accounted for in that way. As 



•"History of Harvard University," 11. 217. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



late as 1770 there were religious people who 
were opposed to lightning rods (in intelligent 
New England!) on the ground that "thunder 
and lightning" were tokens of Divine dis- 
pleasure, and that it was impious to prevent 
them from doing their "full execution." Pro- 
fessor Winthrop again appeared in their de- 
fense with a publication which showed that 
"Divine Providence" governed the world by 
"stated general laws," and showed in conclu- 
sion that it was as much "our duty to secure 
ourselves against the effects of lightning, as 
from those of rain, snow, or wind, by the 
means God has put into our hands." On the 
appearance of a remarkable comet in 1759, he 
again came to the front with lectures in which 
he explained the true nature and motions of 
comets, according to the latest discoveries of 
the times. 

He transmitted to the Royal Society, ac- 
counts of whirlwinds and other natural phe- 
nomena which he observed in this section. And 
so it was in many other scientific observations, 
transits of Venus and others, of which the 
record, however creditable to him, is too long 
to mention in the present work. It is said 
that his active, vigorous and comprehensive 
mind embraced within its sphere various and 
extensive knowledge, and that he was better 
entitled to the character of a universal scholar, 
than any individual of his time, in this coun- 
try. He was well versed in ancient and mod- 
ern languages, and President Ouincy con- 
cludes that he was one of the greatest mathe- 
maticians and philosophers America had then 
produced. 

He was chosen a member of the council of 
the province in 1773, but negatived by a royal 
mandate. In 1774 he was a delegate to the 
provincial congress. In 1775 he was restored 
to the seat in the council, and also appointed 
judge of probate. The latter office he held 
until his death. May 3, 1779, at the age of 
sixty-five. 



(Ancestry by Arthur G. Loring.) 

(I) Thomas Brooks, of Con- 
BROOKS cord, Massachusetts, died there 

May 21, 1667; his wife Grace, 
whose surname is unknown, died 'May 12, 
1664. He first settled in Watertown, as early 
as 1636, and removed very soon to Concord, 
where he was constable in 1638; representa- 
tive 1642-1644, 1654, 1659-1662. He is called 
captain, and if so, probably of the military 
company at Concord. In 1660, with his son- 



in-law, Captain Timothy Wheeler, he pur- 
chased of Edward Collins four hundred acres 
of land in Medford, it being a portion of the 
Cradock farm. Children: i. Joshua, married 
October 17, 1653, Hannah Mason of Water- 
town. 2. Caleb, see forward. 3. Gershom, 
married March 12, 1667, Hannah Ecklcs, of 
Cambridge. 4. Mary, married Captain Timo- 
thy Wheeler, of Concord ; she died his widow, 
October 4, 1693. 

(II) Caleb Brooks, son of Captain Thomas 
Brooks (i), died at Medford, July 29, 1696, 
aged sixty-four years ; married first, April 10, 
1660, Susanna Atkinson, born April 28, 1641, 
daughter of Thomas Atkinson, of Concord ; 
she died at Concord January 19, 1669, 
and he married (second) her sister. Han- 
nah Atkinson, born March 5, 1643, died at 
Medford, March 10, 1709. He moved 
from Concord to Medford in 1680, and oc- 
cupied most of the land purchased by his 
father. Children by his first wife: i. Susan, 
born December 27, 1661, died at Medford, 
December 23, 1686. 2. Mary, born Novem- 
ber 18, 1663, died young. 3. Mary, born 
April 3, 1666, married April 19, 1688, Na- 
thaniel Ball of Concord. 4. Rebecca, born 
November 9, 1667. 5. Sarah, born December 
16, 1668, married October 18, 1705, Philip 
Russell, of Cambridge. Children by second 
wife: 6. Ebenezer, born February 24, 1670- 1, 
see forward. 7. Samuel, born September i, 
1672, married Sarah Boylston of Brookline. 

(III) Captain Ebenezer Brooks, son of 
Caleb Brooks (2), born at Concord, Febru- 
ary 24, 1670-1, died at Medford, February 11, 
1742-3, in seventy-third year (gravestone) ; 
married, 1693, Abigail Boylston, daughter of 
Dr. Thomas and Mary (Gardner) Boylston, 
of Brookline: she died May 23, 1756, in 
eighty-second year (gravestone). He in- 
herited his father's house and homestead. 
Children: i. Caleb, born July 8, 1694, see 
forward. 2. Ebenezer, born March 23, 1697- 
8, inarried June 20, 1737, Hannah Gibson, of 
Boston. 3. Abigail, born October 6, 1699; 
married October 27, 1720, Thomas Oakes, of 
Medford. 4. Hannah, born April 15, 1701, 
married (intention dated November 8, 1721) 
Nathaniel Cheever, of Boston. 5. Mary, born 
January 19, 1703-4, died September 3, 1704. 
6. Thomas, born April 28, 1705, died Novem- 
ber 14, 1784, aged eighty years. 7. Rebecca, 
born July 24, 1706, married December 2, 1725 
Samuel Pratt, of Boston. 8. Samuel, born 
February 8, 1709-10, married April 2, 1747, 
Abigail Hastings, of Waltham. 

(iV) Captain Caleb Brooks, son of Captain 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Ebenezer Brooks (3), born at Medford, July 
8, 1694, died there November 21, 1766, 
seventy-third year (gravestone) ; married 
first, March 30, 1730-1, Mary Winn, born 
July 3, 171 1, died Jamiary i, 1745, aged 
thirty-four years and six months (grave- 
stone), daughter of Increase and Mary Winn, 
of W'oburn ; married second, Alarch i, 1749- 
50, Ruth Albree, born May 17, 1718, died 
May 6, 1793, aged seventy-four years (grave- 
stone), daughter of John and Elizabeth 
(Green) Albree, of Medford. He occupied 
the estate now in Winchester known as the Le 
Bosquet place, at present Synmies Corner, at 
that time within the limits of Medford. This 
estate was purchased in 171 5 by his father. 
Captain Ebenezer Brooks, of William Symmes, 
and after his death passed to his son. Captain 
Caleb Brooks, and at his death to his son, 
Ebenezer Brooks, whose daughter Mary mar- 
ried Captain John Le Bosquet, who bought 
out other heirs and died in April, 1844. Mrs. 
Le Bosquet had all of his personal property 
and the use of his real estate during her life- 
time. She died in September, 1847, 3"^ was 
succeeded by Captain Lebbeus Leach, whose 
wife was one of the heirs. He sold to Hon. 
Frederick O. Prince, who conveyed the house 
and a part of the land to Marshall Symmes in 
1865. In 1 88 1 Mr. Symmes removed the old 
house to the rear of his barn, and built a new 
house on the site of the old one. Children by 
first wife Mary (Winn) : i. Mary, born at 
Charlestown, December 20, 173 1, married 
April 4, 1752, Daniel Pratt, of Chelsea. 2. 
Abigail, born July 17, 1733, married Novem- 
ber 24, 1757, Joseph Hall, of Medford. 3. 
Ebenezer. born .April 22, 1735, married De- 
cember 28, 1758, Susanna Thompson, of Med- 
ford. 4. Caleb, baptized at Medford, .Septem- 
ber 5, 1736, died young. 5. Caleb, baptized 
October 5, 1737, died young. 6. Rebecca, 
baptized July i, 1739. married November 6, 
1766, Samuel Hall, of Medford. 7. Ruth, 
baptized August 2, 1741, married November 
20, lyfto. Joseph Seccomb, of Medford. 8. 
Sarah, baptized November 28, 1742, married 
John Le Bo.squet. 9. Caleb, baptized Sep- 
tember 9, 1744, married January i, 1767, 
Mary Kidder, of Medford. 10. Increa.se, bap- 
tized December 22. 1745. Children by second 
wife, Ruth (.'\lbree) : 11. Theodore, baptized 
January 5, 175 1. 12. John, baptized I\Iay 4, 
1752, see forward. 13. Joseph, baptized Feb- 
ruary 24, 1754. died May 11, 1756. 14. Eliza- 
beth, born June 20, 1757, married December 
31, 1776. Rev. Jacob Burnap. of Merrimack, 
New Hampshire. 15. Hamiah. born Febru- 



ary 12, 1760, married October 21, 1794, Fran- 
cis Burns, of Medford. 

(V) Governor John Brooks, son of Cap- 
tain Caleb Brooks (4), born at Medford, bap- 
tized there May 4, 1752, died at Medford, 
March i, 1825, aged seventy-three years, mar- 
ried Lucy Smith, died at Medford, September 
26, 1791, aged thirty-eight years. Children: 
I. Lucy, born at Reading, June 16, 1775, mar- 
ried at Medford, October 2, 1803, George 
O'Kill Stuart, of Kingston, Canada ; had a 
son George O'Kill Stuart, who was a mayor 
of Quebec. Canada. 2. A child died at Med- 
ford, October 1778. 3. Ale.xander Scammell, 
born at Medford, October 19, 1781, killed by 
a steamboat explosion at St. John's bar, coast 
of Florida, December 19, 1836; married May 
28, 18 1 7, Sarah Turner, of Boston ; he ob- 
tained a commission in the army, first lieuten- 
ant of artillery, 1808; captain in third artil- 
lery, 181 2; brevet major for gallantry at 
Plattsburg, 1814; major third artillery, 1832; 
lieutenant-colonel fourth artillery, 1835. (For 
a further account see Brooks's "History of 
Medford," pp. 198-200); children: i. Lucy, 
born at Medford, March 25, 1818, married 
-May 30, 1843, Hon. Edward L. Keyes, of 
Dedham. 2. John, born June 18, 1820, who 
died a passed midshipman. United States 
navy, June 4, 1843. 4. John, born May 20, 
1784, killed at battle of Lake Erie, Septem- 
ber 13, 1813; he graduated at Harvard Col- 
lege 1805 ; .studied medicine with his father, 
and afterwards entered the navy as lieutenant 
of marines ; he was unmarried. 5. A child, 
died March 24, 1786. 



(By William R. Cutler.) 

Governor John Brooks, the 
BROOKS most distinguished citizen in 
Medford of his own time, was 
born in that town in May, 1752. It is 
said bv his contemporaries that the mother of 
the future gctural and governor was a woman 
of superior character. His father was a re- 
spectable farmer, and esteemed by his neigh- 
bors. It was, however, to his mother that he 
was indebted for the influence which en- 
couraged him to make a ri.se in life, and 
through her family physician. Dr. Simon 
Tufts, she was encouraged to give him as 
good an education as circumstances would al-* 
low. 

He was placed at the town school, where 
he was taught the rudiments of science and 
the Latin and Greek languages. Dr. Tufts 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



took him into his family at the age of fourteen 
to educate for his profession. He continued 
with Dr. Tufts until he was twenty-one years 
old. The doctor then advised him to begin 
the practice of medicine in the adjoining town 
of Reading, and recommended him to the 
people as well qualified for the trust. He ac- 
cordingly settled there, was soon married, and 
his prospects were fair for a respectable estab- 
lishment in his profession. But the Revolu- 
tionar}' war broke upon the scene, and mat- 
ters military engaged the attention of all the 
people, physicians included. In his teens he 
had begun to display a talent and fondness for 
military drill and his hours of relaxation were 
given to that exercise. His village mates were 
formed into a company commanded by him- 
self. He was popular, and Dr. Tuft's yard 
became for the time a miniature training field. 
At Reading he was placed in command of a 
company of minute-men, the best soldiers in 
the militia, and soon was advanced to the po- 
sition of major in a new regiment. He dis- 
played rare abilities as a disciplinarian, and 
was thought by all who were connected with 
him in military duty to be the most competent 
to take the lead. .At first he declined, owing 
to the increasing and pressing duties of his 
profession, but the affair of the 19th of April, 
1775, happening in his immediate neighlDor- 
hood. made a speedy decision necessary, and 
he quickly assumed the duties of an office 
which he was well qualified to sustain. He 
ordered out his company with promptness, 
and directed them to proceed on the route to 
Concord : and having made such provision for 
the medical relief of the sick under his care 
as the time would permit, he joined his corps 
with all possible speed. Having arrived in 
the vicinity of Concord, he met the British on 
their retreat (near Merriam's Corner), and 
made such a disposition of his men as to se- 
cure them from injury, and enable them to 
annoy the enemy with destructive volleys as 
they passed a narrow defile (in the present 
town of Lincoln). He then hung on their 
rear and flanks in conjunction with other 
troops until they arrived at Charlestown. His 
contemporaries bore testimony to the fact that 
on this occasion, so important at the begin- 
ning of the war, he displayed the cool and de- 
termined bravery of a veteran. His military 
talents and calm courage were remarkable in 
'a young man only twenty-three years of age 
who had never seen a battle. Dr. Dixwell, 
who knew him well, states that it was noticed 
by those who had the direction of public af- 
fairs, and he soon after received the commis- 



sion of a major in the Continental army, — the 
regular army of the Revolution. 

The contemporaries of Governor Brooks 
furnish from their writings the following facts 
regarding the record of his life. He said 
that the most fatiguing day he ever spent was 
the 19th of April, 1775. History informs us 
that the force under his command arrived on 
the field at a most opportune moment. A good 
officer in command on the American side was 
needed. The impact between the two opposing 
bodies of well-armed troops was of the utmost 
consequence to either, and both Briton and 
American met on terms of equality for the 
first time on that memorable day. Parker's 
men at Lexington had fled, with fatal losses, 
before the fire of a superior body. Buttrick's 
men at the North Bridge, at a later hour, did 
not follow up their trifling victory. At a much 
later hour when the British main body had be- 
gun their retreat, Brooks, with the body of 
minute-nien under his command, suddenly ar- 
rived on the scene. Dr. Ripley, of Concord, 
says, "As the enemy passed the road from 
Bedford, they met a body of minute-men, com- 
manded by Major John Brooks. A little below 
Bedford road there was a sharp action, and 
several of the British were killed." Rev. Mr. 
Foster, of Reading, a member of Governor 
Brooks' company, who wrote a circumstantial 
account of what he witnessed, said of the be- 
ginning of the fight, '"The enemy faced 
about suddenly and fired a volley of mus- 
ketry upon us. They overshot. The fire 
was immediately returned, and two Brit- 
ish soldiers fell dead in the road near 
the brook." This event in the fray was 
followed by some sharp fighting in the Lin- 
coln woods, where by the peculiarity of the 
turns in the road through which the British 
were obliged to pass, they were hemmed to- 
gether in places and subjected to cross fires 
from men ensconced behind stone walls and 
large trees by the wayside. In forcing their 
way through this defile, the British came into 
close encounter with the Americans, and a 
number on both sides of the contending 
forces were killed. It was here that 
young Brooks performed that service for 
his country, which afterwards commended 
him to promotion and distinction in the 
army." .And there is no doubt that his abili- 
ties in this direction were great. These were 
not alone shown for the long period of the 
Revolutionary war, but afterwards in the in- 
surrection in Massachusetts known as the 
.Shavs Rebellion, and the War with England 
of 1812. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



At the beginning of tiie Revolution his rank 
was that of major in Colonel Ebcnezer 
Bridge's regiment of minute-nicn — the new 
regiment we have already mentioned, which 
marche<l April ig. 1775, and credited with a 
service of four days. Major Brooks engaged 
himself to' serve in this regiment from .\pril 
24. 1775, to August I, 1775, or a period of 
three months and fifteen davs. He was de- 
tailed while in this regiment as field officer of 
the picket guard. May 8. 1775, also for the 
main and picket guards at Cambridge from 
May 12 to May 31, 1775, and again for the 
picket guard June 8, 1775. His commission 
in same regiment was dated May 27. 1775. 
His residence is given as Reading and also 
Medford. On the night of June 16, 1775, he 
volunteered to assist in intrenching Bunker 
Hill, and in watching the enemy, and on the 
morning of the 17th he was sent by Colonel 
Prescott to General Ward at Cambridge for 
reinforcements. Being obliged to perform 
this duty on foot, he could take no active part 
in the engagement. 

On January i, 1776. Congress appointed 
him major of .\\'ebb's Xineteenth regiment. 
His regiment was present at the siege of Bos- 
ton, in the retreat from Long Lsland, and in 
the battle of White Plains. ^lajor Brooks re- 
mained with the regiment until its term of 
enlistment had expired. 

1-Vom January i. 1777. to December 31, 
1779. he served in the Continental army as 
lieutenant-colonel comman.lant and as lieuten- 
ant-colonel in Colonel Michael Jackson's 
Eighth regiment. He also served as lieuten- 
ant-colonel commandant. Seventh regiment, 
commissioned Xovembcr it. 1778. .-uul 
he held the same office and position as 
regimental commander during the year 1780, 
and also as acting colonel of the Seventh regi- 
ment. January 26, to May 25, 1781. He was 
reported on command at Boston about Jrne i. 
1781. .At that time his duties appear to be 
divided between two places, Boston and 
Peekskill. He was also at this period rejiorted 
as in coinmand at West Point, and also as 
commanding the briga.le. 1781. The war bad 
practically ended with the surrender of Corn- 
wallis in that year, but troops were still re- 
tained in active service. Colonel Brooks was 
on furlough in Massachusetts from January 
5, 1782, by leave of his general officers. Dur- 
ing the last year mentioned he was reported 
as attending court-martial in garrison, and 
from September I, 1782, he was reported on 
furlough in Massachusetts by leave of ( Icneral 
Washington. He was stationed at dilTcrent 



I)laces on the Hudson river and its neighbor- 
hood during 1782 and 1783. He reported at 
Philadelphia by leave of General Washington 
in 1783, and ended his services about June 13, 
1783, when the war was finally ended. 

In the battle of Saratoga, September 19, 
1777, Lieutenant-Colonel Brooks occupied the 
extreme left of the .American line, and was en- 
gaged with the (Jerman troops. On the 7th of 
October, 1777, his regiment turned the right 
of the enemy's encampment, and stormed the 
redoubt occupied by the Germans. His regi- 
ment remained masters of the field. He led 
the charge to the top of the intrenchments. 
He was also at X'alley I'Orge. He was pres- 
ent at the battle of Monmouth. He was em- 
ployed as an inspector (drill-master) under 
Steuben, in the field of military tactics. He 
was the friend and upholder of Washington 
at a most anxious moment in the affairs of the 
army. He retired in poverty from the ser- 
vice, and resumed his medical profession at 
Medford. 

In battle bis manner of attack was not a 
mere feint, but a direct attack in force ; wit- 
ness his conduct at .Merriam's Corner, at 
White Plains, and at Saratoga. His bravery 
was uiKjucstioned. At Saratoga, at the second 
battle or the action of Bemis Heights, October 
7, 1777, his conduct is thus described by an 
eye witness : "When the Colonel saw that the 
decisive moment had come, he lifted his sword 
in the air. and cried, 'i'ollow your Colonel at 
double (|uick !' He immediately led the way 
to the top of the intrenchments. crying, 
'Come on, come on I' They did come on ; and 
a most bloody and violent conflict ensued, in 
which they decided the fate of the day." 

A letter of (kivernor Brcwks from Valley 
Forge, Pennsylvania, dated January 3, 1778, 
states the precise reason why the British had 
been victorious in that region, namely their 
superiority in munbers. He also descril^s in 
feeling terms the sufferings endured at X'alley 
Forge by the private soldiers during their can- 
tonment. He is severe on the lack of public 
spirit displayed by the inhabitants of the 
middle states. (See Mas.sachusetts Hist(jrical 
Society Proceedings. XIII: 243. 1 

He entered. sa\s his biograjilier, on the du- 
ties of a soldier with ardor, and devoted all 
the powers of bis mind tn tlie cause of his 
country, and the profession of arms. His 
gentlemanly deportment and unassuming 
manners secured the favor of his superiors in 
office, an.l rendered him the delight of his 
c(|uals and inferiors. His skill as a tactician 
was marked. .After Bunker Hill battle, the 



8 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



advantages of superior discipline as shown on 
the part of the enemy were apparent to every 
one. These advantages made a strong im- 
pression on the American officers, and especi- 
ally on the mind of Governor Brooks. He 
had showed early in his life his talent as a 
drill-master, and his knowledge of tactics 
while in the regular army was acknowledged 
to be superior to that of his fellow officers. 
The corps he commanded was excellent as to 
discipline, drill, steadiness, and for its skillful 
movements, either in advance or in retreat. 
Some have gone so far as to say that his 
knowledge was second only to that of the 
celebrated Baron Steuben, a German officer 
engaged in reforming the American army.. 
For this reason he was associated with that 
officer as an inspector-general in performing 
the difficult task of introducing a uniform sys- 
tem of exercise and manoeuvres into the 
army. 

He was a major-general of militia in 1786. 
He was nominated a brigadier-general to 
serve in the provisional army raised in 1798, 
on prospect of war with France, but declined 
the position. During the war of 1812 he was 
adjutant-general of the state. We quote his 
biographer in relation to the value of these 
later military services. Dr. Dixwell says : 
"He was for many years major-general of 
the militia of his country, and established in 
his division such excellent discipline, and in- 
fused into it such an admirable spirit of emu- 
lation, that it was a most brilliant example for 
the militia of the state. In the insurrection of 
1786 his division was very efficient in their 
protection of the courts of justice, and in 
their support of the government of the state. 
At this time Governor Brooks represented his 
town in general court, and he gave support to 
the firm and judicious measures of Governor 
Bowdoin for suppressing that alarming rebel- 
lion. He was appointed by the acute and dis- 
criminating Governor Strong as his adjutant- 
general, in that perilous crisis of our affairs, 
the later war with England, (1812-1814). The 
prudence and discretion with which he dis- 
charged this arduous duty will be long re- 
membered by his grateful countrymen." 

He was frequently chosen a representative, 
was a member of the constitutional convention 
of 1788, several years a senator and a member 
of the executive council of the state, United 
States marshal, 1791-1796, inspector of rev- 
enue, 1796, and during the war of 1812 ad- 
jutant-general, and seven years from 1816 to 
1823, governor of Massachusetts. 

He was admirably fitted to allay party ani- 



mosities. Among his merits it is said that he 
maintained the dignity of the office, received 
distinguished strangers properly, being bred 
in the best school of manners — that of the 
high-minded and accomplished officers of the 
anny ; and that in deportment he was grave 
and dignified like Washington, but- warm and 
affectionate. His amiable character and at- 
tractive manners made friends for him every- 
where. The kindly affections of his heart in- 
creased his acceptance with the people as a 
popular physician. His practice was not only 
general in his own town, but was greatly ex- 
tended to other towns. The parents of the 
writer of this sketch (not dwellers in Med- 
ford) were assisted on their entrance into this 
world, 1803 and 1805, by his skilful hand. 
Judge then of his sacrifice on entering the 
army of his country, as a field officer of in- 
fantry, and the loss for nearly seven years 
thereby of a growing and profitable medical 
practice ! 

It is said that, when he left the army and 
returned to his home, he found himself so 
poor that at first he opened a small shop, but 
without success. 

It is said that in his boyhood he formed an 
intimacy with the celebrated Count Rumford, 
with whom he kept up a correspondence until 
the death of the Count. The authority for 
this statement is unknown to the present 
writer. Count Rumford as a boy was known 
as Benjamin Thompson of Woburn, a highly 
intellectual man. distinguished in the higher 
pursuits of science, and a military man, who 
served on the British side at the close of the 
.\merican Revolution, and later in one of the 
states of the European continent. 

It is said that as a church-goer the Gover- 
nor's influence was a powerful example to the 
people of his town. Late in life he declared 
his public belief in the authority of the scrip- 
tures. In 1820, on the division between the 
two leading sects of his neighborhood, he took 
side with the Unitarians, but never liked the 
extremes of either. It is said of him, "He 
lived as he professed." When General La- 
fayette came to Massachusetts in 1824, he 
dined with his friend and fellow officer, then 
living in retirement at Medford. The citizens 
gave the guest a general welcome. The din- 
ner at the Governor's house was a private one, 
and about twenty were present. Governor 
Brooks departed this life on March i, 1825, 
aged seventy-three, and in 1838 his friends 
erected a granite pyramid to his memory in 
the old burying-ground of the town. 

The judgment of his contemporaries is con- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



firmed by those best able to decide on his 
medical abilities, as follows : "As a physician 
he ranked in the first class of practitioners. 
His manners were dignified, courteous and be- 
nign. His kind offices were peculiarly ac- 
ceptable from the felicitous manner in which 
he performed them. He was accurate in his 
investigations and clear in his discernment. 
He preferred erring on the side of prudence 
rather than on that of rashness. He watched 
the operations of nature, and never interfered 
tinless it was obvious he could aid and support 
her." Another cause of his fellow-citizens' 
appreciation of him is expressed in the sen- 
tence of Dr. Dixwell : "He soared above the 
sordid consideration of the property he should 
accumulate by his professional labors. His 
countrymen, who have ever been distinguished 
for the acuteness of their discernment in judg- 
ing of public men and measures, were always 
ready to display their confidence in him." 



(I) Henry Baldwin, the 
BALDWIN immigrant ancestor, prob- 
ably from Devonshire, in 
England, was one of the first settlers of the 
new town of Woburn, and of that part of it 
which is now known as North Woburn. Here 
in 1 66 1 he built the "palatial house which is 
still one of the most imposing in the town, and 
which, though with some changes and occa- 
sional improvement," has been owned and oc- 
cupied by his descendants for six generations. 
The house is the oldest dwelling in Woburn. 
The estate connected with it and its owner. 
Colonel Loammi Baldwin, contained in 1801 
the large number of 212 acres, valued at 
$g,ooo by the town assessors at that time. A 
late owner, George R. Baldwin, son of Colonel 
Baldwin, is succeeded by his daughter, Mrs. 
Griffith. In 1820 the house was in looks 
much the same as now. The north chimney, 
put up by George R. Baldwin, was reputed to 
be the first "single flue" chimney made in the 
country. He designed the chimney caps and 
built a small addition to the rear of the house. 
On the south, between the house and 
the canal, was formerly a beautiful gar- 
den, with walks and trees, superior to any- 
thing of the kind then in this section. .^11 
traces of its appointments having long since 
disappeared, "neither fountain, nor arbor, nor 
walk, nor boat, is there now to hint at the 
story of the past." In 1832 George R. Bald- 
win occupied the mansion house. .Attached 
to the estate in 1820 was a farm house which. 



doubled in size, still exists as an attachment to 
the larger place. 

Henry IJaldwin was a sergeant of the Wo- 
burn militia from 1672-85, and deacon of the 
First Church, Woburn, from 1686 until his 
death. 

Henry Baldwin died February 14, 1697-98; 
married November i, 1649, Phebe, baptized 
in Boston, June 3, 1632, died September 13, 
1716, eldest daughter of Ezekiel and Susanna 
Richardson. Children: i._Susanna, born 
August 30, 1650; died Septeniber 28, 1651. 2. 
Susanna, born July 25, 1652, died March 7, 
1694; married Israel Walker (Samuel i), as 
his second wife. 3. Phebe, born September 7, 
1654, died October 20, 1679, aged twenty-five ; 
married November 7, 1676, Samuel Richard- 
son (Samuel i), as his third wife. 4. John, 
born October 28, 1656. 5. Daniel, born March 
15, 1658-59; see forward. 6. Timothy, bom 
May 27, 1661 ; see forward. 7. Mary, bom 
July 19, 1663 ; died January 8, 1663-64. 8. 
Henry, born November 15, 1664; see forward. 
9. Abigail, born .August 20, 1667, died De- 
cember 25, 1769;* married December 4, 1705, 
John Reed (Ralph 2. William i), as his sec- 
ond wife. 10. Ruth, born July 31, 1670; un- 
married and alive at the date of her father's 
will. II. Benjamin, born January 20, 1672- 
73 : see forward. Henry Baldwin the father, 
in will allowed .April 4. 1698, names his wife 
Phebe : sons Henry, Daniel, Timothy and 
Benjamin : his son Israel Walker, husband of 
his daughter Susanna, and his grandson Israel 
Walker ; his son Samuel Richardson, husband 
of his daughter Phebe, and his grandson, 
Zachariah Richardson, son of Phebe; also his 
two daughters then single, Abigail and Ruth 
Baldwin. 

II) Daniel Baldwin, son of Henry (i), 
born .March 15. 1659-60, died January 24, 
1718-19: married January 6, 1684-85, Han- 
nah, born October 22, 1667, died Sejitember 
28, 1736, daughter of Joseph Richardson 
(Samuel i) and Hannah (Green) Richard- 
son. Children: I. Hannah, born August 21, 
1686. 2. Phebe, born May 13, 1690; died 
March 10. 1706-07. 3. Henry, born March 
15, 1692-93; died March 12 (sic), 1692-93. 4. 
Joseph, born March 15. 1692-93; died .March 
12 (sic), 1692-93. 5. Susanna, born March 
31, 1694, died before 1746; married December 
15, 1712, Benjamin Walker, of Billerica 
(Joseph 2, Samuel i). 6. Daniel, born De- 
cember 16. 1695; killed by the Indians in 



•The statement Is here advanced that the broken 
stone 5th. 1766. fsic) (203 of the printed Inscrip- 
tions In the First Yard) Is her's.— Editor. 



lO 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



battle near Dunstable, New Hanipsbire. Sep- 
tember 5, 1724. 7. Dorcas, born October 18, 
1697; died March 7, 1697-98. 8. Joseph, born 
March 17. 1698-99; died February 3, 1744- 
45 ; married July 4, 1733. Ruth Centre, of 
Charlestown. She died December 15, 1733. 
9. Dorcas, born August 11. 1701. 10. John, 
born August 28. 1703 ; married December 8, 
1726, Sarah Lawrence, of Watertown. 11. 
Rebecca, born December 19, 1705 ; died 
March 10, 1735-36. 12. Benjamin, born 
March 30, 1707. 13. Phebe, born December 
28, 1708: married October 29, 1735. John 
Hamblet, of Nottinghain. 

In the case of John Seers versus Lieutenant 
John Wyman, before the council in 1676, Dan- 
iel Baldwin, aged seventeen years, testified 
about the impressment of two horses, and that 
while pressing a horse belonging to John Wy- 
man, whe resisted the constable, said Wyman 
"suffered his negro servant to beat me with a 
great stick, and reproved him not." In the 
same case, on the testimony of several wit- 
nesses, Daniel Baldwin is called "grandchild 
to John Seers," and came with him to Lieu- 
tenant Wyman's garrison. The witnesses say 
Daniel Baldwin abused James Carringbone, 
negro servant of said Wyman, "both in words 
and deeds," calling him "Black Roag," and 
struck him with his gun across his back, and 
said he would "shute" him. Seers stated that 
Baldwin was a "solger" who came to Wy- 
man's with him. and that one of Wyman's 
household struck said P.aldwin with a "great 
stick." The particulars of this interesting 
case are published in "Woburn Men in the 
Indian and Other Wars," pp. 11-14 (editions 
of 1807 and 1903). 

(Ill) Timothy Baldwin, son of Henry ( i ), 
born at Woburn, May 27, 1661, died in Stone- 
ham. March 11, 1733-34; married first, June 
2, 1687, Elizabeth, born July 28, 1661, died 
January 26, 1703-04, daughter of Ralph 
(Ralph i) and Martha (Toothaker) Hill of. 
Billerica ; married second July 9, 1706, Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Lazarus and Ruth (.\dams) 
Grover, of Maiden. She returned to Maiden 
(her will. May 13, 1752. lodged November 8, 
1756, was probated in 1760). Children: i. 
Elizabeth, born May 29, 1688; died April 4. 
1691. 2. Timothy, born November 20, 1689; 
see forward. 3. Ralph, born June 28, 1691 ; 
probably dead before 1718. 4. Hannah, born 
September 6, 1692 ; died September 6, 1692. 
5. Elizabeth, born June 21, 1695, in Charles- 
town or Stnncham. His will names wife, son 
Timothy and daughter Elizabeth, and grand- 
children Ralph and Hannah, children of 



Timoth\-, Jr., and Hannah ( Richardson) 
Baldwin. 

Timothy Baldwin, son of Timothy (3), 
born in Woburn. November 20, 1689, died 
December 3. 1750. aged sixty-one (gravestone 
at Stoneham) ; married June 10, 1713, Han- 
nah, born May 6. 1689, died after 1766, 
daughter of Nathaniel (Thomas i) and Alary 

( ) Richardson. His wife married 

second, about April, 1752, John Vinton, and 
removed to Dudley; after his death in 176a 
she returned to Stoneham, where she was liv- 
ing in 1766. In November, 1763, she was 
living with her grandson Timothy, son of 
Joseph and Elizabeth (Baldwin) Matthews. 
("Vinton Miemorial," p. 378). Children: i. 
Ralph, born March 6, 1714; died May i, 1731. 
2. Hannah, born September 4, 171 5, married 
February 19, 1734, Joseph Vinton. 3. Eliza- 
beth, born November 9. 1717; died Novem- 
ber 25. 1717. 4. Elizabeth, born April 9, 
1723; married November 10, 1741, Joseph 
Matthews. 5. Timothy, born June 23, 1727; 
died February 19. 1727-28. 6. Timothy, born 
May 19, 1729; died April i, 1742. 

The younger Timothy Baldwin is styled 
"Ensign" on his gravestone, 1750. This office 
has its equivalent in the modern second lieu- 
tenant. His will, dated November 7, 1750, 
mentions wife Hannah, and his daughters 
Hannah \'inton and Elizabeth Matthews. He 
also mentions a legacy given to his honored 
mother-in-law (stepmother) by his honored 
father. His father's will was dated July 12, 
1 718. Elizabeth, his daughter, is mentioned 
in it as married at that date, but to whom 
does not appear. Agreements were made re- 
specting the father's estate in 1734 and 1741. 
To Elizabeth, his wife, the father granted the 
use of a room in the east end of his house, 
and she released to the son her right to a room 
in the house, 1734. Her will devised to grand- 
children Matthews and to Samuel Grover. 

(IV) Henry Baldwin, son of Henry (i), 
born in Woburn, November 15, 1664, died 
July 7, 1739; married May 4, 1692, .Abigail, 
born February i, 1674. died January — , 1771. 
aged ninety-six or ninety-seven, daughter of 
David and Seaborn (Wilson) Fiske, first of 
Woburn and latterly of Lexington. Henry 
had all housing of his father, per will, after 
his mothei Phebe had deceased, and all lands 
after his father's decease. Children: i. 
Henry, born January 12, 1692-93; see for- 
ward. 2. David, born April 9. 1696; see for- 
ward. 3. Isaac, born February 20. 1699- 
1700; see forward. 4. Abigail, bofn Febru- 
ary 13, 1701-02, died September 4. 1704. 5. 



MIDDLESEX COU.\"T\- 



II 



janies. born jiil_\- ii, 1705, died Juiil- 12, 1709. 
6. Abig^ail, born November 19, 1707, died be- 
fore 1751 ; married Jobn Converse, and re- 
moved to Leicester. 7. James, born October 
19, 1710: see forward. 8. .Samuel, born 
August 31, 1717: see forward. The last will 
of Henry i!aldwin. dated January (>, 1732-33, 
presented by James lialdwin, left .\ugust 6, 
1739, probated September 10. 1739, names 
wife -Abigail ; Henry Baldwin, eldest son : sons 
David, Lsaac, Samuel, and daughter .Abigail 
Converse, and son James Baldwin, executor. 
He gave wife one-half part of house, north- 
erly end. Ixith u])per and lower rooms, with 
the cellar under them : his son James had the 
other part. He confirmed certain gifts. He 
also gave his son James his sawmill and his 
rights in said sawmill stream. 

(\") Benjamin Baldwin, son of Henry ( i), 
born January 20, 1672-73 : died .April 28. 
1736: married Hannah , died Septem- 
ber 28, i73''>. Children: i. John, born 
-, i6()7. 2. Benjamin, born October 25, 



1701. The statement, real or unfounded, has 
been made that Ik'njamin Baldwin resided at 
one time in Canterbury, Connecticut. 

(\T) Henry Baldwin, son of Henry (4), 
born in \\'oburn, January 12, 1692-93, died in 
Pelham, New Hampshire : married May 7, 
171 7. Mary, born January 10, 1694-95, died 
October 25. 1798, aged 104, daughter of 
Joseph (Joseph 2. Samuel i) and Mary 
(Blogget) Richard.son. Children: i. Henry, 
born I-'ebruary^ 27, 1717-18. 2. Nathan, born 
May 18, 1720. 3. Mary, born January 4, 
1721-22. The following is a contemporary 
notice of Mrs. Baldwin's death : 

".At Shrewsbury, Mrs. Mary Jones, act. near- 
ly 105 years. Her maiden name was Mary 
Richardson. '.She was born at \\'oburn, Janu- 
ary loth. ( ). .S., 1694. Her first husband was 
Henry I'.aldwin, Esq., of Pelham, N. H., by 
whom she had three children, who lived to 
settle in the world, and left families. Her 
second luisbrmd was Colonel Jones, of Hop- 
kinton. who died about the year 1772. since 
which time she remained a widow, .^he en- 
joyed a good degree of health, until within a 
few weeks of her death. Tin- serenity of 
mind, and quietness of temper, which she pos- 
sesst to an uncommon degree, doubtless con- 
tributed to her great age. Being early im- 
prest with the importance of religion, the 
practice of it, ever appeared natural and easy. 
As she lived, .so she died in the hope of a 
blessed immortality, and but a few hours be- 
fore her death was able to express, with great 
pro])riety. her views and prospects of futur- 



it\-." — Columbian Cciiliiiel (Boston), .Novem- 
ber 3. 1798. 

Captain Henry lialdwin died in I'elham, 
New Hampshire. 1754. The gravestone of 
his wife .Mary at Shrewsbury reads: Mary, 
widow of Colonel John Jones, died ( )ctober 
-3- 1/9^. in her 105th year. 

Henry lialdwin. son of Henry ((>), married 
.Abigail Butler, of F'elham. New Hampshire. 
They settled in .Shrewsbury, .Massachusetts. 
Qiildren : Mary, married Captain Elisha 
Ward, of Petersham : also Henry, Nathan, 
Thaddeus. Eliphalel. Kezia. Abigail, Relief, 
Lucretia. Henry married second, Martiia Ab- 
bott, widow of Ebenezer .Abbott, and died No- 
vember T7, 1789. aged seventy-two. 

Nathan, son of Henry (6), lived in Wor- 
cester; married first Sarah Oakes, and .second 
Lydia Oakes. Children, by first wife: Sarah, 

married Johnson: Abigail. By second 

wife : Lydia, Mary. 

Mary, daughter of Henry (6), mar- 
ried Rev. .Abner Bayley, of .Salem, New 
Hampshire. Children : Mary, married first 
William White, of Plaistow, and second 
Moses Webster, of Haverhill: P^lizabeth, mar- 
ried Henry Little of Salem, New Hampshire ; 
Lavinia, married Rev. William Kelley, of 
Warner, New Hampshire ("\'inton Memori- 
al," 378. ) 

(\II) Captain David Baldwin, .son of 
Henry (4), born at Woburn. \pn\ 9. 1696, 
,lied in Sudbury, June 23, 1770: married .Abi- 
gail, born Decemijer 18, 1702, died June 12, 
1767. daughter of Hon. William and Eliza- 
beth ( Golding) Jennison, of Sudbury. He 
was an innkeeper of Watertown, 1752- 1 757. 
Children: 1. William, Ixirn November 11, 
1727. 2. Samuel, born .August 2~. 1731. 3. 
Lydia, born October 27, 1729. died July 8, 
1732. 4. .Abigail, born .August iS. 1733. 5. 
Lydia, born October 5. 1735. 6. I'",lizal)eth. 7. 
Mary, torn September 8, 1742. 

William, son of David (7), was graduated at 
Har\-ard College in 1748: married February 
15- J753- Jaue, daughter of Rev. William 
and Jane Cook, of Sudbury, and was a deacon 
and magistrate in .Sudbury, where he died. 

Samuel, son of David (7), graduated at 
Harvard College. 1752: married January 2, 
1771. Hannah, daughter of Judge John Cush- 
ing, of Scituate ; was ordained pastor at Han- 
over, Massachusetts, December i, 1756, dis- 
missed March 8, 1780, and died December i, 
1784, aged fifty-four. 

Abigail, daughter of David (7). married 
ATay 7, 1752, Joseph Curtis, of Sudbury. She 
had a daughter Abigail who became the wife 



12 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of Rev. Jonathan Barnes, of Hillsborough, 
New Hampshire, December 14, 1774. 

Lydia, daughter of David (7), married 
February 19, 1756, Hon. Oliver Prescott, of 
Groton, a physician in a very large practice ; 
judge of probate ; brigadier-general before 
and during the Revolution, 1768-1781 ; after- 
wards major-general. He was also a member 
of the board of war and of the supreme execu- 
tive council of Massachusetts ; a brother of 
Colonel William Prescott, who commanded in 
the redoubt on Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775 ; be- 
ing third son (sixth child) of Hon. Benjamin 
and Abigail (Oliver) Prescott; while Colonel 
William was their second son (fourth child). 
Lucy, sixth child of Hon. Oliver and Lydia 
(Baldwin) Prescott, married Hon. Timothy 
Bigelow, of Medford, and their eldest daugh- 
ter Katherine married Hon. Abbott Lawrence. 

Elizabeth, daughter of David (7), married 
October 23, 1755, Henry Evans, and removed 
to Nova Scotia. 

Mary, daughter of David (7), married 
February 7, 1764, Captain .Samuel Jackson of 
Newton ; no children. 

(Vni) Isaac Baldwin, son of Henry (4), 
born in Woburn, February 20, 1699-1700, 
died in Sudbury, March 12, 1759; married 
March 24, 1726, Mary Flegg (or Flagg, as the 
name is commonly spelt), born in Woburn, 
December 5, 1702, died in Sudbury, Septem- 
ber 23, 1744, daughter of Ebenezer and Eliza- 
beth (Carter) Flagg. Children: i. Luke, bom 
December 23, 1728. 2. Jeduthun, born Janu- 
ary 13, 1731-32. 3. Nahum, born May 3, 1734. 
4. Isaac, born December 12, 1738. 5. Josiah, 
born June 10, 1743. The father was married 
to a second wife, Elizabeth, who died his wid- 
ow, March 8, 1770. 

Luke, son of Isaac (8), lived to manhood. 

Jeduthan or Jeduthun Baldwin, son of Isaac 
(8), was born at Woburn, January 13, 1732, 
and died at North Brookfield, Massachusetts, 
June 4, 1788, aged fifty-six; married, April 
28, 1757, Lucy, daughter of Rev. Ebenezer 
Parkman, of Westborough. "The Revolu- 
tionary Journal of Col. Jeduthan Baldwin, 
1775-1778," edited by Thomas Williams Bald- 
-win, printed for the De Burians (Bangor), 
1906, contains a memoir and notes, and il- 
lustrations, besides the journal. He was 
captain of a company in the expedition against 
Crown Point in 1755-56. and served in the 
same capacity from March to December, 1758, 
at Ticonderoga and at Fort DuOuesne. Twen- 
ty years afterwards he campaigned in the 
.same country with different generals, as col- 



onel and chief of engineers. He lived but a 
short time in Woburn, as his father moved to 
Sudbury about 1734. The son left Sudbury 
when young, and settled in Brookfield, Mass- 
achusetts, probably about 1754. For a very 
full account of his life the reader is referred 
to the volume above named. He was survived 
by his widow, a son Luke, and a daughter 
Betsey, and besides these two there were two 
other children — one Jeduthun, aged six, killed 
by being thrown from a cart, October 31, 
1763 ; the other, Isaac, a member of Harvard 
College, died April i, 1783, aged nineteen 
years. 

The published journal of Colonel Jeduthun 
Baldwin mentions his father, Isaac Baldwin, 
under date of 1756, his brother Nahum, and 
later his father and mother, and uncle Samuel 
Baldwin. Nahum married Martha Low, April 
22, 1760. Isaac married Eunice Jennison, De- 
cember 31, 1761. Josiah married Susanna 
Gould, March 29, 1763. 

Isaac, son of Isaac (8), was mortally 
wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill, and 
died opposite the house of Colonel Royall, in 
Medford. He belonged to Colonel John 
Stark's regiment, was the captain of his 
own company from the time of his entry into 
the service, April 23, 1775, and served two 
months, at six pounds per month, total amount 
of wages received twelve pounds, and num- 
ber of miles travel, eighty. He was the rank- 
ing captain in his regiment. (N. H. State Pa- 
pers, XIV. 50.) 

Isaac Baldwin at the beginning of the war 
raised a company of men in Hillsborough, 
New Hampshire, and led them to Cambridge. 
While there a tender belonging to the enemy 
got aground on the Chelsea ferry ways, and he 
went with twelve of his men in' open day in 
the face of the enemy and burned her, after 
taking out her guns and sails, by throwing a 
pitchfork of hay on fire in the cabin windows. 
Having accomplished this he put his men back 
one by one and brought up the rear himself 
under the fire of the British fleet, and in this 
way reached their quarters safely with four 
of his men wounded. He fought valiantly at 
Bunker Hill, and was shot through the breast 
and died that night. He is said to have loaded 
and discharged his musket three times after 
he was wounded. When his men were carry- 
ing him oft' the field he exhorted them to fight, 
assuring them that they would win the day 
and he would be with them again directly. He 
died that night. He came to Hillsborough in 
1767, was a carpenter and joiner by trade, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



13 



and wlun ilic news of the battles of Lexington 
and Concord came, he was at work framing a 
barn in an adjoining town. 

Isaac Baldwin had a posthumous son 
named Robert, born July 15, 1775, married 
April 5, 1803, Martha Brown, and had a fam- 
ily in Waltham, an account of which is given 
in Bond's "History of Walertown," pp. 11, 
675. Isaac Baldwin, probably another son, 
served in the Continental army in the Revolu- 
tion, married Hannah Caldwell, of VVoburn, 
May 15, 1794; had sons, Isaac, born Novem- 
ber 26, 1794, and Charles, born July 27, 1797, 
recorded on Woburn records. Isaac and wife 
Hannah were both admitted to Woburn pre- 
cinct (or Burlington) church, September 14, 
1800. and Ixitli were dismissed to Hillsbor- 
ough. Children : Isaac, Charles, and Nahum, 
w^erc baptized in Precinct church, Woburn, 
October 5, 1800. 

(IX) James Baldwin, son of Henry (4), 
born in Woburn, October 19, 1710, died June 
28, 1791, aged eighty-one; married May 29, 
1739, Ruth, born Tune 17, 1713; died May 13, 
1791, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Blod- 
get) Richardson, sister of the wife of his 
brother Henry (6). Children: i. Cyrus, born 
November 5, 1740; see forward. 2. Reuel, 
born May 9, 1742: died February 21, 1745-46, 
aged three years, (gravestone at Woburn). 3. 
Loammi, born January 10, 1744-45; see for- 
ward. 4. Reuel, born June 30, 1747; see for- 
ward. Jamt's, the father, w^as a carpenter "of 
good repute," and reported to have been the 
"master w^orkman" in the erection of the Wo- 
burn precinct (or Burlington) meeting-house 
in 1732, the frame of which is yet standing, 
but the exterior has been twice materially al- 
tered. He served one day in the Woburn quo- 
ta on April 19, 1775, when the Woburn men 
in great numbers marched to Lexington and 
Concord and took part in the battle there. 
James Baldwin in will dated April 9, 1771, 
probated November 9, 1791, named wife 
Ruth, and sons Cyrus, Reuel, and Loammi 
(second son) executor. The son Loammi re- 
ceived one-half of the real estate after de- 
cease of the wife, Ruth. 

(X) Captain Samuel Baldwin, son of Hen- 
ry (4), born at Woburn, .\ugust 31, 1717, 
died at Weston, July 21, 1778, aged sixty- 
one; married first, March 23, 1741-42, Eliza- 
beth, born March 25, 1715, died February 7, 
1757, daughter of Captain James and Sarah 
(Moore) Jones, of Weston ; married second 
March 30," 1758, Sarah Deming, of Needham, 
died May 2, 1760, aged thirty-nine: married 
third, March 25, 1762, Rebecca Cotton, bom 



November 14, 1725, died January 16, 1795, 
aged seventy-one, daughter of Rev. John and 
Mary (Gibbs) Cotton. Children by wnfe Eliz- 
abeth : I. Samuel, born at Falmouth, July 28, 
1743; married July 7, 1763, Milliccnt Cutler.* 
2. Elizabeth, born at Weston June 18, 1745; 
married December 22, 1768, Elias Jones of 
East Hoosick. 3. Lydia, bom at Weston, Jan- 
uary 16, 1746; married October 25, 1764, John 
Newton Parmenter. 4. Ephraim, born at 
Weston, April 2, 1749, died December 30, 
1 75 1. 5. Sarah, born at Weston, September 
15, 1750, died April 11, 1756, aged five and 
one-half. 6. Lucy, born June 30, 1753. 7. Es- 
ther, born June 27, 1756; married June 4, 
1779. Jonathan Rawson. Child by wife .Sarah : 
8. Sarah, born January 28, 1759. Children by 
w'ife Rebecca: 9. Rebecca, born January 7, 
1763. died January 29, 1763. 10. Rebecca, torn 
July 10, 17^)4: married December 3, 1780, 
James Cogswell. 11. Mary, born March 15, 
1766; married January 24, 1790, Isaac Hobbs, 

Jr. 

(XI) Cyrus Baldw-in, son of James (9), 
born at \Voburn, xMovember 5, 1740, was 
drowned at Dunstable, November 5, 1790; 
married Ruth Wilson, of Bedford, and died 
without issue. His wife was perhaps Ruth, 
born October 6, 1745. daughter of James and 
Lydia Wilson, of Bedford. Samuel Thomp- 
son, Esquire, of Woburn, wrote in his diary, 
under date of November 5, 1790: "Fair. Cy- 
rus Baldwin, Esquire, drowned at Dunstable," 
and on .Sunday, November 7, following, he 
recorded the item: "Cyrus Baldwin, Esquire's, 
corpse brought to Woburn" : and on Novem- 
ber 10. he wrote : "Very cold. Came home 
from Salem. Cyrus Baldwin buried." 

Cyrus Baldwin w-as taxed in the West List, 
Woburn, 1776, and received his proportion of 
a war assessment which he had paid before 
1777. He lived for a time during the Revolu- 
tionarv War in Boston, and was first lieuten- 
ant of the Eighth Ward company in Colonel 
Henry Bromfield's (Boston) militia regiment, 
and commissioned such, November 25, 1776. 
In the dignified manner of the newspapers of 
that da\-, the following is the only public men- 
tion of his death : "Died— At Dunstable, Cyrus 
Baldwin, Esq., formerly of this town." — Co- 
himhian Centinel, Boston, November 24, 1790. 



•Captain Samuel (4) Baldwin (Samuel 3, Henry 2, 
Henry 1> wrote a narrative In his eighty-second year, 
which possesses considerable interest. He mentioned 
his marriage to Millleent Cutler, the daughter of Cap- 
tain Ebenezer Cutler, of Lincoln, and the names of 
their children. He removed from Weston to North- 
bridge In 1766, and thence to Windsor. Berkshire 
county, Massachusetts.— Letter of Mrs. Mercy (Bald- 
win) Howard. July 22, 1907. 



14 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



The "\'arnum Genealogy," p. 68, shows 
that Elizabeth Varnum, born April 26, 1741, 
daughter of Abraham and his second wife Ra- 
chel \arnuni, married Cyrus Baldwin, of 
Chelmsford, possibly a second wife of the 
above Cyrus Baldwin. This wife was proba- 
bly the Mrs. Betsy Baldwin who died at Dra- 
cut, January 6, 1827. 

(XII) Colonel Loammi Baldwin, son of 
James (9), born January 10, 1744-45, at "New 
Bridge" (North Woburn), died at his birth- 
place, October 20, 1807, aged sixty-three years 
(monument at Woburn) ; married first, July 
9. 1772, Mary, died September 29, 1786, aged 
thirty-nine years, daughter of James Fowle, 
Jr.. (Major John 3. Capt. James 2, Lieut. 
James i, Fowle) and Mary (Reed) Fowle, 
(daughter of Lieutenant Israel and Hannah 
Wyman Reed) ; second, May 26, 1791, Mar- 
garet, born October 6, 1767, died August 8, 
1799, daughter of Josiah (Major John 3, 
Capt. James 2, Lieut. James i Fowle) and 
Margery (Carter) Fowle. Children: i. Cy- 
rus, born June 22, 1773, see forward ; 2. Mary, 
born .\pril 24, 1775, died May 15, 1776, "of 
canker rash" ; 3. Benjamin Franklin, born De- 
cember 15, 1777, see forward: 4. Loammi, 
born May 16, 1780, see forward; 5. James 
Fowle, born April 29, 1782, see forward ; 6. 
Clarissa, born December 31, 1791, died May 
27, 1841 ; married, January 20, 1812, Thomas 
B. Coolidge ; see forward ; 7. George Rum- 
ford, bom January 26, 1798; see forward. 

In early life he discovered a strong desire 
for acquiring knowledge, and attended the 
grammar school in Woburn under the instruc- 
tion of Master John Fowle, a noted teacher of 
that time, the school being a moveable one be- 
ing kept at successive periods first in the cen- 
tre of the town and secondly at the precinct, or 
the part of Woburn now incorporated in the 
town of Burlington. At a more advanced per- 
iod of life, with the intention of obtaining a 
thorough acquaintance with natural and ex- 
perimental philosophy, he would walk from 
North Woburn to Cambridge, in company 
with his schoolmate, Benjamin Thompson, 
Count Rumford, and attend the lectures of 
Professor John Winthrop at Harvard College, 
for which liberty had been given, and upon 
their return home on foot they were in the 
habit of illustrating the principles they had 
heard enunciated in the lecture room by mak- 
ing rude instruments for themselves to pur- 
sue their experiments. 

He was present in the battle of Lexington. 
.'\s early as 1768 he had enlisted in a company 
of horse-guards, and was not wholly destitute 



of military experience when summoned a lit- 
tle before the break of day *o the field at 
Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. In 
his own statement he says : ''We mustered as 
fast as possible. The Town turned out extra- 
ordinary, and proceeded toward Lexington." 
Holding the rank of a major in the militia, he 
says, "I rode along a little before the main 
body, and when I was nigh Jacob Reed's (at 
present Durenville) I heard a great firing; 
proceeded on, soon heard that the Regulars 
had fired upon Lexington people and killed a 
large number of them^ We proceeded on as 
fast as possible and came to Lexington and 
saw about eight or ten dead and numbers 
wounded." He then, with the rest from Wo- 
burn, proceeded to Concord by way of Lin- 
coln meeting house, ascended a hill there, and 
rested and refreshed themselves a little. Then 
follows a particular account of the action and 
of his own experience. He had "several good 
shots," and proceeded on till coming between 
the meeting-house and Buckman's tavern at 
Lexington, with a prisoner before him, the 
cannon of the British began to play, the balls 
flying near him, and for safety he retreated 
back behind the meeting-house, when a ball 
came through near his head, and he further 
retreated to a meadow north of the house and 
lay there and heard the balls in the air and 
saw them strike the ground. Woburn sent to 
the field on that day one hundred and eighty 
men. 

At the beginning of the war he enlisted in 
the regiment of foot commanded by Colonel 
Samuel Gerrish. Here he was rapidly ad- 
vanced to be lieutenant-colonel, and upon Col- 
onel Gerrish's retirement in August, 1775, he 
was placed at the head of the regiment, and 
was soon commissioned its colonel. His regi- 
ment was first numbered the thirty-eighth and 
was afterwards numbered the twenty-sixth. 
Its original eight companies were increased to 
ten. Till the end of 1775, Colonel Baldwin 
and his men remained near Boston ; but in 
April, 1776, he was ordered with his command 
to New York city. On April 19 of that year 
he was at New York; on June 13, 1776, at the 
Grand Battery there ; on June 22, the same ; 
and on December 26, 1776, his regiment, com- 
manded by himself, "went on the expedition 
to Trentown" (Trentoii). In this regiment was 
one company from Woburn comrnanded by 
Captain John Wood. On the memorable night 
of December 25, 1776, in the face of a violent 
and extremely cold storm of snow and hail, 
General Washington and his army crossed the 
Delaware to the New Jersey side, and took by 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



15 



surprise the next nidniiiig- at Trenton about 
one thousand Hessian troops coninianded by 
Colonel Rahl. and C"olonel Baldwin and his 
men took part in this daring and successful 
enterprise. 

Colonel Baldwin's experience in the cam- 
paigns in Xew York and Xew Jersey is told 
in his letters to his family at home, and many 
of these letters have been sacredly preserved 
by his descendants. During 1775-76 he was 
stationed with alxiut two hundred or more of 
his men at Chelsea, while other companies of 
his regiment were stationed about Boston at 
Brookline and .Medford. The "History of 
Chelsea," about to be published by the Massa- 
chusetts Historical .Society, contains a great 
mass of material relating to the stay of a por- 
tion of the regiment at Chelsea, where their 
duties were those mostly of guards. 

Colonel Bialdwin resigned from the army in 
1777 on account of ill health. His subse(|uent 
life was spent in his native place, and was 
marked by an enterprising spirit and the ac- 
tive habits of his youth. He had a talent and 
capacity for business. He was. in his public 
career, appointed on many committees on im- 
portant town business : the records of the town 
and many autographic town paj)ers are ample 
evidence of thi.s. He was appointed high sher- 
iff of Middlesex county in 1780, and was the 
first to hold office after the adoption of the 
state constitution. In 1778. I77y, and 1780, 
and the four following years, he represented 
AXoburn in the general court. In 1794 he 
was a candidate for election to congress, and 
had all the votes cast in Woburn but one. In 
1796, on three trials for the choice of the same 
officer, he had all the votes for the first two in 
W'oburn. and on the third seventy-four votes 
out of the seventy-six cast in Woburn. .At 
other elections he was a prominent candidate 
among those held up in Woburn for the offices 
of state senator, lieutenant-governor and pres- 
idential elector. 

From his acquaintance with mathematics 
and the arts and sciences of his time, he was 
chosen a member of the .-\merican .\cademy 
of .Arts and Sciences, and to the publications 
of that body he contributed two papers, enti- 
tled, "An account of a Curious Appearance of 
the Electrical Fluid," (Memoirs Am. .Acad, 
vol. I. 1785. pp. 257-259) ; and "Observations 
on Electricity and an Improved Mode of Con- 
structing Lightning Rods," (Memoirs, vol. 2, 
pt. 2, 1804, pp. 96-104). The first paper was 
written in 1783, and the "curious appearance" 
described was produced by raising an electri- 
cal kite at the time of a thunder shower. The 



experiments, however, were tried in July, 
1771. At that time the author mentions that 
there stood some lofty trees near his house, 
and also a shop near by it. His parents, fam- 
ily, and neighbors witnessed the "electrical ef- 
fect" he succeeded in producing. The 5ate of 
preparing the second article was January 25, 
1797. Colonel Baldwin wrote a sketch of 
Count Rumford which was printed in a local 
publication in 1805. He was also the aiUhor 
of a report on the survey of the Boston and 
Xarragansett Bay Canal. 1806. Of the Acad- 
emy he was elected a Fellow in 1782, and was 
a member of the council 1785 to 1796. and 
from 1798 to 1807. Further, see Cutter, "Lo- 
cal History of Woburn." p. 203. He received 
from Harvard College the degree of 
.Master of .Arts in 1785. He was not 
one, however, who for the sake of popularity 
would sacrifice his principles of duty to the 
public, though, as tlie above votes show, he 
was deservedly a favorite with his townsmen 
and fellow citizens generally. Thus he pro- 
tested with others against the action of the 
town in 1787 in the time of the Shays Rebel- 
lion, when the majority of the citizens of Wo- 
burn voted not to give any encouragement to 
the men called out ti) go on the present expedi- 
tion, nor to aid or assist it. But against this 
proceeding of the town Colonel Baldwin and 
thirty-six others at once entered their pro- 
test, and two days after, the town itself re- 
considered the votes it had passed on this sub- 
ject. 

He took a prominent part in the construc- 
tion of the Middlesex Canal, completed in 
1803. one of the earliest enterprises of the sort 
in the United .States. 

Tf) him the discovery .uid the introduction 
to public notice and the earliest cultivation of 
the Baldwin apple, about 1784, has been justly 
ascribed. He was one day surveying land at a 
place called Butters' Row. in Wilmington, near 
the lx)unds of that town, Woburn and Burling- 
ton, when he observed one <^)r more birds of 
the wood])ecker variety flying repeatedly to a 
certain tree on land of a Mr. James Butters, 
and prompted by curiosity to ascertain the 
cause of their attraction, he at length went to 
it, and found on the ground under it apples of 
an excellent flavor and well worth cultivating; 
and returning to the tree the next spring he 
took from it scions to graft into stocks of his 
own. Other persons induced by his advice or 
example grafted trees of theirs from the same 
stock : and subsequently when Colonel Bald- 
win attended court or went into other parts of 
the county as high sheriff, he carried scions 



i6 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of this apple and distributed tliem among his 
acquaintance, so that this species of fruit soon 
became extensively known and cultivated. 
The original tree remained, it is said, till 1815, 
when it was blown down in the famous "Sep- 
tember gale." The apple thus became known 
as the "Baldwin apple." 

His name is also associated with that of the 
celebrated Count Rumford. In childhood they 
were opposite neighbors, playmates and 
schoolmates. They attended lectures at Har- 
vard College together. Baldwin befriended 
him when arrested by one of the local military 
companies as a person inimical to the cause 
of the colonies, and he was tried and acquitted 
by a court of which Baldwin appears to be 
one of the members. To the last, though sepa- 
rated by the ocean and political preferences, 
they were enthusiastic friends and correspond- 
ents — the one was an American officer, and the 
other an officer in the opposing British forces. 

The history of his house, which is still 
standing at North Woburn, may be told in 
the following words taken from the recorded 
statements of different members of his family 
at different periods. The house was built in 
1 66 1, as appeared by the date on a timber 
which was lying about the house in 1835. It 
was owned by Henry (i) Baldwin from 1661 
to his death in 1697. He was succeeded by 
Henry (2) Baldwin, who latterly went to New 
Hampshire. Henry (2) was succeeded in 
ownership by James (9), who died June 28, 
1791, and son of Henry (2) ; I>iammi, son of 
James, to 1807, who put on a third story in 
1802 or 1803. Benjamin F. Baldwin, son of 
Loammi, was the owner from 1807 to 1822 ; 
Loammi (second) and Mary and Clarissa 
Baldwin were joint owners from 1822 to 1836: 
and George R. Baldwin, sole owner, from 1836 
to his death, October 11, 1888. Mrs. Catharine 
R. Griffith, daughter of George Rumford Bald- 
win, is the present owner, 1888 to 1907. Colo- 
nel Loammi Baldwin's estate embraced from 
his inventory, which is very lengthy, a very 
large amount of land, in 1801, according to a 
town assessor's list, 212 acres. His son Benja- 
min F. Baldwin occupied his estate from 1807 
to about 1822, as above mentioned. 

The selectmen of Boston, at a meeting on 
April 15, 1772, paid Loammi Baldwin, of Wo- 
burn, forty dollars, the premium they ad- 
judged to him for raising the greatest number 
of mulberry trees in response to an advertise- 
ment published in Edes and Gill's Gazette, 
1768. The selectmen took a receipt of Bald- 
win, and also an obligation to dispose of one- 
half the trees under the conditions mentioned 



in said advertisement. The first premium was 
awarded to Loammi Baldwin. Under this com- 
petition Mr. John Hay, of Woburn, received 
twenty dollars as the premium adjudged him 
for raising the third greatest number of mul- 
berry trees. The statement in the advertise- 
ment was that a gentleman of Boston had de- 
posited one hundred dollars with the selectmen 
to be distributed as premiums to encourage 
the raising of mulberry trees in the province. 
The conditions of the awards were also given. 
The name of the donor was William Whitwell. 
In accordance with the dignified custom of 
that time the following notice of Colonel 
Loammi Baldwin's decease was published in 
the leading Boston newspaper of that date. 
"Died — In Woburn, yesterday morning, Hon. 
Loammi Baldwin, Esq., aet. sixty-two. His 
funeral on Friday next, which the friends and 
relatives are requested to attend, without a fur- 
ther invitation."- — Columbian Centinel, Octo- 
ber 21, 1807. 

(XIII) Reuel Baldwin, son of James (9), 
born June 30, 1747, died April 18, 1775 ; mar- 
ried October 4, 1769, Keziah, born April 8, 
1748, died October 23, 1822, daughter 
of Zebadiah and Abigail (Pierce) Wy- 
man. She married second August 5, 1777, 
Reuben Johnson. Children: i. Reuel, born 
December 21, 1770. 2. James, born October 
7, 1773. 3. Ruth, born June 5, 1772. 4. 
Josiah. born May 14, 1775. The probate of 
Reuel Baldwin's estate, April 22, 1776, names 
Keziah, his widow, and his four minor chil- 
dren — Reuel, Ruth, James, and Josiah. Ac- 
cording to these papers Josiah was dead before 
1794. James, born 1773, a deacon, died 
November 25, 1827, at Nashua, New 
Hampshire (monument at Little's Cemetery 
at that place). Ruth Baldwin married Icha- 
bod Richardson, Jr., both of Woburn. Sep- 
tember 21, 1 79 1. 

(XIV) Cyrus Baldwin, son of Loammi 
(12), born at Woburn, June 22, 1773, died at 
Chelmsford, June 23, 1854; married April 28, 
1799, Elizabeth, born September 5, 1782, died 
December 7, 1853, daughter of Bradley and 
Rachel (Butterfield) Varaum, of Dracut. He 
was for many years the agent of the Middle- 
sex Canal Company, and resided at the head 
of the canal in Chelmsford. He was appoint- 
ed inspector and sealer of gunpowder at the 
factory which was first Hale's and afterwards 
Whipple's, at Lowell. One child, died May 
28, 1815. 

(XV) Colonel Benjamin Franklin Baldwm, 
son of Loammi (12), born at Woburn, Decem- 
ber 15, 1777, died suddenly October 11, 1821, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



17 



aged forty-three, while on his return from the 
cattle show in Rrigliton ; married May i, 1808, 
Mary Carter Drewster, born September 11, 
1784, died June 18, 1874, daughter of Benjam- 
in and Mary Carter (Brewster) Coolidge. He 
carried on the business of a yeoman, and left 
his widow a handsome estate. She after- 
wards married Wyman Richardson Esq., and 
still later Burrage Yale, and spent the last of 
her life with her children at Pomfret, Connec- 
ticut. Benjamin Franklin Baldwin held the 
office of captain in the militia from 1800 to 
1805, of major from 1807 to 181 1, and of 
lieutenant-colonel of the local regiment from 
181 1 to 1816. Rolls of his compan}- of date 
1802 are extant. It is said that in addition 
to his other pursuits he devoted himself to the 
business of civil engineering, and assisted his 
brother in the construction of the milldam 
across the Back Bay in Boston, and in other 
works. Children: i. Mary Brewster, born 
March 26. 1809, died December 28. 1817. 2. 
Clarissa, born November 29. 1810. died July 
15, 1813. 3. Loammi, born April 25, 1813; 
see forward. 4. Mary Brewster, born Janu- 
ary 16, 1815. died October 23, 1854: married 
December 28, 1836, Professor Roswell Park. 
Professor Roswell Park, of the University of 
Pennsylvania, later entered the ministry and 
became Rev. Roswell Park, D. D. ; born Octo- 
ber I, 1807, died July 16, 1869. 5. Clarissa 
Cailidge, born December i, 1819, died Janu- 
ary 22, 1900: married May 16, 1843. Dr. Lew- 
is Williams. 

Loammi, born April 25, 1813, died March i, 
1855, married March 2, 1847, Helen Eliza 
Avery. Their children were i. Mary Emily, 
born January 31, 1848: married September 
25. 1872, Darius Mathewson : son, George 
Baldwin, born June, 1881, died May, 1882. 2. 
Loammi Franklin,* born November 6. 1849; 
married September 11. 1873, Kate Wyman 
Richardson : children : Clara Richardson, born 
September i, 1874; Mary Brewster, born Sep- 
tember 17, 1875 ; James Rumford, born De- 
cember 19, 1880. 

Clarissa Coolidge (Baldwin) and Dr. Lewis 
Williams had no children. 

Children of Mary Brewster (Baldwin) and 
Roswell Park: i. Mary, born March 4, 1839. 
2. Qara, born January 12, 1845, died Decem- 
ber 21, 1845. 3- Helen, born April 13, 1848, 
died October 14, 1855. 4. Roswell, born 
March 4. 1852, married June i, 1880. Martha 
Prudence Durkee, who died November 14, 
1899; children: Roswell, born August 12, 



•Loammi Franklin now resides with his family In the 
old Baldwin mansion at North Wobum. 

i-2 



1885 : Julian Durkee, born November 6, 1888. 
5. llaLlwin, born October 14, 1854, died Oc- 
tober 19, 1S55. 

(X\T) Loammi Baldwin, son oi Loammi, 
( 12), was born at North Woburn, May 16, 
1781), and died Junt- 30, 1838, intombed at 
Woburn. He was fitted for college at West- 
ford -Kcademy, and graduated from Harvard 
College in 1800. His early inclinations were 
towards mechanical subjects, to which very 
little attention was paid in the learned educa- 
tion of that time : and during his college life 
he made with his own hands a clock which 
kept good time and was the wonder and ad- 
miration of his class. He was put down as 
No. 9 in a list for "an exhibition in mechan- 
ics." In 1806 he was vice-president of the Phi 
Beta Kappa. In 1799 his father wrote to his 
friend. Count Rumford. then residing in Lon- 
don, that "I have a son at college, whose 
genius inclines him strongly to cultivate the 
arts. ... I have therefore thought , 
whether it would not be best to endeavor to 
provide him with a place for a year or two 
with some gentleman in the mathematical line 
of business in Europe, who is actually in the 
occupation of making and vending mathemati- 
cal and optical instruments. . . 
It may be that you know of some good place. 
He is very lively, ready and enter- 
prising." Count Rumford wrote a reply ex- 
plaining the situation very fully, but he said 
that ''no instrument maker or dealer in such 
would, without a very large premium, under- 
take to instruct a young gentleman in the 
course of two or three years, and make him 
perfect in both branches of the trade." 

This scheme, however, was not followed any 
further. Upon graduating from college he 
entered the law office of Timothy Bigelow. at 
(iroton. Here he constructed a fire-engine, of 
which the town st(X)d in great need : and the 
small machine was still in active service a 
short time ago. He completed his studies at 
Groton. and opened an office in Cambridge in 
1804. and in 1807, having abandoned the prac- 
tice of the law for engineering, he went to 
England for the purpose of examining the 
various public works of that country. He in- 
tended at that time to visit the continent, but 
was prevented by the difficulty of reaching 
France. On his return he opened an office 
in Charlestown and began the life for which he 
was so admirably fitted. One of the earliest 
works upon which he was engaged was the 
construction of Fort Strong, in 1814, during 
the war. one of the strong forts erected for 
defense against the P>ritish in Boston Harbor. 



i8 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



He was chief engineer with the rank of 
colonel, at this time a title which has some- 
times confounded him with his father, who 
bore that rank in the army of the Revolution. 
In 1819 he was appointed engineer to complete 
the undertaking of building the Milldam, or 
Western avenue, now the extension of Beacon 
street. Boston, beyond, the Common. From 
1817 to 1820 he was engaged upon various 
works of internal improvement in Virginia. In 
1821 he was appointed engineer of the Union 
Canal in Pennsylvania. .\n elaborate desciip- 
tion of this work was prepared in 1830 by W. 
Milnor Roberts. 

In 1824 Mr. Baldwin went to Europe and 
remained there a year, mostly in France, de- 
voted to a caieful examination of the import- 
ant public works in that country. He went 
also to .Antwerp to inspect the docks there, and 
at this time he laid the foundation of the larg- 
est and best professional library of engineering 
works that was to be found in America, — to 
which he added, until at his death it had cost 
nearly eight thousand dollais. 

In 1825 he was associated with the pro- 
jectors of the Bunker Hill monument. He 
recommended the obelisk now seen there, two 
hundred and twenty feet high, etc. His or- 
iginal report is preserved among the papers of 
the monument association. 

Among the early projects in the neighbor- 
hood of Boston with which he was connected 
were the Salem Milldam corporation, 1826, 
and the project of connecting Boston with the 
Hudson river by a canal, but the day for can- 
als was passing away, and in 1827 he was ap- 
pointed by the governor of Massachusetts to 
procure surveys and estimates for a railroad 
from Boston to the Hudson river. This work, 
however, was put into the hands of his brother 
James, as Loammi had at that time accepted 
an appointment from the United States gov- 
ernment which led to the two great works of 
his life, — the naval dry docks at Charlestown 
and at Norfolk. These two structures were in 
process of building from 1827 to 1834, and 
were carried on both at the same time and with 
the crude appliances of that day. The first 
•when finished was in all 306 feet long, thirty 
feet deep and thirty feet wide. The depth of 
water at high tide was twenty-five feet, and 
the rise and fall of tide eleven feet. The sur- 
face of the site was about nine feet below or- 
dinary high tide. The cost was $677,090. 

The Norfolk dock was a similar structure, 
but of greater cost, owing to the extra price 
of stone and labor, both of which were sent 
from the North. Mr. Baldwin's salarv on this 



work was fixed by himself at $4,000 a year, 
with additional allowance for travel and ex- 
pense of living when av^'ay from home. His 
time was spent between the two docks, the 
summers at Charlestown and the winters in 
Norfolk, his leading assistant alternating with 
him at those two places. 

In addition to this work he was consulting 
engineer on other important works con- 
nected with the general government — the Dis- 
mal Swamp Canal, the survey for which was 
made through an almost impenetrable swamp, 
but Congress was unwilling to carry it out in 
his day. In 1834 he made an elaborate report 
upon introducing pure water into the city of 
Boston, which was published. He also had 
considerable to do with water power in Maine, 
and also with a canal in Georgia, but the latter 
was never completed. 

Mr. Baldwin was independent and positive 
in his professional opinions, and dared even to 
differ to his face with the aggressive General 
Andrew Jackson, then president of the United 
States. The general at their last interview at 
first received him with politeness ; but the 
bridge (the General's pet scheme, as was nat- 
ural), came up as the great thing in the mind 
of the President, and he said: "By the bye, 
Mr. Baldwin, I have read your report on the 
bridge ; and, by the Eternal, you are all wrong, 
I have built and have seen built many bridges : 
and I know that the plan is a good one, and 
that the bridge will stand." "General Jack- 
son," quietly replied Mr. Baldwin, "in all pon- 
toon or temporary bridge-work for military 
purposes, I should always yield to your good 
judgment, and should not venture to call it in 
question ; vou must remember that this bridge 
should be built as a permanent structure, and 
should stand for all coming time. And I yield 
in such matters to no one, when I have applied 
scientific principles to my investigations and 
am sure of my conclusions. Good morning 
General Jackson." It is hardly necessary to 
say that the appropriation was not made, and 
that the pet bridge was never built, much to 
the chagrin of the President, but to the quiet 
satisfaction of Mr. Baldwin. 

In addition to the numerous works already 
referred to, Mt. Baldwin was connected in re- 
gard to many others, from a dam at Augusta, 
Maine, to a marine railway at Pensacola, from 
the construction of buildings at Harvard Col- 
lege, to a canal around the falls of the Ohio 
river, from a stone bridge called the Warren 
Bridge at Charlestown to the Harrisburg Can- 
al in Pennsylvania. His skill was in demand, 
and that, too, in a very active manner in a 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY, 



19 



great majority of tlie internal iinprovements 
undertaken at that formative period in the 
United States. 

He was also noted as an author. His manu- 
script reports were always drawn up in his 
own neat, uniform and compact handwriting. 
He published in 1809 a pamphlet of seventy 
pages entitled. "Thoughts on the Study of 
Political Economy as connected with the Pop- 
ulation, Industry, and Paper Currency of the 
United States."' A large number of printed 
repKjrts on engineering enterprises are listed 
in the catalogue of his special library on that 
and co-ordinate subjects, given by his niece, 
Mrs. Griffith, to the public Library in Wo- 
burn, several years ago. He is said to have 
written an account of the Middlesex Canal, 
and also a memoir of his fathers's friend, 
Count Rumford, but neither of these papers 
are in the above collection. His reports were 
prepared with the greatest care, and were 
models for style and remarkable for the exact 
and proper use of words. In 1835 'i^ was a 
member of the executive council of the Com- 
monwealth, and in 1836 a presidential elector. 

But there is little more to say. In person 
he was over six feet in height, and superbly 
built. His face presented a rare combination 
of intelligence, manliness and dignity. He 
was a thorough gentleman in his manner and 
his intercourse with others. He detested sham 
and pretense in everything and everybody ; 
was liberal in his mode of life, and hospitable 
in his home. To his work he gave his whole 
strength. Fine portraits and a bust of him 
remain to give posterity an idea of his noble 
personal app)earance. .-Xbout a year before he 
died he had a stroke of paralysis : a second 
attack proved fatal. He died, as before stated, 
at Charlcstown. Massachusetts. June 30, 1838, 
at the age of fifty-eight. 

Mr. P)aldwin was twice married : first to 
Ann, daughter of Ceorge Williams of Salem. 
She was sister of Samuel Williams, an emin- 
ent American banker in London : second, June 
22, 1828, to Catherine, widow of Captain 
Thomas P>eckford. f)f Charlestown. She died 
May 3, 1864. Child by first marriage : Samuel 
Williams Baldwin, born 1817: died December 
28, 1822. aged five years. 

The compiler is indebted for facts for this 
sketch to such authorities as Vose, Felton. and 
otliers. 

(XVII) James Fowle Baldwin, son of 
Loammi (12), born at Woburn, .\pril 29, 
1782. died at Boston, May 20, 1862, aged 
eighty ; married July 28, 1818, Sarah Parsons, 
daughter of Samuel (Yale College, 1779) and 



Sarah (Parsons) Pitkin, of East Hartford, 
Connecticut.* James was the fourth . son of 
his father, and received his early education in 
the schools of his native town and in the aca- 
demies at Billerica and Westford. About 1800 
he was in Boston acquiring a mercantile edu- 
cation, in which city he was afterwards estab- 
lished as a merchant : but the influence of his 
early association with the engineering facul- 
ties of the older members of his own family 
turned his attention in that direction. He 
joined his brother Loammi in the construction 
of the dry dock at Charlestown Navy Yard. 
In 182S, he, with two others, were appointed 
commissioners to make the survey for a rail- 
road to the western part of the state, this teing 
then a new and untried enterprise, and the 
survey was made from Boston to .-Mbany. 
I'pon this work he was engaged for more than 
two years. It was not prosecuted at the time, 
but subsequently the Western railroad, so 
called, was built upon the location selected by 
him and his plans were generally adopted. He 
always Icn^ked upon this, next to the introduc- 
tion of pure water into Ixiston, as the most 
important of his professional works. In 1832 
he began the location of the P.oston & Lowell 
railroad, which was constructed under his 
superintendence. He was also employed on en- 
gineering lines by the Ware Manufacturing 
company, the Thames company of Norwich, 
Connecticut, and the proprietors of the locks 
and canals at Lowell. He also determined the 
relative amount of water power used by the 
mills of the different comi^anies at Lowell. 

In 1825 the subject of the water supply of 
Boston attracted the attention of the authori- 
ties, and an investigation of the sources for a 
pure supply was made, and in 1837 he was 
appointed on a commission to inquire still fur- 
ther into the matter. He dissented from the 
»najoritv in the recommendation of Spot and 
Mystic ponds, and recommended Long Pond 
(Lake Cochituate). Others high in authority 
differed from his conclusion, but still he was 
immovable in adherence to his recommenda- 
tion, in spite of rejection by popular vote, to 
which it had been submitted, and it was not 
renewed till 1844, when he was again in a 
position of influence on the commission. His 
plan was. however, adopted March 30. 1846; 
the ground was broken five months after, and 
on October 25, 1848, he had the pleasure of 
.seeing his plan, so long resisted, finally tri- 



•■•They were the parents of three promising sons, 
who died at the respective ages of 14, 7 and 5 years." 
One (8) in 1829 two remaining, died from typhus fever 
In 1834 (15 and 6 years). 



20 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



umphaiit, and the public fountain playing for 
the first time in the presence of a large con- 
course of people. He was for several years a 
senator from Suffolk in the Massachusetts 
general court, and the first president of the 
Boston Society of Civil Engineers. 

The Boston Daily Advertiser, in a notice 
of him at the time of his death says, "He was 
of a kindly and benevolent disposition, affable 
in his manners, warm and unfaltering in his 
attachment to his friends. His sense of justice 
and his fair appreciation of the rights of 
others showed to great advantage m many of 
his public works." 

A memoir of Hon. James Fowle Baldwin, by 
Dr. Usher Parsons, was published in 1865. 
From his memoir are gleaned the following 
tributes : 

"He was a gentleman of highly respect- 
able attainments, and surpassed by none as a 
scientific and practical engineer. He was em- 
ployed by the State to superintend the con- 
struction of its gigantic public works. He 
was a prominent member of the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and during 
many years held the position in that learned 
society in the section of Technology and Civil 
Engineering." Upon his decease a brief 
sketch of his life and public services was pre- 
sented and read before that society, and soon 
after published in its Transactions. 

Hon. James F. Baldwin had the care of the 
afifairs of Count Rumford's daughter, the 
Countess Rumford, a great part of her life, 
and she at her decease left him a generous be- 
quest. "It may be fairly claimed that the city 
of Boston is pre-eminently indebted to the 
forecast, firmness, and professional skill of 
Mr. Baldwin for the present abundant and 
constant supply of pure water from Cochitu- 
ate." Instead of three millions of gallons daily 
for the first ten years, the amount was actually 
fifteen millions of gallons during that period. 

"Mr. Baldwin was of commanding presence, 
being considerably above six feet in stature, 
and remarkably well proportioned." His mind 
was clear, but not rapid in its operation. He 
came to his conclusions by successive steps, 
carefully taken and closely examined ; but the 
results once reached, his confidence in them 
was rarely shaken. Confidence in his integrity 
enabled him to settle questions of the transfer 
of property with a facility that was surprising, 
especially with those persons who had not the 
clearest conviction of the invariable upright- 
ness of corporate bodies in their dealings with 
individuals. He endeavored to encourage and 
assist young students who were pursuing the 



study of civil engineering, and the number 
were many who remembered him with affec- 
tion and veneration. 

■ He was especially the friend and protector 
of the orphans. His last illness was of short 
duration. Returning from a walk on the day 
of his death, he complained of indisposition, 
and speaking a few words to his wife, he soon 
expired. 

(XVIII) Clarissa Baldwin, daughter of 
Loammi (12), born at Woburn, December 31, 
1791, died there May 27, 1841, aged forty- 
nine; married January 20, 1812, Thomas 

'Brewster Coolidge, of Hallowell, born Decem- 
ber 8, 1785, son of Benjamin and Mary Carter 
(Brewster) Coolidge, of Boston and Woburn. 
Children: i. Benjamin, born at Hallowell, 
Maine, November 10, 1812, died at Lawrence, 
Massachusetts, August 25, 1871 ; married Oc- 
tober I, 1844, Mary White, born at Medford, 
Massachusetts, January 14, 1810, died at Law- 
rence, April II, 1883, daughter of Jonas and 
Mary (Wright) Manning, of Woburn. Two 
children : Baldwin, born at Woburn, July 7, 
1845; see forward. Brewster, born November 
10, 1848, died at Lawrence, June 21, 1853. 2. 
Thomas Brewster, born at Hallowell, May 3, 
1815; died at Woburn, unmarried, February 
18, 1895. 

Baldwin Coolidge, son of Benjamin Cool- 
idge, and grandson of Clarissa Baldwin (18), 
was born at Woburn, July 7, 1845 ; was mar- 
ried at Lawrence, February 7, 1866, to Lucy, 
born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, Novem- 
ber 24, 1844, died at Woburn, x\ugust 13, 
1904, daughter of Nathan Thomas and Han- 
nah (Noyes) Plumer, of Newburyport; was a 
soldier in the Sixth Regiment Massachusetts 
A'olunteer Militia, campaign of 1864, in the 
Civil War.* He was band boy at the funeral 
of the first soldier killed in the Civil War, viz. : 
Sumner Henry Needham, who was killed in 
the fight at Baltimore, April 19, 1861. Mr. 
Coolidge was the first city engineer of Law- 
rence, Massachusetts, and having inherited the 
Baldwin scientific ingenuity and versatility of 
mind, he has become distinguished by his me- 
chanical feats in photography, and for the 
artistic excellence and number of his produc- 
tions in that line of work. 

(XIX) George Rumford Baldwin, son of 
Colonel Loammi (12), was born in the Bald- 
win mansion at North Woburn, January 26, 
1798, and died there October 11, 1888, "hav- 
ing devoted his lengthened life, with the full 
possession of his faculties till its close, to the 



•The Sixth Regiment went to the front three times — 
in 1861, 1862. and 1864, being the call regiment. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



21 



pursuits of practical science, as a surveyor, a 
civil engineer, and a constructor." Tlie 
lands of the original Henry Baldwin held by 
his descendant tieorge R. IJaldwin at the 
time of his death in 1888, included between 
five and six hundred acres. The mansion is 
one of the noteworthy survivals of our 
earliest times in size, arrangement, adorn- 
ment, and in its well-preserved relics. Within 
it are to be found implements, household 
utensils, paintings, ornaments, and sundr\- 
furnishings, with luxurious appliances, gath- 
ered by the generations which have occupied 
it from birth to death. Piles of trunks and 
boxes contain their private papers and settle- 
ments of estates. Most interesting among 
its contents is a large, select, and valuable 
library of many thousand volumes, collected 
principally by the father and brothers of 
George R. Baldwin and by himself, giving 
evidence of their scientific and literary tastes. 
Learned tomes in many languages, costly il- 
lustrated works, series of scientific publica- 
tions on construction and engineering, and 
sumptuous editions of the best writers in va- 
rious departments of literature, are among 
its treasures. The house and its contents is 
a memorial of one of the oldest and most dis- 
tinguished families of its citizens. 

His father was the earliest civil engineer 
in this state, and on the projection of the first 
of our public enterprises for more extended 
internal communication the connection of the 
waters of the Merrimack with those of the 
harbor by the Middlesex Canal, chartered in 
1793 the father of George R. Baldwin was 
one iif its leading promotors. Its course lay 
through his own estate, the several hundred 
acres belonging later to George R. Baldwin, 
and it was completed in 1803. Of this then 
signal enterprise the father was surveyor, en- 
gineer, and constructor under the super- 
vision of an English engineer, Weston by 
name, who was then a resident of Philadel- 
phia. The canal served its uses until super- 
seded by the Lowell railroad. It is neces- 
sary to know these facts in order to gain a 
background for the after career of the son, 
George Rumford Baldwin. He early found 
opportunity for the exercise of the family in- 
genuity by engaging in the profession of 
work of the ol.ier nieniliers of the family. 

He was the son of his father's second wife. 
His middle name recalled the friendly and 
intimate relations which existed between his 
father and the distinguished Count Rumford. 
When the friend had attained rank and title 
at Munich, a correspondence began between 



the two which is of great personal and his- 
torical interest. In a letter following the 
birth of (jeorge Rumford Baldwin, the father 
writes to the Count, "I have had a son bom 
to me to whom I have given your name." 
The father wished this boy, as he grew up, to 
enter Harvard College, but the son was dis- 
inclined to scholarship in that institution as 
its standard then was, and from his earliest 
years his bent was for mathematical and 
scientific studies, pursued by himself, and for 
practical out-of-door work in waterways, sur- 
veying and engineering, in the examination 
of mills and water-power, dams and race- 
ways. He, as we have already noticed, had 
marked facilities for practice of this sort, with 
preliminary training in a school kept by Dr. 
Stearns in Medford, and by accompanying 
his father and brother in field and office 
work. In his fourteenth year he made some 
sketches of the fortifications of Boston har- 
bor in the war of 1812, of which his brother 
Loammi Baldwin was the chief engineer. 

A series of his diaries for more than fifty 
j'ears contain daily entries of his employ- 
ments and occupations. He lived a life of 
marvellous industry, of wide travel, and of 
useful service. He was called upon as ex- 
pert, witness, referee or examiner in many 
ways, at a period when the development of 
our railroad and manufacturing enterprises 
made a demand for talent and skill. He 
helped form the first associated company of 
engineers. He was naturally shy, modest, 
diffident, and ceticent, of most retiring and 
undemonstrative ways, therefore when called 
upon for any utterance in public before 
many persons it was for him a serious strain. 
His social intercourse was limited, and un- 
der no circumstances could he have made a 
speech in public of advocacy or argimient. 
The following were some of his early en- 
gagements: 1821, built P. C. Brook's stone 
bridge: 1822-1823. in Pennsylvania with his 
brother: 1823-25, at factories in Lowell: 1826, 
surveyed Charlestown Navy Yard; executed 
Marine Railway; 1831-33, in England; 1833- 
34, on Lowell railroad; 1834-36, in Nova 
Scotia; 1837, in Georgia, on Brunswick 
Canal. In 1845 he was chief engineer on the 
route of the Buffalo and Mississippi railroad. 
In 1846 he was employed on the examination 
of the water power of .\ugusta, Georgia, and 
by the national government on the Dry 
Docks in Washington and Brooklyn. In 
1847 he was summoned to Quebec to engage 
on a professional task which ocupicd him till 
he completed it in 1856. This was the in- 



22 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



troduction of water into the city. He was 
in full superintendence, under the mayor and 
a water board. In the course of the work he 
sailed with his family to Europe to superin- 
tend the casting of the pipes, gates, etc., and 
to arrange for their shipment. 

In 1857-58 he was in Europe with his 
family, principally in Paris and London, with 
many excursions. With accomplished skill 
in draughting and etching, his pencil was 
ever busy in sketching all the objects of spe- 
cial mterest, and his descriptions are illus- 
trated by a mass of drawings, more or less 
perfected. 

He was connected as consulting engineer 
with many more modern works, the most 
important, perhaps, being the Boston, Hart- 
ford, and Erie railroad. His journals show- 
how fully every interval between these pub- 
lic works was improved. He was skilled in 
all family, horticultural, and agricultural 
labors, and his pen was ever busy in his own 
affairs, or for the service of friends. 

He married December 6, 1837, the step- 
daughter of his brother Loamnii, namely, 
Catherine Richardson Beckford, daughter of 
Captain Thomas and Catherine (Williams) 
Beckford. of Charlestown. Her father was 
at one time the partner of Joshua Bates, the 
London banker. Mrs. Beckford had two 
daughters by her first marriage, but no child 
by her second. He had but one child, a 
daughter, who married, and resides mainly 
in Ouebec. 



(By Arthur G. Loring.) 

Benjamin Thompson, better 
RUMFORD known as Count Rumford, 
was a great-great-great- 
grandson of James Thompson, one of the 
original settlers of Woburn, and prominent 
among those who early fixed their residence 
in that part of that town, which is now 
known as North Woburn. The same diffi- 
culty which meets not a few who search in 
vain for the details of the old English history 
of their ancestors, meets us, at the outset, 
says the family historian, in regard to him: 
— but little is known of his English antece- 
dents, except that he was born in 1593; mar- 
ried a wife whose only name known to us 
was Elizabeth; had three sons and one 
daughter, all born in England, and early in 
1630, when he was thirty-seven years of age, 
joined the company, who, under the lead of 
Governor John Winthrop landed in New 
England during that year. The tradition is 



that James Thompson landed at Salem in the 
early part of June. 

The numerous individuals bearing this al- 
most universal name may be considered as 
befogging the subject, and therefore, in spite 
of vigilant research, it seems to be impossi- 
ble to ascertain the place of his birth. Abso- 
lute proof is lacking up to the present date 
on the subject. It may be that he belonged 
to the numerous related families of Thomp- 
sons in London and several of the nearest 
counties around that metropolis. These 
families embraced a number that were emi- 
nent in the intellectual, social, and religious 
world, including a number who received the 
order of knighthood. The coats-of-arms of 
some of them, tliough differing slightly, are 
essentially the same. James Thompson first 
located himself at Charlestown, where he and 
wife were admitted to membership in the 
church at that place, August 31, 1633. He 
was admitted a freeman later in the same 
year. In December, 1640, he was one of 
thirty-two who subscribed the town orders 
or by-laws for Woburn. Tliis town was in- 
corporated in 1642, and he was chosen a 
member of the board of selectmen and 
served the town in that office with occasional 
brief intervals for about twenty years. He 
held also various minor offices. He was 
twice married. His first wife, Elizabeth, dy- 
ing November 13, 1643, '^c married, Febru- 
ary 15, 1644, Susannah Blodgett, widow of 
Thomas Blodgett, of Cambridge. She died 
February 10, 1661. Children: i. James, 
died January 24, 1647, an unmarried young 
man. 2. Simon, married Mary Converse 
(Edward, i). 3. Olive, married September 
3, 1650, John Cutler, and died before her 
father's death. 4. Jonathan, see forward. 

James Thompson died 1682, at the age of 
eighty-nine years. His will, dated the last 
day of February, 1681 (meaning, of course. 
1681-2), speaks of him as being greatly 
stricken in years; names his son, Jonathan 
Thompson, the only child of his then living; 
Sarah Rednap and Hannah Horn (sisters\ 
his grandchildren; John Cutler and Susan- 
nah Logee (or Logan), his grandchildren, 
and his son Jonathan's six children (not 
given by name), James Thompson, "my 
grandchild," and John Sheldon, Senior (who 
married his son Simon's widow) ; his son 
Jonathan he appoints his executor ; Samuel 
Blodgett, Senior, and John Mousall, over- 
seers, and he gave Mr. Blodgett "Mr. Rogers 
his book," and Mr. Mousall, "a pair of new 
gloves." 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



23 



(II) Jonathan Thompson, son of James 
Thompson (1), born in England, died at 
Wobnrn, October 20, 1 691, married Novem- 
ber 28, 1685, Susanna Blodgett (Thomas), 
died I'ebrnary- 6, 1697-8,- a daughter of his 
father's second wife who bore her mother's 
name. He inherited his father's homestead. 
He was the first male teacher ever employed 
under the authority of the town of \\'oburn. 
He was also in subsequent years a constable 
and town sexton. Children: I. Susannah, born 
July 4, 1661, married March 7, 1700, Abra- 
ham Roberts of Reading. 2. Jonathan, 
born September 28, 1663, see forward. 3. 
James, born 1666, died young. 4. James, 
boni June 27, 1667, married October 22, 
1695, Sarah Trask. 5. Sarah, born June i, 
1670, married April 11, 1692, John Swan. 6. 
Simon, born June 15, 1673, married Decem- 
ber 12, 1700, Anna Butterfield. 7. Ebenezer, 
born .\ugust 18, 1676, died Februarj- 19, 
1697-8, unmarried. 

(III) Jonathan Thompson, son of Jona- 
than Thompson (2), born September 28, 
1663, died 1748. married Frances Whitmore, 
daughter of Francis Whitmore, of Cam- 
bridge. He was a resident of Woburn, in 
the part now North Woburn. Children: i. 
Jonathan, born February 9, 1689-90, married 
first, September 3, 171 3, Phebe Carter, of 
Woburn: married second, Abigail Fowle, of 
Woburn. 2. Hannah, born January 28, 
1691-92. married Josiah Pierce. 3. Joseph, 
born October 20, 1694. married Deceml>er 
30, 1718, Sarah Bradshaw. of Medford. 4. 
James, born November 14. 1696. married 
Mary Hancock, of Lexington. 5. Susannah, 
born July 6, 1699, married March 21, 1722, 
P5enjamin Mead. 6. Ebenezer, born March 
30, 1701, see forw-ard. 7. Mary, born Aug- 
ust 18, 1703, married first, William Cowdry, 
of Reading: married second, January 20, 
1736-7, Captain Isaac Hartwell, of Oxford. 
8. Samuel, born Septeinber 8, 1705, married 
Ruth Wright, of Woburn. 9. Patience, 
born October 25. 1713, married Timothy 
Lamson, of Concord. 10. Esther, married 
1740, .^mos Lamson. 11. Jabez, married 
November 13, 1735, Lydia Snow. I2. 
Daniel, died young. 

(IV) Ebenezer Thompson, son of Jona- 
than Thompson (3). born March 30. 1701, 
died 1755. married September 2^. 1728. Han- 
nah Converse, born May 10, 1706, daughter 
of Captain Robert and Mary (Sawyer) Con- 
verse of Woburn. lie was captain of the 
local militia company designated as the sec- 
ond foot company of the second regiment of 



Middlesex County, of which regiment 
Eleazer Tyng, Esq., was colonel. Thomp- 
son's commission was dated July 3. 1753. He 
occupied the house now standing, known as 
the Runiford birthplace. Children: 1. Ben- 
jamin, born November 27, 1729, see forward. 
2. Ebenezer, born September 15, 1731, 
graduated Harvard College, 1752, and be- 
came the pastor of the church at York, 
Maine, where he died immarried in 1755. 3. 
Hannah, born Septeinber 21, 1734, married 
-March 8, 1753. Iienjaniin Magg of Woburn. 
4. Hiram, born .May 17, 1743, married Feb- 
ruary 3, 1767, Bridget Snow of Woburn. 

(\') Benjamin Thompson, son of Captain 
Ebenezer Thompson (4), born November 27, 

1729, died November 7, 1755, married May 
30, 1752, Ruth Simonds, born October 10, 

1730, died at Baldwin. Maine, June 18, 1811, 
daughter of Lieutenant James and Mary 
(Fowle) Simonds; she married second, Jan- 
uary 1, 1756, Josiah Pierce, of Woburn. 
Benjamin Thompson died before completing 
his twenty-sixth year, and resided in the 
house of his father, now known as the Rum- 
ford birthplace. His gravestone is standing 
in the first burial ground of Woburn. Child: 
1. Benjamin, born March 26. 1753, see for- 
ward. 

( \T) Benjamin Thompson, son of Benja- 
min Thompson (5), born March 26, 1733, 
died in Paris, France, .\ugust 21, 1814. mar- 
ried first, November, 1772, or December 25, 
1772, Sarah (Walker) Rolfe, widow of Ben- 
jamin Rolfe, and daughter of Reverend 
Timothy and Eunice (Burbeen) Walker, of 
Rimiford, now Concord, .\'ew Hampshire; 
she was born .\ugust 6. 1739, and died Jan- 
uary 19, 1792. lie married second. October 
24, 1805, Marie Anne Pierrette (Paulze) 
Lavoisier, born at Montbrison, January 20, 
1758, died at Paris, February 10, 1836, 
daughter of M. Paulze. farmer-general of the 
finances, and widow of .-\ntoine Laurent 
Lavoisier, the famous chemist and discoverer 
of oxygen. Child: i. Sarah, born October 
18, 1774, ( ?) died at Concord. New Hamp- 
shire. DecemlxT 2, 1752. (?) 

His Simonds ancestry is this: 1. James 
Simonds, of Concord and Woburn. whose 
second wife was Judith (Phippen) Hayward, 
to whom he was married January 18, 1643-4. 
Their son, 2. James Simonds. born at 
Woburn, November i. 1658, died September 
LS' I7'7- married December 29, 1685, 
Susanna Blodgett (Samuel. 2. Thomas. 1"), 
died February 9, 1714-15. Their son. 3. 
Lieutenant Tames Simonds, born November 



24 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



J, 1686, died July 30, 1775, in his eighty- 
ninth year, married June 17, 1714, Mary 
Fowle (Captain James, 3, Lieutenant James, 
2, George, i), born June 18, 1689, died 
March 9, 1762. Their daughter, Ruth 
Simonds, born October 10, 1730, married 
May 30, 1752, Benjamin Thompson (V.) and 
was the mother of Benjamin Thompson, 
Count Rumford. 

His Converse ancestry is this: Deacon 
Edward Converse of Woburn, son of Allen 
Converse, was the father of Lieutenant 
James Converse, who died at Woburn, May 
10, 1715, aged ninety-five years; married 
first, October 24, 1643, Anna Long, of 
Charlestown (Robert), born about 1625, died 
August 10, 1691. Their son, Major James 
Converse, bom November 16, 1645, died 
July 8, 1706, married January i, 1669, Han- 
nah Carter (Captain John), born January 19, 
165 1, who married second, November 22, 
1708, Henry Summers, of Charlestown. 
Their son. Captain Robert Converse, born 
December 29, 1677, died July 20, 1736, mar- 
ried December 19, 1698, Mary Sawyer, 
daughter of Joshua and Sarah (Wright-Pot- 
ter) Sawyer. Their daughter, Hannah Con- 
verse, born May 10, 1706, married Septem- 
ber 27, 1728, Ebenezer Thompson (IV). 



(By William R. Cutter.) 

So much has been written 
RUMFORD concerning the life of Count 
Rumford that the principal 
events in the career of this remarkable man 
may be summarized in a cursory manner geo- 
graphically for the sake of convenient refer- 
ence, paying particular attention in passing, to 
a few facts or incidents that are not generally 
known. 

At Woburn. — Woburn was the place of his 
birth. Aside from the date of the event and 
the names of his parents, and the fact that his 
father died soon after the birth of his dis- 
tinguished son, and that his mother soon mar- 
ried again, almost nothing is actually known 
of his early childhood. He was brought up in 
the residence of his stepfather, Josiah Pierce : 
attended the Woburn grammar school, kept by 
the celebrated master, John Fowle : was a 
playmate with younger members of the Bald- 
win family, his stepfather's opposite neigh- 
bors ; attended scientific lectures at Harvard 
College with Loammi Baldwin, later famous 
as a colonel luidcr Washington in the Revolu- 
ticmry War and a projector of the Middlesex- 



Canal and as the namesake of the Baldwin 
apple. 

Some account of the history of the house in 
which he was born has been given elsewhere 
in this work. 

Dr. George E. Ellis, the author of the only 
standard "Life of Count Rumford" (Memoir 
of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, 
with notices of his daughter. By George E. 
Ellis. Published for the American Academy 
of Arts and Sciences, Boston)* mentions 
Rumford as dependent on his own exertions, 
without inherited means, or patronage, or even 
good fortune ; and while this may be to some 
extent true of his early life in Woburn, it was 
not true of his later life. Likewise it must be 
admitted that he had in his early, as he had in 
his later life, a lack of that rigid purity of prin- 
ciple, which, as even Dr. Ellis admits, would 
not insure with propriety all his domestic rela- 
tions being the subject of exact record. The 
cause of these failings in virtue is referred to 
the influences he encountered on foreign soil, 
and to foreign customs in such matters which 
prevailed in his day. 

The emblazoned diploma of arms which he 
received in his thirty-first year from the king 
of England when he became a knight, states 
in dignified terms that he was the "son of 
Benjamin Thompson, late of the Province of 
Massachusetts Bay, in New England, Gent: 
deceased, and one of the most ancient families 
in North America ; . . . . that his an- 
cestors have ever lived in reputable situations 
in that country where he was born, and have 
hitherto used the arms of the ancient and re- 
spectable family of Thompson, of the county 
of York, from a constant tradition that they 
derived their descent from that source." 

He was born, it is said, in the west end of 
the house now standing at North Woburn, 
and generally known bythe name of the Rum- 
ford birthplace. His widowe<l mother was re- 
married when he was three years old, and his 
stepfather took his new wife and her child to 
another house not far distant, but long since 



*"The Life of Rumford by Prof. James Renwick" 
(Spark's Biography, 2nd ser., vol. V.) Is the next con- 
siderable American performance on the subject. Pro- 
fessor Renwick expresses oblig^ation for the use of a 
manuscript belonging to Josiah Pierce, half-brother of 
Count Rumford. entitled by its author "Outlines of the 
Family. Infancy and Childhood of Benjamin Thomp- 
son. Count Rumford." This manuscript was in exist- 
ence in 1845. but its present whereabouts is to us 
unknown. Josiah Pierce, halt-brother of Count Rum- 
ford, married Phebe. daughter of Daniel and Phebe 
(Snow) Thompson, of Woburn. His wife's father was 
killed in the battle of Lexington and Concord. April 
19, 1775. For an account of their children see "Thomp- 
son Memorial" (Boston, 1887), p. 50. This branch of the 
Pierce family were among the founders of the pres- 
ent town of Rumford. Maine. 




Replica uf M.ituc <it v. uuiu Kuuiiwfn \i>ciiijiiiiii iduiiiiiMni; <iii i:iuuii(i> ui t't uuurri I'liriiic 1-ibrary 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



25 



removed, which stood opposite, as before said, 
the present Baldwin mansion. 

The fact, which has been stated, particu- 
larly in France, that the child's stepfather 
l)anished him from his house in his infancy, 
•whether this information be gotten from 
Count Rumford himself or not, must be taken 
with much allowance for the exuberance of 
the French imagination. For it was contrary 
to the usual New England character and con- 
trary to the regard which Count Rum ford 
.afterwards showed to his mother and her 
•children born of Josiah Pierce. That his early 
life was always smooth we do not pretend to 
assert, but that any excessive cruel treatment 
"was given the child, that we deny. Making 
allowance for overcolored statement, a few 
iacts from the Count's lips are here advanced : 

"If the death of my father had not, contrary 
to the order of nature, preceded that of my 
•grandfather, who gave all his property to my 
micle, his second son, I should have lived and 
died an American husbandman. Shortly after 
the death of my father, my mother contracted 
a second marriage which proved for her a 
source of misfortunes. A tyrannical husband 
took me away from my grandfather's house 
with her. I was then a child : my grandfather, 
who survived my father only a few months, 
. left me but a very slender subsistence. I was 
then launched at the right time upon a world 
which was almost strange to me, and I \\,<.:i 
obliged to form the habit of thinking and act- 
ing for my self, and of depending on myself 
for a livelihood. 

"My ideas were not yet fixed: one project 
succeeded another, and perhaps I should have 
acquired a habit of indecision and inconsist- 
ancy, perhaps I should have been poor and un- 
happy all my life, if a ■zi'oiiiaii had not loved 
me, — if she had not given me a subsistence, a 
home, an independent fortune." 

Anticipating a little, we continue : "I mar- 
ried, or rather, I was married, at the age of 
nineteen. I espoused the widow of a Colonel 
Rolfe. daughter of the Rev. Mr. Walker, 
a highly respectable minister, and one of the 
first settlers of Rumford. He was already con- 
nected with my family. He heartily approved 
of the choice of his daughter, and he himself 
united our destinies. This excellent man be- 
came sincerely attached to me ; he directed my 
studies, he formed my taste, and my position 
was in eveni^ respect the most agreeable that 
could possibly be imagined." 

It is admitted by P.aron Cuvier that Rum- 
ford had informed him himself that he would 
have probably remained in the niodest condi- 



tion of his ancestors if the little fortune which 
they had to leave him had not been lost during 
his infancy. Thus a misfortune in early life, 
as in many other cases, was the cause of 
his subsequent reputation. His grandfather, 
from whom he had everything to expect, had 
given all he possessed to a younger son, 
leaving his grandson almost penniless." This 
and the loss of his father and the second mar- 
riage of his mother, and his so stated removal 
from her care, leads to the conclusion that 
"Nothing could be more likely than such a 
destitute condition to induce a premature dis- 
play of talent." 

These statements and imputations resting 
apparently upon positive assertions made by 
liimself, however, leave room for supposing 
that his eulogfists, being both of them French- 
men, may have erred in a matter of sentiment, 
by exaggerated expressions. (Ellis, Life, p. 
10.) Common reputation gives him an excel- 
lent mother, who never neglected him, but ap- 
pears to have treated him with a redoubled 
love. His own letters to her, when in a state 
of popular celebrity, comfort and affluence 
abroad, in her later years, are full of affection 
and tender regard. The alleged tyranny of his 
stepfather finds no statement on the part of 
the new husband's descendants as a reason for 
the justification of any charges of that kind. 
The stepfather appears to be in every aspect 
of the case a kind and faithful husband and 
took his wife's child with her to a new home, 
as already shown. The eldest son by her 
second marriage grew up with the Count as a 
playmate, and in after life as a correspondent, 
and a son of this half-brother never heard any- 
thing from his father that would warrant an 
imputation of ill treatment. 

It is not to be doubted from his insistent 
will during life, that he exercised the patience 
and sympathy of his friends somewhat 
severely, and by, perhaps, at the outset, a de- 
termined unwillingness to apply himself to any 
routine and rewarfling work in accordance 
with their old-fashioned Now England ideas. 

It is evident from the handwriting of the 
Count when he was only thirteen years of age, 
and froni the spelling and the almost faultless 
grammatical expressions in his letters and 
compositions before he had reached manhood, 
and from his skill in accounts, that he had not 
only remarkable native powers, but had been 
the subject of careful and thorough training. 
Credit for this is given to his village teacher. 
Master John Fowle. a graduate of Harvard 
College in 1747, a man of unusually good 
reputation in this line of work. The hand- 



26 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



writing of Rumford was clear, strong, and 
elegant in his youth, and it remained so 
through his life, and it has been asserted that 
the mode of instruction through which young 
Rumford and his contemporaries passed af- 
forded a superior training with more signal 
results than was realized later under more 
elaborate provisions for elementary education. 
Rumford indicated from his earliest years 
an intense mental inclination for things scien- 
tific in their nature, and showed a particular 
ardor for mathematics, and his leisure was de- 
voted to the manufacture of ingenious me- 
chanical contrivances, leading early in his 
career to an interest in the deeper principles 
of mechanics and natural philosophy, as it 
was then understood. 

It is said of him that he was for a time a 
pupil in a school at Byfield, under the charge 
of a relative, that he was, when eleven years 
old, put under the care of an able teacher in 
Medford, named Hill; that in 1766 he was 
apprenticed to a Mr. John x\ppleton, of Salem, 
an importer of foreign goods, and a bill for 
goods bought from this store and receipted by 
Rumford when he was only fourteen years 
old is remarkable for grace of penmanship, 
mercantile style, and business-like signature. 
But his career in Salem is to be treated separ- 
ately, and we pass on to a later date in Wo- 
burn. 

In 1 77 1 young Rumford began the study of 
medicine with Dr. John Hay. of Woburn. He 
appears to have been a boarder in his house 
from December 15, 1770. to June 15. 1772. 
Dr. Hay lived on the estate now known as the 
Kimball estate, 732 Main street. Central 
Square, and his house at a later date was called 
the "Black House," and was standing as late 
as 1854. Dr. Hay returned about 1780 to his 
nati\'e town of Reading, where his father was 
also a physician. While boarding at Dr. Hay's, 
Rumford attended Mr. W'inthrop's lectures 
at Cambridge (1771) and from December 9, 

1771, to February 5. 1772, he was keeping 
school at Wilmington. In March and April. 

1772, he was doing the same. And in June, 
1772, he was absent for the part of a week 
at Bradford, probably arranging for work of a 
similar kind, as he is credited with having 
been a teacher there. 

The following is an account of the division 
of his time while a student at Dr. Hays : 
"From eleven at night to si.x in the morning, 
sleep. .\t six, arise, and wash my hands and 
face. From si.x to eight, morning, exercise 
one-half and study one-half the time. Eight 
to ten .A.. M., breakfast, attend prayers. From 



ten to twelve, study all the time. From twelve 
to one, dine. From one to four, study con- 
stantly. From four to five, relieve my mind 
by some diversions or exercises. From five 
till bedtime, follow what my inclination leads 
me, whether it be to go abroad, or stay at 
home and read either anatomy, physic, or 
chemistry, or any book I want to peruse." 
His studies while at Dr. Hay's were divided 
into days. The list was anatomy, |)hysic, 
surgery, chemistry and the materia medica. 

The above data are taken from minutes 
made by Rumford himself at the time> 
Through the influence of Baldwin he obtained 
with his friend the privilege of attending 
Professor Winthrop's lectures at Cambridge, 
neither young man being a regular student at 
the college there. It is said that they walked 
to and from the place to their homes at Wo- 
burn, and were in the habit of repeating the 
experiments witnessed, with rude apparatus of 
their own contrivance at their homes after- 
ward. 

The e.xact time when Rumford taught 
school in Bradford is not definitely stated, but 
It was some time in the year 1772. His ex- 
perience here led to his being appointed in the 
same year to the mastership of a school in 
Concord, New Hampshire, then known as a 
town by the name of Rimiford ; but his arrival 
there was followed by his speedy marriage. 

It is our intention to ignore the various tradi- 
tions which have befogged the actions of 
Count Rumford in Woburn about the time of 
the battle of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 
1775, and present only an extract from a letter 
of that time which has a very pointed refer- 
ence to him in connection with his arrest on 
that date, while he was at his mother Pierce's 
house in North Woburn. by a military com- 
pany of the town, when he was confined there 
by an illness, probably the one he mentions in 
his letter of ()ctober i, 1775, which we have 
quoted elsewhere. He said, "I came out of 
Boston a few days before the affair at Lexing- 
ton," having "enjoyed, since I left Boston a 
verv indiflferent share of health." It is sup- 
posed then that he took refuge at his mother's,^ 
and was ill there on the day of .\pril ig, as be- 
fore hinted. The quotation from the other let- 
ter mentioned is here presented. It is an auto- 
graph letter from M&jor Josiah Johnson to 
James Fowle, Esq., dated September 9, 1775, 
Ijoth influential men of middle life in the then 
town of \\'oburn :" 

"The town of Woburn upon the shortest 
notice mustered and marched 180 brave men, 
well equipped, for the assistance and relief of 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



27 



their distressed brethren at Concord, whither 
tile Ministerial troops had stolen their march 
for the destruction of our magazine there de- 
posited, whose heroic deeds under the prudent 
conduct of Captain Jonathan Fox and others 
(on the emergency of the 19th of April last) 
greatly added to the glorious achieventents of 
that memorable Jay. . . . Though we 
don"t find this Captain Fox justly charged 
with the illlxxling conduct of promoting the 
escape of a su])posed eneiny that day captiv- 
ated and committed to safekeeping by the 
heroism of others, whose worthy deeds justly 
entitled them to a much better fortune; a fact 
notoriously regretted."* 

His release is credited and probably cor- 
rectly to the influence of his friend Baldwin. 
He had his trial later. W'oburn is onlv five 
miles from Lexington, and hesitation on the 
part of any man to go to the field on Lexing- 
ton's battle-day was. under the excitement 
which prevailed, a dangerous thing to display. 
It is commonly believed that every able- 
bodied Woburn man was present in the en- 
gagement, and the excuses of the few left, 
who did not go. were rigidly inquired into, 
and Rumford's case among the rest. The ap- 
pearance of a militia company before his house 
on the evening of that day, and its object, is 
clearly explained by the letter which we have 
quoted. Rumford was indeed favored by hav- 
ing influential friends throughout the whole 
of his career. 

In a letter written from W'oburn, May 11, 
1775, he says, "Since Mrs. Thompson has 
been at W'oburn she has been very unwell, 
which has prevented her coming to Concord 
this week as was proposed." On Mav 16, fol- 
lowing, he was arrested in W'oburn. and his 
trial was appointed at the meeting-house in the 
first parish of that town, on Thursday. May 
18, at two P. M. Baldwin slates in his diary 
that Rimiford was taken up. as a Tory, but 
nothing was found against him. and the court 
adjourned to the following .Monday. The 
final action in his case is preserved by his 
friend ISaldwin, in words that show that the 
Woburn committee having charge of the case 
reported that they did not find in any one 
instance that the accused had shown a "dis- 
position unfriendly to .American Liberty," but 
that his general l>ehavior had "evinced the 
direct contrary." (Dated "W'oburn, in the 
Province of Massachusetts Bav. 2Qth Mav, 
^"75")- 

•In the "Journals of the Provincial Congress Is pre- 
served a petition of Count Rumford in reference to his 
trial at Woburn in May. ITTii. It contains nothing new 
in idea, however, beyond what we present. 



It appears after his release tiiat Rumford re- 
mained in this vicinity. On June 4. 1775. he 
viewed the military works at Boston, in com- 
pany with luildwin (then an American major) 
from Lechmere's Point, Cambridge, and on 
June 13 Baldwin reports that "Major Thomp- 
son went to Woburn." He was still in this 
vicinity in .Vugust, 1775. In that month he 
decided to quit the country. He made all his 
arrangements with tleliberate preparation. 
.After making his decisif)n he remained two 
months in and about Woburn, and on October 
13' I775' accompanied by his stepbrother, 
Josiah Pierce, he started from Woburn in a 
country vehicle, and drove near to the bounds 
of the province, on the shore of the Narragan- 
sett Bay. whence young Pierce returned. 
Rumford was then taken b\- a boat on board 
the "Scarborough." a liritish frigate which lay 
in the harbor of Newport. 

The following apology for his unpopularity 
among the Americans at the opening of the 
Revolutionary War was written about 1847 by 
a Scotchman, and published in "Chambers 
Miscellany." (X. 5). His position comes as 
near the truth as we shall ever know. 

"The truth," says this writer, "seems to be 
that not only was Thom|)son, as a man in 
comfortable circumstances and fond of the 
consideration and opportunities of enjoy- 
mnt which they afforded him, averse to any 
disturbance, such as a war between the 
colonies and the mother country would 
cause, but that his constitution and tempera- 
ment, his liking for calm intellectual pur- 
suits, disqualified him from taking part in 
political agitation. Many men who have dis- 
tinguished themselves in literature and 
science have, as a matter of principle, kept 
themselves aloof from the controversies and 
political dissensions of their time, alleging 
that, however important such tpiestions 
might he, it was not in discussing them that 
their powers could be employed to most ad- 
vantage. In the case of Thompson, however, 
who as yet had not begun to lay claim to the 
character of a man devoted to scientific pur- 
suits, his countrymen thought, not altogether 
unreasonably, that they had grounds of com- 
plaint. What employment was he engaged 
in, that he ought to be cxem|)ted from the 
duty of a citizen — that of takinjj interest in 
public affairs? So. probably, the most can- 
did and considerate of the .American patriots 
reasoned: and as for the great mass of the 
populace, they condemned him in the usuat 
summary manner in which the public 
judges." 



2S 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Colonel Baldwin, his intimate friend, writ- 
ing in 1805, confirms the idea of his indiffer- 
ence: "From this general view of the con- 
duct of Major Thompson and his manner of 
leaving America, some may have received 
unfavorable impressions of his character. 
But he had never made politics his study and 
never perhaps seriously considered the origin 
and progress of the contest; and if he sought 
for employment against his countrymen, he 
had sufficient opportunities of being grati- 
fied."* 

At Salem — Rumford as a youth was ap- 
prenticed to a merchant in Salem, October 
14, 1766. He lived in his master's family as 
a member of the household. It was here, it 
is said, that he was interested in playing the 
fiddle, an instrument upon which he was a 
skillful performer. Here he continued until 
about October, 1769. An enlightened minis- 
ter, the Rev. Thomas Barnard, gave him his 
friendship and encouragement. As he says, 
himself, "The father of one of my com- 
panions, a very respectable minister, and. 
besides, very enlightened (by name Bar- 
nard) gave me his friendship, and of his own 
prompting, undertook to instruct me. He 
taught me algebra, geometry, astronomy, 
and even the higher mathematics. Before 
the age of fourteen, I had made sufficient 
progress in this class of studies to be able 
v,'ithout his aid, and even without his knowl- 
edge, to calculate and trace rightly the ele- 
nients of a solar eclipse. We observed it to- 
:gether, and my computation was correct 
within four seconds. I shall never forget the 
intense pleasure which this success afforded 
me, nor the praises which it drew from him. 
I had been destined for trade, but after a 
^hort trial my thirst for knowledge became 
inextinguishable, and I could not apply mv- 
self to an)i;hing but my favorite objects of 
study." 



•The reader is referred to the Life by Professor 
Renwick (Spark's Biographies) for many particulars 
Tegarding Rumford's lite in vyoburn and Salem, based 
apparently on the statements in the manuscript of 
Josiah Pierce (halt-brother1 already referred to in a 
previous note. These statements are repeated in the 
article on Count Rumford in the "Chambers Miscel- 
lany," published about 1S47. While very interesting we 
■have omitted them here, because of their evidently 
■overcolored and traditionary character. One of them 
was, and the truth of it we do not deny, that the 
Woburn meeting-house was crowded to its very doors 
at the time hie trial was held. This meeting-house 
then stood on the present Woburn Common, and was 
within a short distance of the spot where Rumford's 
admirable statue now stands. 

Renwick's work when compared with Rumford's 
memoranda presented in the latter work of Ellis, 
shows many inaccuracies in dates, though his state- 
ments are in other respects correct. This refers to 
statements of fact regarding the events of his life in 
America. It is supposed that Renwick used the im- 
portant part of the Pierce manuscript and the Bald- 
win article of 1S05, which he refers to. 



While in Salem he had permission to 
make occasional visits to Woburn, and 
walked one night from there to show his 
friend Baldwin parts of a machine he had 
made in the direction of solving the principle 
of "perpetual motion." His services to his 
employer at Salem becoming less neces- 
sary, owing to the obstructions imposed 
upon trade before the opening of the Revo- 
lutionary War, he was sent to Boston and 
apprenticed to a similar business to that he 
had been at Salem. 

Ix Boston. — In Boston he was placed as 
an apprentice clerk with a Mr. Hopestill 
Capen, a dry-goods dealer. Tliis was in the 
autumn of 1769. Here he attended a French 
evening school for the purpose of learning 
that language, but his stay in Boston was 
short, owing to the falling off in business 
caused by the depression of the times. Dr. 
F.llis gives a number of instances of Rum- 
ford's precocity during the period of his stay 
in Salem and Boston, but they are mostly of 
a character of which Rumford would be 
ashamed in his after life.* 

.\t Concord, New Hampshire. — .\n im- 
mature lad of nineteen, Rumford married a 
wealthy widow of thirty-three. She had 
been married when about thirty to an elderly 
bachelor of about sixty. She was the 
daughter of a clergyman, and the facts of 
their union have been given in the genealogy 
preceding this article. The widow's husband 
died December 21, 1771. The date of her 
second marriage is said to have been about 
November, 1772, and it is also related that 
his mother's consent was obtained in the 
course of a rather sensational journey on the 
part of the couple to her abode in Woburn. 
But this is a matter of tradition. Something 
more definite is this: His friend Baldwin 
writes of him at this period as a person of a 
"fine manly make and figure, nearly six feet 
in height, of handsome features, bright blue 
eyes, and dark auburn hair." He seems to 
have been satisfactory to his Concord friends 
as a teacher, and in a letter from there to his 
mother in Auburn he writes, "I have had 106 
scholars at my school, but only have seventy 
at once." 

Owing to the influence and activity of his 
wife. Rumford soon shone in New Hamp- 
shire colonial society, and at a military review 



♦These incidents are also related with even more 
fullness of detail by Renwick. The most important 
was his narrow escape from serious injurj- and the 
loss of his life in an explosion of gunpowder with 
which he was preparing some fireworks for a cele- 
bration. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



29 



at Dover, ten miles from Portsmouth, at which 
both were present, on the 13th of November, 
1772, he attracted the attention of the royal 
governor, to whom he was introduced, and on 
the following day was a guest at his table. 
The result was a commission as major in the 
militia, conferred by the governor on the fu- 
ture Count. This commission was bestowed 
on Rumford over the heads of men in the line 
of proinotion, and resulted, for political and 
military reasons, in his becoming the subject 
of jealous feeling and hostile criticism. So far 
as is known he was at that time devoid of both 
military knowledge and experience. It was 
not so afterwards. And whatever may be 
said, it was the opinion of the men of that day 
that Rumford from the outset of his military 
career was at heart a loyalist : and Went- 
worth, the governor to whom he was indebted 
for his rise to military rank, was the last royal 
governor of New Hampshire. How much 
(and doubtless it was much) feminine influ- 
ence may have helped to secure his elevation 
to office is not determined. It is evident to 
the most superficial observer that his wife's 
influence was a potent factor in bringing about 
the result. Her father and brother were 
staunch supporters of the American side in 
the Revolution, and it is likely her notions 
afterwards were never again urged either on 
one side or the other of the controversy. 

For a time, about 1773, Rumford became a 
gentleman farmer on his wife's estate. He 
had broad acres to till and employed many 
laborers. To Baldwin he wrote in the middle 
of July, 1773, " I am engaged in husbandry." 
In August, 1774. he wrote: "I have been ex- 
tremely busy this summer, or I should have 
given mvself the pleasure of coming to see 
you." 

At Concord. New Hampshire, where his 
family connections were the most powerful set 
among the inhabitants, Rumford was pro- 
tected for a time by their influence. However, 
by the people at large he was distrusted. He 
was summoned before a committee at Concord 
in the summer of 1774 to answer to the sus- 
picion of "being unfriendly to the cause of 
Liberty," and he positively denied the charge, 
and challenged proof. No proceeding ensued 
against him, and he was discharged. In No- 
vember. 1774, a mob gathered round his dwel- 
ling and demanded his appearance. Had 
Rumford been within he would have been 
foully dealt with. But he had secretly left 
Concord just before. His wife and her 
brother. Colonel Walker, came forth and as- 



sured the mob that her husband was not in 
town, and the gathering dispersed. 

Rumford thought it was to be only a tem- 
porary separation from the place. His wife 
and infant child were with him afterwards at 
Woburn and Boston, but his separation from 
Concord was perpetual. He found himself 
unsafe at Woburn, and next sought safety in 
Qiarlestown, and on his own admission he 
boarded in Boston (the seat of a British 
armyj until a few days before the 19th of 
April, 1775. These facts are obtained from an 
interesting letter of Rumford's, in which, seek- 
ing for his goods, he g^ves incidentally an 
account of his movements at the beginning 
of the Revolution. Separating these facts 
from the vagaries of tradition, one gets a 
much clearer idea of the truth. 

October I, 1775. "I came out of Boston a 
few days before the affair at Lexington on the 
19th April, and have since not been able to 
return. When I left the town I little imagined 
that a return would be thus difficult, or, rather 
impossible, and therefore took no care to pro- 
vide for such a contingency. ... I can- 
not conclude without informing you that since 
I left Boston I have enjoyed but a very in- 
different share of health. . . . Since the 
1 2th of August I have been confined to my 
room the greatest part of the time, and this is 
the nineteenth day since I have had a settled 
fever upon me, which I fear is not come to a 
crisis yet. ... I have not been out of the 
Province of Massachusetts Bay since I saw 
you. Mrs. Thompson and little Sally* were 
with me during the month of May. since which 
time I have not had the pleasure of seeing 
either of them." 

The events in Rumford's life after the few 
days before the 19th of April. 1775. when the 
struggle actually began which separated the 
United States of America from the English 
government are continued under the heading 
"Woburn" in this article. 

Gre.at Brit.mn. — After boarding a British 
frigate in the harbor of Newport, Rumford 
sailed in her to Boston, and remained there 
until the evacuation of that town by the British 
forces, of which event he was the bearer of 
tidings to England. Henceforward to the end 
of the war he was in the service of the British 
government. The intelligence of the evacua- 
tion was made public in I^ndon in May. 1776, 
but it is supposed that through Rumford's 
agency the event had been known to the gov- 



•For more about this daughter, see beyond. 



30 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



eniment before. There will be no further 
attempt in this article to trace minutely his 
future movements or to palliate his motives. 
On the occasion of his arrival, "by the clear- 
ness of his details and the gracefulness of his 
manners, he insinuated himself so far into the 
graces of Lord George Germaine that he took 
him into his employment." In 1779 he was 
elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1780 
he was made "Under Secretary of State for 
the Northern Department," and the oversight 
of all the practical details for recruiting, equip- 
ping, transporting and victualling the British 
forces, and many other incidental arrange- 
ments, was committed to him. He held this 
office about a year. He next sought active 
service in the British army, and he was on the 
American side of the ocean in 1782, and he 
was honored at the age of twenty-eight with 
the commission in the British army of a lieu- 
tenant-colonel. He provided for himself by 
raising a regiment among the loyal Americans, 
or Tories, of his native land. He himself said, 
he "went to America to command a regiment 
■of cavalry which he had raised in that country 
for the King's service." He disembarked at 
Charleston, South Carolina, passed the winter 
there, led his corps often against the enemy, 
and was always successful in his enterprises. 
Here he had the reputation of defeating the 
famous Marion's brigade, when its com- 
mander was absent, who, however, came in 
season to take part in the action, but had the 
mortification of witnessing the discomfiture of 
his little band. In the spring of 1782 Rum- 
ford sailed from Charleston to New York, and 
took command of his regiment there awaiting 
iiini, and passed the winter with his command 
at Huntington, Long Island. It has been as- 
serted, and apparently with truth, that he was 
merely quartered there from having nothing 
to do elsewhere. Cornwallis had already sur- 
rendered, and Rumford. by leave of absence 
dated .'Kpril 11, 1783, returned direct to Eng- 
land, where he was advanced to a colonelcy, 
and thus secured half-pay on the British estab- 
lishment for the remainder of his life. " 

In Germany. — Rumford. on his return 
from .America, readily obtained leave of the 
king to visit the continent. He accordingly 
left England in September, 1783. He arrived 
at Strasburg, where the Prince Maximilian of 
Deux Fonts, then field-marshal in the service 
of France and later Elector of Bavaria, was 
in garrison, who, when commanding on par- 
ade, saw among the spectators an officer in a 
foreign uniform, mounted on a fine English 
horse, whom he addressed. The officer was 



Rumford, and thus began an acquaintance 
which had a decisive influence on his future 
career. The Elector of Bavaria, Charles 
Theodore, uncle to the above Prince Maxi- 
milian, gave Rumford an earnest invitation to 
enter into his service in a joint military and 
civil capacity. The English king granted 
Rumford the permission desired, and also con- 
ferred on him the honor of knighthood. He 
therefore entered, at Munich, in 1784, on the 
service of the Elector. His labors ranged 
from subjects of the homeliest nature in rela- 
tion to the common people, up to the severest 
tests and experiments in the interests of prac- 
tical science. On his arrival the Elector ap- 
pointed him colonel of a regiment of cavalry 
and general aide-de-camp. He soon learned 
that the development of resources and the re- 
form of abuses were the emergent needs of the 
Electorate. He made reforms in the army and 
for the removal of mendicity. The manner of 
their accomplishment has been a "household 
tale" for a century and a quarter.* 

In 1788 the Elector made him a major- 
general of cavalry and privy councillor of 
state. He was put at the head of the war 
department. He was raised in 1791 to the 
rank of a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, 
and selected as his title the former name of the 
village in his own native country, where he 
had first enjoyed the favors of fortune, — that 
is. Rumford : and, criticize as one may, this 
distinction was won by merit. In 1796 he 
published his Essays — altogether on scientific 
subjects — in London. He had by 1797. "by 
his own exertions acquired a sufficiency" not 
only for his own "comfortable support" dur- 
ing his life, but also to enable him to make a 
handsome provision for his daughter. He 
was therefore willing to renounce all claims he 
might have on his late wife's estate, and engage 
his daughter to do so. He insisted, however, 
on the exchange of receipts. His fame was 
also by this time well established in America. 
The property of his deceased wife came for 
the most part from her former husband, and 
would go mainly to her son by him. A por- 
tion of the widow's dower which she had 
enjoyed as Mrs. Thompson, would legally de- 
scend to Rumford's daughter by her. On the 
event of a satisfactory arrangement with her 
relatives the Count agreed to assume the whole 
responsibility of her maintenance thereafter, 
and of provision for her survival, and that he 
would influence her to make a will in which 



•His career was greatly popularized, particularly In 
America, by an article In "Chambers Miscellany." 
which appeared in the year 1847. 



MIDDLESEX (JULXTV 



31 



in the event of lier death all she received from 
these relatives would be returned to them or to 
their heirs. Her grandfather Walker left her 
a legacy of £140. to be received when she was 
married or when she was eighteen years of 
age. It is understood that all these matters 
were adjusted in a satisfactory manner. Rum- 
ford's foreign duties, however, and his obliga- 
tions to the Elector, debarred him from serv- 
ing in certain positions in England, and especi- 
ally in the position of Minister Plenipotentiary 
from Bavaria to the Court of Great Britain, 
to which he had been appointed, it being con- 
trary to the rules to receive in that capacity 
from another country a British subject. At 
the age of forty-five Count Rumford had at- 
tained the climax of his political services. 

CoxcLisio.N'. — F"rom 1800 to the date of his 
death in a suburb of Paris, .\ugust 21, 1814, 
Count Rumford 's career furnishes less inter- 
. est for Americans. He was engaged in 1799 
in the establishment of a new scientific institu- 
tion in London, called the Royal Institution of 
Great Britain, on a plan regarded exclusively 
as his own. He had reasons for believing that 
his official position in Bavaria would no longer 
jield the fruits it had previously enjoyed, and 
so he turned his attention more strictly to the 
pursuits of science. It is not our intention to 
enlarge on this, as there is plenty of published 
material at hand for any one who is interested 
to investigate it. A significant incident in 
connection with the name of his American 
birthplace, was his visit with his friend Pictet 
to Woburn Abbey. England, in the year 1801. 
He was in Paris before 1807. Previously, in 
1805. he contracted a marriage with the rich 
widow of a celebrated French chemi.';t. The 
money settled upon him by his second wife, 
or its remainder, he left by will to different 
institutions: the reversion of half his Bavarian 
pension he left to his daughter. Owing to in- 
compatibility of dispositions the couple separ- 
ated by mutual agreement in 1809. The state 
of war in Europe aggravated his troubles and 
those of his second wife by preventing their 
contemplated travels for pleasure. 

The subject with which, as a physicist, he 
was chiefly engaged was the nature and effects 
of heat. .A superb bronze statute of him was 
set up in 1867, in one of the public squares of 
Munich, and a replica, the gift of a private 
citizen, was in 1899 erected in Woburn. 

His daughter, Sarah Rumford. sailed from 
Boston for London in the winter of 1796, to 
see her father, who had come from Munich to 
meet her there. She went with him to Ba- 
varia, and remained abroad a little more than 



three years. The particulars of her stay are 
given in Ellis' Life. She received the title of 
Countess in 1797 from the Elector of Bavaria, 
and a pension which lasted during her life. 
She made a second visit to her father in 181 1, 
and remained in France and England many 
years after her father's death. The Countess 
says, in her memoranda, that while her father 
was a great favorite with the ladies, some of 
them sharply censured him for the four fol- 
lowing faults: "I-'irst, for living .so short a 
time with his wives, considering him, from it, 
a bad husband ; second, for taking sides 
against his country ; third, letting his daugh- 
ter get on as she could, he revelling at the 
time in the city of Paris: fourth, that he 
should pitch on Paris as a permanent resi- 
dence, when both in Munich and in London 
he had made himself .so useful, had won such 
honors, and had such distingui^Jied associates 
and friends." This, it should be understood, 
was the judgment of pAiropean women of his 
acquaintance, and Sarah displayed more wis- 
dom than she is usually accredited with when 
she made a record of it. Her attractions and 
ability were in no degree remarkable. In 1835 
she came to .America and again went abroad 
in 1838. In 1844 she came back. She died 
in the chamber in which she was born, De- 
cember 2. 1852. and her remains lie buried 
in the old burial-ground at Concord, New 
Hampshire. By inheritance and otherwise she 
left a handsome estate. She devised her 
homestead and fifteen thousand dollars in 
money to trustees to found an institution in 
Concord to be called "The Rolfe and Rumford 
.\sylum" for young female orphans. The 
funds were allowed to accumulate. This in- 
stitution was opened for use about 1882. and 
has been in successful operation since. 

.\ translation of part of Count Rumford's 
epitaph at Paris (the original is in the French 
language) is here inserted as an admirable 
tribute to his worth : 

'"Celebrated Physicist ! Enlightened Philan- 
thropist ! His Discoveries on Light and Heat 
have made His Name Famous. His Labors 
for the Bettering the Condition of the Poor 
will Cause Him to be Forever Cherished by 
the Friends of Humanity." 

"In Bavaria, 

Lieutenant-General, 

Head of the State, 
Leader of the Realm, 

Major-General, 



32 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



State Councillor, 

Minister of War." 

"In France, 

Member of the Institute. 

and of 

The Academy of Sciences." 

The following significant opmion of Rum- 
ford's life was written in the year 1847, and 
forms the conclusion of the sketch in 
"Chambers Miscellany" : 

"Rumford, whose memoirs we have now 
detailed, was not a faultless character, or a 
person m every respect exemplary; but mak- 
ing due allowances for circumstances in 
which he was at the outset unfortunately 
placed, and keeping in mind that every man 
is less or more the creature of the age in 
which he lives, we arrive at the conclusion 
that few individuals occupying a public posi- 
tion have been so thoroughly deserving of 
esteem. The practical, calm, and compre- 
hensive nature of his mind, his resolute and 
methodical habits, the benevolence and use- 
fulness of his projects, all excite our admira- 
tion. Cuvier speaks of Rumford as 'having 
•been the benefactor of his species without 
loving or esteeming them, as well as of hold- 
ing the opinion, that the mass of mankind 
ought to be treated as mere machines" — a 
remark which is applicable to not a few 
men who have been eminent for labors of a 
humane description, and which naturally 
gives rise to this other remark — that a good 
intellectual method, directed to practical 
ends, is often of more value to mankind than 
what is called a good heart." 

Cuvier's remarks, above referred to, were 
more fully as follows: "But it must be con- 
fessed that he exhibited in conversation and 
intercourse, and in all his demeanor, a feel- 
ing which would seem most extraordinary in 
a man who was always so well treated by 
others, and who had himself done so much 
good to others. It was as if while he had 
been rendering all these services to his fel- 
low-men he had no real love or regard for 
them. It would appear as if the vile pas- 
sions which he had observed in the misera- 
ble objects committed to his care, or those 
other passions, not less vile, which his suc- 
cess and fame had excited among his rivals, 
had imbittered him towards human nature. 
So he thought it was not wise or good to 
intrust to men in the mass the care of their 



own well-being. The right, which seems sO' 
natural to them, of judging whether they are 
wisely governed, appeared to him to be a 
fictitious fancy bom of false notions of en- 
lightenment. His views of slavery were 
nearly the same as those of a plantation- 
owner. He regarded the government of 
China as coming nearest to perfection, be- 
cause in giving over the people to the abso- 
lute control of their only intelligent men, 
and in lifting each of those who belonged to 
this hierarchy on the scale according to the 
degree of his intelhgence, it made, so to 
speak, so many millions of arms the passive 
organs of the will of a few sound heads — a 
notion which I state without pretending in 
the slightest degree to approve it, and which, 
as we know, would be poorly calculated to 
find prevalence among European nations. 

"AI. de Rumford had cause for learning by 
his own experience that it is not so easy in 
the West as it is in China to induce other 
people to consent to be only arms; and that 
no one is so well prepared to turn these arms 
of others to his own service as is one who 
has reduced them to subjection to himself. 
An empire such as he conceived would not 
have been more difficult for him to manage 
than were his barracks and poorhouses. He 
relied wholly on the principle of rigid system 
and order. He called order the necessary 
auxiliary of genius, the only possible instru- 
ment for securing any substantial good, and, 
in fact, almost a subordinate deity, for the 
government of this lower world." 

De Candolle, the Swiss botanist, said of 
Rumford's personal appearance in later life: 
"The sight of him very much reduced our 
enthusiasm. We found him a dry, precise 
man, who spoke of beneficence as a sort of 
discipline, and of the poor as we had never 
dared to speak of vagabonds." Speaking of 
Rumford's second wife, he said: "I had re- 
lations with each of them, and never saw a 
more bizarre connection. Rumford was cold, 
calm, obstinate, egotistic, prodigiously occu- 
pied with the material element of life and the 
very smallest inventions of detail. He 
wanted his chimneys, lamps, coffee pots, win- 
dows, made after a certain pattern, and he 
contradicted his wife a thousand times a day 
about the household management." Here 
we draw the veil. Another has said: "We 
enter into labors of Count Rumford every 
day of our lives, without knowing it or think- 
ing of him." Professor John Tyndall said: 
"Men find pleasure in exercising the powers 
they possess, and Rumford possessed, in its 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



33 



highest and strongest form, the power of or- 
ganization." 

Baldwin sa\ s of his friend: "He laudably 
resolved not to sacrifice his bright talents to 
the monotonous occupations of domestic life. 
The world had higher charms for him. This 
ambition was to rise in the otimation of 
mankind by his usefulness. With a mind sus- 
ceptible to impressions from every quarter, 
he could not fix his attention upon any uni- 
form line of conduct when young, and from 
this cause alone, a want of regularity in his 
behavior, impressions unfavorable to his 
character as a patriot were made upon the 
minds of his acquaintance at Concord. Tlie 
people in their zeal for the American cause 
.were too apt to construe indifiference into a 
determined attachment to the British inter- 
est. Believing that the benevolent plans 
which he afterwards adopted could never be 
executed but under the fostering hand oi 
well-directed power, he sought a field for the 
exercise of his goodness and ingenuity where 
they could be executed, and where there 
was the most obvious demand." 

Count Rumford says himself in one of his 
essays: "Tt certainly required some courage 
and perhaps no small share of enthusiasm, to 
stand forth the voluntary champion of the 
public good." Again he says: "I am not 
unacijuainted with the manners of the age. I 
have lived much in the world, and have 
studied mankind attentively. I am fully 
aware of all the difficulties I have to en- 
counter in the pursuit of the great object to 
which I have devoted myself." 

Count Rumford, at the beginning of one 
of his Essays entitled "An Account of an Es- 
tablishment for the Poor at Munich," says of 
himself: "Among the vicissitudes of a life 
checkered by a great variety of incidents, and 
in w-hich I have been called upon to act in 
many interesting scenes, I have had an op- 
portunity of employing my attention upon a 
subject of great importance — a subject inti- 
mately and inseparably connected with the 
happiness and well-being of all civil societies, 
and which from its nature cannot fail to in- 
terest every benevolent mind: it is the pro- 
viding for the wants of the poor, and secur- 
ing their happiness and comfort by the intro- 
duction of order and industry among them." 



Robert Bullard. the immi- 
BULLARD grant ancestor, was born in 

England in 1599. He set- 
tled in VVatertown before 1639. the year of 
his death. He seems to be one of four 

i-3 



brothers who settled in W'atertown and Ded- 
ham before 1640. George Bullard, of Water- 
town, born in England in 1608, died January 
14, idSiS-Sy, married .Margaret, who died 
February 8, 1639-40 (second), .^pril 30, 1655, 
Widow Mary Mapleheatl. John Bullard, of 
Dcdham, was pro])rietor in 1638, admitted to 
the ■.lunch with wife. Magdalen, July 2, 
1639: died at .Medfield. October 27, 1678. 
William Bullard, of Dedham, born in Eng- 
land in 1601 was a proprietor in 1638; was 
admitted to the church December 13, 1639; 
removed to Charlestown. where he was also 
a proprietor; died at Dedham December 24, 
1786. aged about eighty-five years; will 
dated July 5, 1679, with codicil dated May 
22, 1684, proved at Boston March 17, 
1686-87; had sons Nathaniel and Isaac, 
named by Morse as immigrants. 

(I) Robert Bullard died at Watertown, June 
24, 1659, aged forty, leaving a widow Ann, 
who married (second) Henry Thorpe. She 
had a grant of land in Watertown in 1644. 
Her son Benjamin mentions his mother as 
.A.nn Thorpe in a quitclaim deed of his rights 
in her estate October 15, 1660. Children of 
Robert and Ann Bullard: i. Benjamin, 
born in England in 1634, mentioned below. 
Also, it is said, two daughters, names un- 
k'nown. 

(ID Benjamin Bullard. son of Robert Bul- 
lard (i), the early progenitor of this family, 
and himself an inmiigrant. was born in Eng- 
land in 1634. His father died when he was a 
young child, and he went to Dedham to live 
with one, or perhaps both, of his uncles. His 
mother married (second) Henry Thorpe. 
She had him give bonds that he would not 
alienate any of the estate then in her posses- 
sion and consented to a deed that she had 
made to her son. Benjamin Bullard. and his 
sisters. The plural case indicates that there 
were in 1639 at least two daughters of Rob- 
ert Bullard, sisters of Benjamin, but they 
v.^erc all minors, and we may presume that 
Benjamin Bullard's uncle, William Bullard, 
of Dedham, was his guardian, from the fact 
that the bond was witnessed by him. Ben- 
jamin Bullard married, at Dedham, April 5. 
1659, Martha Ridge, who was born at Rox- 
bury January 12, 1642. daughter of the im- 
migrants, Thomas and Mar\' Ridge. Bullard 
was admitted freeman January i, 1655-56, 
and soon afterward became one of the set- 
tlers of what is now Sherborn, Massachu- 
setts. To Captain Robert Kayne, of Boston, 
had been granted in 1649 a tract of one thou- 
sand and seventy-four acres of lanrl at Paw- 



34 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



sett Hill, which is now partly in Sherborn, 
partly in Medway. After his death. March 
23, 1655-56, Kayiie's executors sold to Bill- 
iard and George Fairbanks about a third of 
this tract. Their relatives, Hill and Breck, 
from Dorchester, about the same time 
bought another section to the north, and 
these four men constituted the second group 
of settlers in the territory, now Sherborn. 
They had their families living on the clear- 
ings prior to February 2, 1658. when the 
first child was born. Bullard and Fairbanks 
divided their land so as to have building lots 
well situated and in close proximity, Bullard 
taking the northerly section and building on 
the northern shore of Bogistow pond near a 
copious and valuable spring. From his door 
he could view the Broad Meadows, five 
miles in extent, through which Charles River 
flows, and which, during the wet seasons is 
converted from a green meadow to a great 
lake. He found Wood, Leland and Hol- 
brook settled from one to two miles north- 
v.'Lird, and-was soon joined by Rockwood and 
Daniels within one mile southward, making 
with Hill, Breck and Fairbanks, his nearer 
neighbors, a settlement of nine families to be 
defended by themselves from the Indians. 
They built a garrison house a few rods from 
Eullard's house, and throughout the lives of 
the first settlers and even later, the settlers 
had need of the little fort. It is said that 
there was no similar structure on the frontier 
e^|ual to it in size and strength. It was 
sixty-five or seventy feet long, two stories 
high, faced with stone brought over the ice 
from a quarry a mile distant at the north- 
west, and laid in clay mortar. It had a 
double row of port-holes on all sides, and 
was lined inside with white oak plank, flaring 
inward so as to require no one to expose 
himself before them, while the besieged 
could aim their weapons in any direction. 
The fort was lighted and had its entrance on 
the side toward the pond. The upper floor 
was reserved for the women and children, 
with a room for the sick and wounded. Dur- 
ing times of war all the families gathcFed 
here, and several children were born in the 
fort. The settlers were besieged here during 
King Philip's war, and after repeated re- 
pulses the Indians attempted to set fire to 
the fort by rolling a cart load of burning flax 
upon it Fortunately the cart was stopped 
by a ledge, and though every vestige of the 
old fort is gone, the rock remains and is 
often visited by antiquarians. The fort itself 
was well preserved until 1785, when that sec- 



tion of the Bullard estate was sold and the 
new owner lore it down. 

Benjamin Bullard was active in the move- 
ment to establishment a town. In 1662 he 
signed the first petition for the incorporation 
of Sherborn. He sold his house in Watertown 
deeded to him by his mother, as mentioned 
above, after his father's death, "lately occu- 
pied by William Thorp, deceased, with eighty 
acres of farm land and other parcels to Jus- 
tinian Holden, (Jctober 3, 1673, for forty 
pounds." In 1674 he signed the second peti- 
tion for the incorporation of the town Sher- 
born. This petition was granted, and he, by 
an act of the general court, with twelve other 
petitioners and twenty more of such as they 
might consent to receive as inhabitants, con- 
stituted a proprietor of lands now com- 
posing Sherborn. Holliston, and a large sec- 
tion of Franiingham and Ashland. Bullard 
was a leading citizen: tithingman in 1680; 
selectman in 1688, and was on the committee 
to seat a meeting house, being one of six who 
constituted the church at its foundation. He 
contributed twenty pounds to the fund raised 
to extinguish the Indian claim to the land, and 
in 1686 he paid another tax to pay an Indian 
claim on the rest of the township. He was 
rated among the highest, and this rate having 
been early adopted as the basis of land grants, 
he and his heirs drew large shares in each 
division. He died intestate, September 27, 
1689, and administration was granted to his 
son Samuel, and Sarah Bullard, probably a 
third wife. He married (second), 1677, 
Elizabeth Thorpe, daughter of Henry Thorpe, 
by his first wife. The ancient Bullard farm 
at Bogistow brook, in Medway, the Bullard 
farms in south and west parts of Sherborn. 
and in the north and west parts of Holliston, 
were inherited from him or drawn in his right. 
He is buried in the old graveyard to the north 
of the pond, now in the center of a pasture, 
but enclosed. The old homestead is now 
owned by John S. Bullard, a lineal descendant, 
it having descended by inheritance in direct 
line. Some of the ancient furniture is owned 
by Mrs. Charles Nutt, of Worcester, whose 
mother was a sister of Mr. Bullard. 

Children of Benjamin and Martha (Ridge) 
Bullard: i. Mary, born September 14, 1663, 
died July 31, 1666. 2. Captain Samuel, born 
December 26,. 1667, married Deborah Ather- 
ton, and inherited the homestead. 3. Benja- 
min, born March i, 1670, died 1766. 4. Han- 
nah, born August 6, 1672, married William 
Sheffield, May 30, 1692. 5. Eleazer, born 
June 27, 1676, married Widow Sarah Leland, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



35 



in 1704, settled in Medfield, and died without 
issue. Children of Benjamin and Elizabeth 
BuUard : 6. John, born March 7, 1678, mar- 
ried Abigail Leland, daughter of Deacon 
Hopestill Leland. 7. Elizabeth, born January 
31, 1681, died young. 8. Mar\-, born Febru- 
ary 20. 1683, married Hopestill Leland. Jr., 
Februar\- 24, 1701-02. 9. .Malachi, born 
March 8, i')85, married Bethia Wight, daugh- 
ter of Ephraim Wight. 10. Isaac, born July 
25, 1688, mentioned below. 

(III) Isaac BuUard, son of Benjamin 
Bullard (2), was born in Sherborn, July 25, 
1688. He settled in Sherborn, now the north- 
ern part of Holliston; drew land in Douglass, 
Massachusetts, in 1715 and 1730, seventy 
acres. He made his will July 6, 1742, be- 
queathing to his wife Sarah, sons Isaac and 
Samuel, three daughters, but his will was not 
proved. Sarah was appointed guardian for 
her son Isaac. Isaac lUillard married Sarah 
Morse, daughter of Lieutenant Samuel Morse, 
of Medfield, and had children: i. Mary, born 
March 28, 171 1, married John Haven, of Fram- 
ingham, March g, 1731-32. 2. Captain Sam- 
uel, born January 11, 1714-15, mentioned be- 
low-. 3. .Sarah, born October 3, 1718, married 
May 30, 1735, Ephraim Littlefield. 4. Eliza- 
beth, born February 18. 1720-21, married 
March 17, 1736-37, Aaron Jones. 5. Isaac, 
born October 9, 1726. died January 12, 1814, 
married Beulah Leland. 

(IV) Captain Samuel Bullard, son of Isaac 
Bullard (3), was born in Holliston, then 
Sherborn, January 11, 1714-15, died May 27, 
1793. He settled in the north part of Hollis- 
ton on part of his father's farm. He married 
Deborah Morse, daughter of James Morse, by 
wife Ruth (Sawin) Morse, and granddaugh- 
ter of Captain Joseph Morse, of Sherborn, by 
wife Hannah (Babcock) Morse. Deborah 
was born in 1718, married July 12, 1739, and 
died November 25, 1801. Children: i. Sam- 
uel, born September 5, 1742, mentioned below. 
2. Deborah, born November 23, 1747, mar- 
ried Matthew Metcalf, of Hopkinton. and had 
Fisher and Matthew Metcalf. 

(V) Samuel Bullard, son of Captain Samuel 
Bullard (4), was born in Holliston, Septem- 
ber 5, 1742. He was a distinguished mathe- 
matician, surveyor and draftsman. Some of 
his instruments are in the possession of Will- 
ard .Austin Bullard, his descendant. He in- 
herited the homestead of his father in Hollis- 
ton. He married Lydia Partridge, daughter 
of James and Keziah (Bullard) Partridge, of 
Medfield, and granddaughter of John Part- 
ridge, Jr.,of Medfield, by wife Elizabeth Rock- 



wood. Children: i. Aaron, born June 7, 1770, 
married. May 19, 1846, Jerusha Littlefield. 2. 
Jotham (twin), born May 11, 1773, mentioned 
below. 3. Joseph (twin), born May 11, 1773, 
died young. 4. Samuel, born 1777, married 
(first) Persis Bailey; (second) Esther Force. 

(\'I) Jotham Bullard, son of Samuel liull- 
ard, (5), was born May 11, 1773, at Holliston, 
Massachusetts. He settled in East Sudbury, 
now Wayland, in 1808. He follow-ed fann- 
ing throughout his life. He married. June 2, 

1803, Anna, daughter of John Cutting, of East 
.'^U(lbury. Children: I. Joseph, born March 
26. 1804. mentioned below. 2. Elvira .Ann, 
liorn .-\pril 28, 1805, died March 27, 1841. 3. 
Mar\- Cutting, born Deceml>er 18. 1812. mar- 
ried George Bullard, of Framingham. 4. 
Emily, born October 29, 1818, married, March 
29, 1838, Ebenezer Johnson, of Boston, and 
had : Granville Ebenezer, born November 3, 
1834; (leorge Jotham, born October 29, 1843. 
5. Joanna, born July 13, 1823, married, April 
26, 1849, Ira Perry, resided at East Wey- 
mouth and West Medway, and had : Maria 
I^lvira, born March 31, 1850; .\lbert, born 
April 3, 1852, died August 3, 1852, at West 
Medway; Helen Emeline. born October 14, 
1853. 6. Jotham (twin), born July 13, 1823, 
died November 13, 1842. 

(VII) Joseph Bullard, son of Jotham 
Bullard (6), was born at Holliston, March 26, 

1804, and moved with the family to Wayland, 
in 1808. He was educated in Wayland schools, 
helped his father on the farm, and inherited 
his grandfather's place at his death. He 
died in Wayland, in 1898. He married 
Harriet Loker, who was born March 
26, 1804, and died in 1895, granddaughter of 
Captain Isaac Loker, a soldier of the Revolu- 
tion. Children: i. John Cutting, born July 
12, 1834, mentioned below. 2. Anna Eliza- 
beth, born November 25, 1835. married Dr. 
George J. Arnold. Children : Horace D. Ar- 
nold : Josephine .Arnold, married 

Peck ; John B. Arnold ; .Anna .Arnold, mar- 
ried Frank Robinson : Elizabeth Arnold, mar- 
ried Robert Bruce. 3. Willard .Austin born 
December 14, 1837, mentioned below. 4. Har- 
riet .Augusta, horn .April 17, 1839. unmarried. 
5. Joseph Oscar, bom May 20, 1841, men- 
tioned below. 6. Mary Alice, born December 
18, 1842, married Rev. Edward .A. Perry. 7. 
Eldora Caroline, born April 2, 1849, died un- 
married. 

(VIII) John Cutting Bullard. son of 
Joseph Bullard (7), was born in Wayland, 
July 12. 1834. He was educated in the public 
schools, and followed the banking business. 



36 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



He became president of the East Cambridge 
Savings Bank. He was clerk, teller and cash- 
ier of the Cambridge National Bank for forty 
years. He has been trustee of many estates; 
member of the Cambridge Sinking Fund Com- 
mission. He resides in Lexington, Massa- 
chusetts. He is a member of Putnam Lodge 
of Free Mfeisons. He married Martha M. 
Hobbs. They have one daughter, Evelyn C.. 
married Charles A. Whittemore, a lawyer in 
Boston. Children : Elsie Whittemore ; Elenor 
Whittemore ; Martha B. 

(Vni) Willard Austin Bullard, son of 
Joseph Bullard (7), was born in Wayland, 
December 14, 1837. He was educated in the 
public schools of his native town, and at the 
age of eighteen began his business career as a 
clerk in the Faneuil Hall Bank, of Boston. 
In 1861 he accepted a position with the Har- 
vard Bank of Cambridge, Massachusetts, then 
a state bank, reorganized a few years later 
as the First National Bank of Cambridge, 
under the National Bank Act, finally resuming 
a state charter under tlie name of the Harvard 
Trust Company. Mr. Bullard rose through 
the various positions in the bank to the head. 
He was elected president of the First National 
Bank in 1896, succeeding Daniel U. Chamber- 
lin after his death. He had been cashier for 
many years, and had had much of the respon- 
sibility of its management for thirty years or 
more. The bank has recently fitted up and 
now occupies rooms on the first floor in a 
very handsome and artistic building in Cen- 
tral' Square, erected by the Cambridgeport 
Savings Bank. It is constructed of marble, 
and admirably adapted to the purposes of the 
trust company, as well as an ornament to the 
cit}' itself. Mr. Bullard has been called upon 
to "act as trustee and executor of many import- 
ant estates. He stands high among the finan- 
cial men of New England, and is interested in 
many of the important industries of Cam- 
bridge. He is president of the Cambridge Gas- 
light Company, director and treasurer of the 
Allen & Endicott Building Company of Cam- 
bridge, director of the Boston Woven Hose & 
Rubber Company, treasurer and trustee of the 
Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 
trustee of the Cambridgeport Savings Bank, 
director of the Home for Aged People of 
Cambridge, trustee and treasurer of the Cam- 
bridge Hospital, from its organization, trustee 
of Dowse Institute, director of the West Point 
(Georgia) Manufacturing Company, director 
of the Riverdale Cotton Mills, director of the 
Chattachoochee (Georgia) Railroad Com- 
pany. He is a member of the Cambridge 



Club, and attends the Unitarian church. He 
has a summer home in his native town, Way- 
land. His residence in Cambridge is at 929 
Massachusetts avenue. 

He married Susan Matilda Bennett, daugh- 
tre of Jonas Bennett. Children: i. Amy 
Celinea, born March 10, 1862, married Her- 
bert C. Wells. Children: Herbert Clifford, 
Katherine Bennett, Celinea Wells. 2. Henry 
Willard, born December 2, 1863, married 
M'ary Palmer. Children : Gardner, Dorothy, 
Marion, Harriet, Susan, Barbara. 3. Gardner 
Cutting, born January 17, 1866, graduate of 
Harvard, 1889, married Mary A. Whitman. 
Children: Gardner C.,Jane. 4. Arthur Bennett, 
born July 20, 1872, married Maud Parker, 
daughter of General Parker, who served in the 
Civil War on the staff of General Grant; no 
children. 5. Channing Sears, born December 
20, 1879, mentioned below. 

(VTII) Joseph Oscar Bullard, son of 
Joseph Bullard (7), was born in Wayland, 
May 20, 1841. He was educated in the com- 
mon schools, and learned the pottery business, 
becoming a manufacturer when a young man, 
and from 1865 to 1895 manufactured pottery 
in Cambridge. Since then he has been retired 
from active business, living in Cambridge. He 
is a member of Free Masons and the Grand 
Army Post in Cambridge. He married 
Seraph Felton Wadsworth. 

(IX) Channing .Sears Bullard, son of Will- 
ard Austin Bullard (8), was born in Cam- 
bridge, December 20, 1879, ^""^ ^i^d suddenly 
in New York City, January 8, 1907. He at- 
tended the public schools of his native city, 
and the Stone School in Boston for three 
years. He then took a three-year course in 
Harvard Medical School, and for one year 
was in mercantile life in New York City. At 
the time of his death he was in the employ of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was fond of 
athletic sports, and in the water he was hardly 
less than a professional swimmer. During his 
later summer vacations he was employed as a 
life guard at Captain's Island, Cambridge, 
and Revere Beadies. In this service he was 
especially efficient, and rescued a number of 
lives from imminent peril. He had received 
several medals of honor in competitive swim- 
ming contests. With a well-nigh perfect 
physique, his manly figure attracted the 
attention of athletes. The Cambridge Chron- 
icle said of him at the time of his death: 
"It is a bereavement, not only to his immediate 
family, but to the community, that one on the 
very threshold of so promising a future as was 
his should be stricken down, when life was so 




-4X:4-. 




MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



37 



full of promise to liini. It is especially sad 
that this deep affliction should fall upon his 
family, while his father and brother Arthur, 
with his wife, are visiting- in Europe. The 
funeral was held at the home of W. A. 
Bullard. Rev. Dr. Beach, of Wayland, con- 
ducted the service. The body was taken to 
Wayland for interment."' He was unmarried. 



The name is that of an 
GREENHALGE old family of Lanca- 
shire, England, and is 
spelled Greenhalgh, Greenhow or Greenhaugh 
in the English records. The ruins of the 
Greenhalgh Castle still stand in that county, 
raised by the first Earl of Derby, and de- 
stroyed after a siege in consequence of an Act 
of Parliament in the civil wars in 1644. One 
■of the most distinguished members of this Lan- 
cashire family was Captain John Greenhalgh, 
son and heir of Thomas Greenhalgh. Esq., of 
. Brandlesome or Bradlesham Hall : he was 
governor of the Isle of Man from 1640 to 
1651, appointed to that post by the Earl of 
Derby, who perished on the scaffold at Derby 
in 1651. Captain Greenhalgh. a bold and dar- 
ing soldier, was present with the Earl at the 
tattles of Wigan and Worcester and died 
from wounds received in an encounter when 
the Earl was taken prisoner in 165 1. Thomas 
Greenhalgh, son of Governor John Greenhalgh, 
was qualified to be a knight of the Royal Oak 
and served as high sheriff of Lancashire. The 
tombs of this family are in the chancel of the 
parish church. Bury, or were before 1872 
when the church was renovated. The arms of 
the Lancashire Greenhalgh family are : "Ar. 
on a bend sa. three bugle horns stringed of the 
field." 

(J) Thomas Greenhalgh. grandfather of 
the late Governor Greenhalge, of Massachu- 
setts, was born in Burnley, Lancashire. His 
family has been traced for four generations. 
He was the son of Thomas Greenhalge, of 
Burnley, born December, 1783, grandson of 
John Greenhalge. of Burnley, great-grandson 
of Thomas Greenhalge. of Preston, and tradi- 
tion connects his lineage with Governor John 
Greenhalgh. mentioned above. Thomas mar- 
ried Anne Dodson. of Knaseboro. Yorkshire. 
Of the seventeen children of this union, ten 
lived to mature age, four sons and six daugh- 
ters, but only two of the sons married. Chil- 
dren : I. William, mentioned below. 2. James, 
whose children died without issue. 

(II) William Greenhalgh. son of Thomas 
Greenhalgh (j). was born in Clitheroe. Lan- 



cashire, in 1810: married there in 1840 Jane 
Slater. He had a good education and learned 
the trade of copper engraving. He had charge 
of the Primrose Print Works at Clitheroe. 
In 1844 he removed to Eshton and in 1847 'o 
Edenfield, an ideal English village, where he 
and his brother Thomas became the proprie- 
tors of an engraving establishment. His liter- 
ary tastes led him to form a society with other 
gentlemen of kindred minds for mutual en- 
joyment and study. Among the members 
were Rev. Nathan Nelson, rector of the par- 
ish : John .\iken, of Iswell Vale; Mr. Hewitts, 
a mill owner, and a Mr. Austin. A few years 
later the brothers moved to the city of Man- 
chester and while there he received an offer 
from America to take charge of the copper 
rolling engraving of the printing department 
of the ^Merrimack Manufacturing Company of 
Lowell. Massachusetts, as successor to James 
Prince, who had died shortly before in Eng- 
land. This call he accepted, and with his fam- 
ily sailed from England. May 16, 1855, arriv- 
ing after a voyage of five weeks, in Boston, 
June 22, 1855. He settled on Dutton street, 
Lowell. He was a man of unusual intellectual 
gifts. He loved art. good books and had no 
little oratorical ability. His brother Joseph 
.says of him in a book concerning the family 
published in England : "He was a good 
spokesman, and at most of the election con- 
tests at Clitheroe, from 1832 onward, he was 
chairman, secretary or othervidse, where both 
writing, auditing and speech-making were re- 
quired. I remember in 1841. when Cardwell 
contested the borough in the Tory interests, 
that he addressed the electors from the Swann 
window in Whalley, and William spoke to 
them in opposition : it was said at that period 
the latter was much the better orator." The 
Civil war brought disaster to the family of 
Greenhalge. Business was interruiHed at the 
Merrimack Mills, and in January, 1862. work 
was suspended. His loss of work was fol- 
lowed bv a long illness, which ended in his 
death, October, 1862. His wife was a woman 
of broad mind and strong character, and pos- 
sessed many remarkable qualities that fitted 
her to be the mother of a distinguished man. 
Six daughters and one son they brought to 
.America. Among their children was Frederic 
Thomas, mentioned below. 

CIII) Governor Frederic Thomas Green- 
halge, son of William Greenhalge (2), 
was born in Clitheroe, July 19. 1842. 
In 1847 his father located at Edenfield, 
where most of his English life was spent, and 
where his education was begun in a private 



38 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



school kept by John Ashworth, at which it is 
said he stood at the head of his classes. He 
was twelve years of age when his father came 
to Lowell, and soon after his arrival he entered 
the old North Grammar school, and a year 
later the Lowell high school, having the high- 
est rank of any of the pupils entering at the 
same time. Mr. Chase, principal of tlie high 
school, pronounced Greenhalge the most bril- 
liant pupil that ever came under his instruction. 
He was one of the editors of the high school 
weekly paper. The Voice, and wrote short 
stories for Vox Populi, a Lowell newspaper. 
He was active in the school debating society 
and a leader in declamation. He graduated in 
1859 at the head of his class, though he did 
four years work in three, and was the first 
recipient of the Carney medal for scholarship. 
He entered Harvard College in the class of 
1863. He joined the Institute of 1770 and 
achieved distinction in college debates ; he was 
orator of the Institute at the close of his so- 
phomore year, while Gorham Philip Stevens, 
who died afterward of wounds received at 
Williamsburg, was elected poet. Greenhalge 
also became editor of the old Harz'ard Maga- 
zine. Among his classmates were Professor 
John Fiske. ex-Secretary Charles S. Fair- 
child. Jeremiah Curtin, Judge Sheldon and 
Nathan Appleton, his most intimate friend be- 
ing Rev. I. W. Beard, now of Dover, New 
Hampshire. Judge Sheldon wrote of Green- 
halge as a student: "Governor Greenhalge in 
his college life was one of the marked men of 
his time. Then, as in his future career, his 
nature was upright and downright, frank and 
outspoken, richly endowed with ready wit and 
keen sarcasm, quick and honest, without any 
parade or pretence, but genial and full of good 
companionship. He was a close student ; but 
he already knew how to give his closest at- 
tention to those special objects of study which 
he most affected, and in which he regarded 
success as most valuable. Perhaps his main 
distinction was as a writer and debater. He 
was a powerful speaker, strong and earnest 
then as afterwards in public life, with a vigor- 
ous energy which seemed to beat down all op- 
position, a force of sarcasm which would have 
scorched and withered but for the kindness of 
heart which seemed to underlie his most 
trenchant invectives. But, after all, the most 
noticeable trait of his character in college was 
his frank and unassuming geniality. Simple 
and unaffected, readily approachable and 
kindly natured, his lovable qualities were the 
more attractive because he was wont to cover 
them, or jx-rhaps hold them in half-concealed 



ambush behind a shelter of sarcasm, because 
he was inclined to express a tender sentiment 
in biting words, and because he never cared 
to guard against any mis judgment of his own 
motives or any misinterpretation of his real 
meaning. Absolutely independent alike in 
what he did, what he said and what he 
thought, his integrity and self-reliance made 
it impossible for him to cater to the good 
opinions of others. And yet he was then, as 
he always remained, devoted to his friends. 
But because he loved them utterly, and never 
could have believed it necessary to put on any 
disguise or any shadow of pretence to gain 
or to hold their affections, they would not have 
become his friends if he could have conceived 
that their affection was thus to be gained or to 
be held. And it is perhaps because he joined 
this sturdy independence, which scorned to 
abase itself for the merely apparent honor of 
others, to a complete and self-neglecting per- 
sistence of affection which was ready to give 
all without any doubt or sense of hesitancy 
for the real advantage of his friends, that 
many of his classmates have felt his loss as a 
personal affliction, as a bereavement which 
comes close to their hearts, and makes them 
slow to speak their grief, because it seems 
too sacred to be put into words." His brilliant 
career at college was cut short by the illness 
and death of his father, and at the end of his 
junior year he had to leave Harvard, but in 
1870 he received his degree from the college 
in appreciation of his- scholarship and subse- 
quent record. He obtained the appointment as 
teacher of the school in District No. 2 of 
Chelmsford in the winter of 1862 and 1863, 
and proved efficient and satisfactory in every 
respect. He wished to follow many of his 
classmates in the Union army, and tried to 
enlist in October, 1863. but was refused on 
account of ill health. He went to Newberne, 
North Carolina, however, then garrisoned by 
Illinois troops, and was assigned to duty in the 
commissary department, hoping eventually to 
receive a commission. During the attack on 
the city in February, 1864, he offered his ser- 
vices in defence and was put in charge of the 
stores, and detailed men of the Tw'enty-third 
Massachusetts Regiment, having command of 
a force of colored men. He was seized with 
an attack of malaria, and in April, 1864, re- 
turned home. After returning from the army 
he resumed in the office of Brown & Alger, 
Lowell, his interrupted study of law, and in 
1865 was admitted to the Middlesex bar. For 
the practice of his profession his talents and 
education fitted him admirably. He loved his 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



39 



calling and took pride in it. The foundation 
of his succes.s in life was laid in hi.s law hu.si- 
ness. He was, first and foremost, a good law- 
yer, a brilliant advocate and a wise legal coun- 
selor. "He was singularly free from pedantry," 
writes his biographer, James E. Nesmith, "He 
could brighten a dry argument with flashes of 
wit. He understCKjd human nature, and could 
reach and influence a jury; he studied them 
individually, and was a good reader of char- 
acter. He understood his cases, and knew the 
salient ]x>ints of attack and defense. He was 
logical, cogent and urgent in his arguments. 
He had a clear insight into the great under- 
lying princi])les of law : consequently he un- 
derstood quickly the bearings of each indi- 
vidual case, its relation to those principles and 
the great body of legal precedents. He had 
no interest in the trivialities of law, its curiosi- 
ties and phrases, its quiddits and its quillets. 
Above all, he was always a gentleman, a 
courteous advocate, gracious to friend and foe. 
He w'as never unmannerly or rude on any 
provocation. Perhaps the highest compliment 
he ever received as a lawyer, and the most 
gratifying, was paid to him and the opposing 
counsel in court by Judge Aldrich. The com- 
pliment itself and the words that express it are 
worthy of a great judge. It was honorable 
alike to the judge and the counsel whose con- 
duct of the case called it forth. The following 
is an account, taken from one of the papers at 
the time : 'Messrs. Greenhalge and Lilley 
(now Judge Lilley) were trying a case before 
Judge Aldrich. When it was closed and his 
Honor took it up, he turned to the jury and 
said : 'Gentlemen. I can congratulate myself 
and you upon the manner in which this case 
has been tried by the two able counsels in it. 
The law has been presented ably and de- 
cidedly ; there has been an utter absence of 
wrangling between attorneys, and of brow- 
beating c)f witnesses, and it has been a rare 
pleasure to hear it. Seldom in the course of 
my judicial experience have I heard a case 
that has been conducted with so nnich legal 
.ability and proper spirit ; and for these two 
days it has seemed as if the sweet spirit of 
lofty jurisprudence had filled this court-room. 
I congratulate the gentlemen in the case : I con- 
gratulate the jurymen who have had this rare 
privilege and I congratulate myself upon hav- 
ing the opportunity to sit and hear it.' " Judge 
Sheldon wrote of his legal abilitv and attain- 
ments : ".As a lawver. it was well said by one 
of our most able judges that he never found 
it necessarv to give up candor and manners in 
order to fight hard and prevail. . . He 



did ni)t fail to bring out the whole strength of 
his client's jjosition. antl he w'as never re- 
luctant to meet the hardest onset or the most 
obstinate defence that could be made by his 
opptjuent. His powers of oratory and dis- 
cussion were unfailing: l)iit he never sought 
by these jKiwers to mask any unfairness of 
argument or any distortion of truth and 
justice. I'tterly loyal to his client, he was 
imfailing in his loyalty to the court. He was 
eager to obtain victory for his client and he 
could toil terribly for this end, but he could 
not fight his forensic battles otherwise than 
fairly and honorably. He was a sincere man ; 
h.e could not deceive himself and he would not 
deceive others. He was a lover of justice, and 
he realized the fact, so often overlooked, that 
under our system of administering the law 
justice can best be obtained when the oppos- 
ing interests are each zealously supported and 
vindicated with the greatest acumen and pro- 
fessional ardor, with an impartial tribunal to 
hold the balance Ix^tween them. So he sin- 
cerely and with an earnest zeal, but fairly and 
courteously, supported the claims of his 
clients, and expected and welcomed the same 
conduct from his opponent. If any unfair 
means were used against him. he was cap- 
able of an honest indignation that could 
trample upon such means and bring them to 
naught. He loved the truth ; and his bearing, 
his demeanor, the tones of his voice, the 
very features of his countenance, his heart 
and mind manifesting themselves in all that 
he said and did. showed this love of truth .so 
plainly that none could fail to see and appreci- 
ate it. He was successful as a lawyer. Early 
in his professional career he found that he had 
obtained a good practice, which was increas- 
ing yearly. There is no room for doubt that, 
had he continued in the active practice of his 
profession, he would have attained both wealth 
and th;U measure of fame which is within the 
reach of the ])racticing law\er. He turned his 
attention to public affairs and his renown is 
the greater. P>ut he was the same man as a 
lawver that he was in other walks of life. His 
practice was a varied one, and he did all his 
work well : it was ever his habit to rise at lea.st 
to the level of each occasion, and to discharge 
successfidly whatever duty came to his hand. 
. . . He was not inclined to magnify the 
j)ecuniary value of his services, or to con- 
sider his own emolument so nnich the ol)ject 
to be striven for as the welfare of his client. 
He desired professional success ; he was am- 
bitious to attain it ; the contests of the bir 
suited his eager nature. His arguments to 



40 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



juries were strong and effective, just as in 
political affairs his speeches were influential 
and persuasive." He was associated until 1870 
with Charles F.Howe ; after that he had no law 
partner. In 1874 he was made a special 
justice of the Lowell police court and served 
in that office ten years. 

Early in life he became an active and zeal- 
ous Republican. His public career began with 
his election to the Lowell common council, of 
which he was a member in 1868-69. He fol- 
lowed Charles Sumner into the Democratic 
party in 1872 and voted for Greeley, but his 
principles were always essentially Republican, 
and he never afterward bolted the nominations 
of the Republican party. From 1871 to 1873 
he was a member of the Lowell school board. 
In 1880 and 1881 he was mayor of Lowell, 
elected first by a majority of eight hundred 
and fifty six and re-elected by an almost unani- 
mous vote, having the nominations of both 
the leading parties. He was an excellent 
mayor and won the public confidence and ap- 
probation by his straightforward, earnest and 
manly administration of affairs. In 1884 he 
was an Edmunds delegate at the Republican 
National Convention in Chicago, when Blaine 
was nominated on the fourth ballot. He was a 
representative to the general court of Massa- 
chusetts in 18S5, and soon acquired the repu- 
tation of being the best debater in the house 
and became a conspicuous figure. He sup- 
ported the bill for biennial elections ; opposed 
the bill to pension judges of the supreme 
court : favored the act to abolish the poll-tax 
as a prerequisite to voting : was chairman of a 
committee to investigate the finances of the 
house and of the standing committee of mer- 
cantile affairs. To the general regret of the 
best editors and political leaders he was de- 
feated when up for re-election. The Lowell 
Courier said : "The result is to be regretted, 
Mr. Greenhalge would have been a leading 
man on the floor of the house. His remark- 
able talents and his experience would have 
been invaluable both to his local constitu- 
ency and to the Commonwealth." 

He was elected to represent his district in 
the Fifty-first Congress, and served with abil- 
ity and unusual distinction for a new mem- 
ber. He was an active, forceful and persistent 
legislator, and contrary to the custom even 
during the first session spoke frequently on 
the floor of the house. He was on three im- 
portant committees — the civil service commit- 
tee, the committee on elections and the com- 
mittee on revision of the laws. He was especi- 
ally active in the work of deciding contested 



elections. Soon after his return to Lowell he 
was selected as chairman of the Republican 
State Convention, one of the great prizes of 
politics, in point of honor, and it afforded him 
a magnificent opportunity for a great political 
speech. He was renominated for congress, 
but after a hot contest was defeated in the 
avalanche that overwhelmed his party 
throughout the country in 1890. He was suc- 
ceeded by a Democrat, Moses T. Stevens. 
He was city solicitor in 1888, before going to 
congress. In i8q^ he was nominated for gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts by the Republican con- 
vention and was elected by a plurality of 36,- 
677, after Governor William E. Russell had 
been elected on the Democratic ticket three 
years in succession before that. He made a 
vigorous campaign ; was constantly on the 
stump, visiting all parts of the state. He was 
indefatigable. The political speeches of this 
campaign were his highest achievements in 
public speaking. His success on the plat- 
form was indisputable ; his energy and fire car- 
ried the people with him ; his speeches rose to 
the highest standards of political oratory. 

Governor Greenhalge was a model execu- 
tive. He was re-elected by an overwhelming 
majority in 1894-95. He died early in his 
third term, after a brief illness, March 5, 1896. 
Xot for seventy years before had a governor 
of Massachusetts died in ofiice. and the whole 
Commonwealth mourned for a beloved and 
honored governor, one of the best in the long 
list of distinguished men who have been chief 
magistrates of the Old Bay State. His long 
training in the varied walks of public life, his 
contests in the court rooms, his experience in 
public speaking, his gifts as a writer and a 
poet, his term in congress, his administration 
of the numicipal affairs of the city of Lowell, 
all these things were the education that fitted 
him to all but perfection for the multifarious 
duties of governor. His native wit, common 
sense, courage and force of character were the 
foundations upon which experience had built 
a worthy temple. He was as admirable in his 
oftice. considering legislation, vetoing bills, 
making appointiuents, attending to the import- 
ant routine of his position, as he was when, 
in the fullness of his great gift of oratory, he 
spoke for the Commonwealth. Of the present 
generation no governor of this state except 
Long had the training, ability and fitness of 
Greenhalge. 

Of his oratorical powers Governor Green- 
halge made the fullest use. He delivered a 
multitude of speeches during his administra- 
tion and fell a victim to overwork in his at- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



41 



tempt to meet the demands of the people upon 
him. Senator Hoar wrote to him of his Wor- 
cester speech in 1891 : "It seems to me nearly, 
if not quite, the best political speech I ever 
heard," and again in 1894, he wrote to the 
governor: "I trust there will be no indelicacy 
in my saying to you what I have said very 
often to other people ; I do not believe you are 
yourself aware of the great qualities which 
you possess for becoming a consummate ora- 
tor. I do not know another person living in 
this country who seems to me to possess them 
to so large a degree. You haveabeautiful.racy, 
fresh and original style, of great purity, and 
adapted to convey your thought without dim- 
inution of its clearness or force, into the minds 
of your auditors. You have the gift of pathos. 
of wit. and of stirring lofty emotion. I do 
not think the public, although they listen, as 
you yourself must know, with great delight to 
3'our public utterances, are as yet aware of the 
extent to which you possess this capacity. I 
hope you will not content yourself with an- 
swering satisfactorily the ordinary demands 
which come to you by x-irtue of your public 
station, hut that you will do what our other 
great orators did — what Edward Everett, and 
Choate, and Sumner, and what Webster in his 
earlier years did — take such opportunities as 
may come to you for the preparation of care- 
ful and elaborate addresses on great themes 
which will take a permanent place in litera- 
ture, and which will contain the very best you 
can do with full and thorough study." No 
better testimony of the rank to which Green- 
halge was entitled as an orator could be pro- 
duced. Senator Hoar made a studv of .'\meri- 
can oratory and was himself one of the fore- 
most public speakers, especially during his 
last years. Governor Groenhalge, like Gover- 
nor Long, was a poet of some distinction. 
Some of his verses have been collected in 
the same volume with his biographv. They 
show his careful thinking and wonderful 
vocabulary, as truly as the best of 
his speeches. He had deep religious feel- 
ings and convictions. His father's family be- 
longed to the Church of England, and in Lo- 
well joined the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
afterwards Greenhalgc himself united with the 
Unitarians and regularly attended the Uni- 
tarian church at Lowell. In early life he was 
interested in private theatricals and displayed 
much flramatic ability. He had few business 
mtercsts. He was for many years, however, 
president of the City Institution for Savings 
and trustee from 1876 to the end of his life. 
He was at various times president of the Lo- 



well Humane Society, the History Club, the 
People's Club, and the Unitarian Club. He 
was one of the founders and first president of 
the Martin Luthers, an association to promote 
out-of-door sport among its members. He 
was trustee of Rogers Hall School for Girls, 
the Westford .A.cademy, and the Lowell Gen- 
eral Hospital. In summer he lived in a cot- 
tage on the Scarborough, Maine, shore. His 
home in Lowell was at the corner of Wyman 
and Nesmith streets, built by him in 1878 on 
part of the land of his wife's father, and the 
house is near the old homestead where she was 
born. He loved his home and was always 
best contented among his books, and while 
sharing in the enjoyment of home life. His 
biographer says : "His beloved wife he rever- 
enced as a perfect woman, and the felicity of 
their married life was w'ithout a passing cloud. 
She devoted herself to him. and without am- 
bition herself, watched his public career with 
admiration and loyalty to all his best interests. 
To her counsels he listened and he depended 
much upon her sterling common sense and 
high ideals. Like the wife of Disraeli, she 
was a constant support to her distinguished 
husband. Her chief interest centered in the 
home circle : but where her husband's inter- 
ests were concerned she was always willing to 
sacrifice her own preferences, and, while never 
going much abroad, always gave to public 
questions that concerned him her undivided 
interest and attention." 

He married, October i, 1872, Isabel Ne- 
smith, daughter of Lieutenant-Governor John 
Nesmith. (See sketch of the Nesmith fam- 
ily). Children: i. Nesmith, born .August 28. 
1873. died July 25, 1874. 2. Frederick 
Brandlersome, born July 21, 1875. 3. Harriet 
Nesmith. born December 10. 1878. married L. 
H. Martin. 4. Richard Spalding. 

Emily Greenhalge, daughter of William 
Greenhalge, and sister of ex-Governor Freder- 
ick T. Greenhalge. of Massachusetts, was born 
September 23. 1840. in Lancashire. England. 
-She was brought to this country by her par- 
ents at the age of fourteen years, was edu- 
cated in the public schools of Lowell, Massa- 
chusetts, and for many years has taken an ac- 
tive interest in all things pertaining to the bet- 
terment and upbuilding of the community in 
which she resides. For half a century she has 
held membership in .St. .Anne's Church of 
Lowell, in the charitable and benevolent work 
of which she is a prominent factor, giving lib- 
erally Ixith of time and money. 

Martha Emma Greenhalge. sister of Emily 
Greenhalge, was bom in Lowell, Massachu- 



42 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



setts. April 14. 1856. She acquired her educa- 
tion in the public schools of Lowell, is an ac- 
tive member of St. Anne's Church of Lowell 
and. like her sister, is actively and prominently 
identified with charitable and benevolent work. 



The Gates family is of English 
GATES origin. and the author of 
the family history traces the line- 
age of the American immigrant back to 1327. 
The coat of arms is : Per Pale, gules and 
azure, three lions rampant, gardant, or. Crest : 
A denii-lion rampant, gardant, or. The fam- 
ily seats were in Essex and Yorkshire. 

(I) Thomas Gates resided in 1327 in High- 
easter and sometime also at Thursteubie. Es- 
sex county, England. He had a son William. 
(IT) William Gates, son of Thomas Gates 
(i), had sons Ralph, Christopher, and Sir 
Geoffrey, mentioned below. 

(III) Sir Geoffrey Gates, son of William 
Gates (2), married .Agnes Baldington, daugh- 
ter of Sir Thomas Pialdington, of Aldersbury, 
Oxfordshire, England. Child: William, men- 
tioned below. 

(IV) William Gates, son of Sir Geoffrey 
Gates (3), married ]\label. daughter and heir- 
ess of Thomas Capdow, of Higheaster, Essex, 
and his wife Ann, daughter and heiress of 
Thomas Fleming, of Essex, England. Chil- 
dren: I. Sir Geoffre}-. mentioned below. 2. 
Anne, married Thomas Darcy, uncle to 
Thomas Lord Darcy, of Chicke. 

(\') Sir Geoffrey Gates, son of William 
Gates (4). married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir 
William Clapton, Knight, of Kentwell. Sus- 
sex, England. Children: Sir John, married 
Mary Denny, daughter of .Sir Edward Denny ; 
was Gentleman of the Bedchamber of the 
King; Master of the Horse to King Edward 
VI ; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and 
of the Privy Council : lost his head for high 
treason in the matter of Lady Jane Grey. 2. 
Geoffrey, mentioned below. 3. Henry, was of 
Semer. Yorkshire. England : ancestor of the 
Gates family of that county. 4. William. 5. 
Dorothy, married Sir Thomas Josselyn, of 
Josselyn Hall. 

(VI) Geoffrey Gates, son of Sir Geoffrey 
Gates (5). of Higheaster, Essex county, Eng- 
land, married Pascall, of Essex county. 

Children : i . Geoffrey, married Joan W'ent- 
worth. 2. Henry. 3. John, ancestor of Gen- 
eral Horatio Gates, of Revolutionary war 
fame. 

(\TI) Geoffrey Gates, son of Geoffrey 
Gates (6). married Joan Wentworth. Child: 



Peter, married Mary Josselyn, and lived in 
London. 

(\TII) Peter Gates, son of Geofi'rey Gates 
(7), resided in London, England: married 
Mary Josselyn. Child, Thomas, mentioned 
below. 

(IX) Thomas Gates, son of Peter Gates 
(8), was of Norwich, Norfolk county, Eng- 
land. He was the father of Stephen Gates, the 
American immigrant, mentioned below. 

( X) Stephen Gates, second son of Thomas 
Gates (9), came from Hingham. England, to 
Hingham, Massachusetts, in the ship "Dili- 
gent," of Ipswich, England, in the year 1638. 
He settled at Hingham, Massachusetts, re- 
moving thence to Lancaster, Massachusetts, 
about 1656, and subsequently to Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, where he died in 1662. In his 
will dated June 9. 1662, proved October 7, 
1662, he bequeathed to Stephen, his eldest son, 
the house and lot at Lancaster. His wife and 
son Simon received the place at Cambridge 
and his son Thomas was to remain with them 
at his pleasure. He married in England 
Ann Hill (according to the Chute Genealogy), 
and they brought two children with them when 
thev came over. There was a controversy be- 
tween the Gates and Whitcomb families at 
Lancaster that probably influenced Gates to 
remove to Cambridge. His widow. Ann, 
married Richard Woodward, of Watertown, 
Massachusetts, in 1663, but after the death of 
her second husband, February 16, 1665, she 
resumed the name of her first husband. She 
died at Stow. February 5, 1682-83. Children : 
I. Elizabeth, born in England, died August 3. 
1704, in Hingham: married, November 29, 
1647, John Laselle. 2. Mary, born in England, 
married, April 5, 1658, John Maynard, of 
Sudbury, who died December 22, 171 1. 3. 

(Stephen, born about 1640, died 1706, at Ac- 
ton. Massachusetts : married Sarah Wood- 
ward, daughter of George and Elizabeth 
(Hammond) Woodward, of Watertown. 4. 
Thomas, born 1642. mentioned below. 5. .Si- 
mon, born 1645. died April 21. 1693. at Brock- 
ton, Massachusetts. 6. Isaac, baptized May 
3. 1646. died September 3, 165 1. 7. Rebecca, 
baptized May 3. 1646, died January, 1650. 

(XI) Thomas Gates, son of Stephen Gates 
(10). was born in Hingham in 1642, married 
July 6, 1670, Elizabeth l-'reeman. They re- 
sided in Stow, Marlborough and Sudbury, 
Massachusetts, and in 1703 removed to Nor- 
wich. Connecticut, to that part which after- 
ward became Preston. Children: i. Eliza- 
beth, born i67i,' at Marlborough, married 
John Holmes. 2. Sarah, born at Marlborough, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



43 



1673, died 1754 at Preston. 3. John, horn 
1678, at Sudbury, mentioned below. 4. 
Joseph, born .March i(\ 1680. at Sudbury, 
(hed 1742 at Preston: married, 171 1. Damaris 
Rose, of Preston. 5. Josiah. born 1682, at 
Stow, settled at Colchester. Connecticut. 6. 
Deborah. b<^rn 1684. at Stow. 7. .Anna, born 
1686, at Stow. 8. Abigail, torn 1689, at 
Stow, died July 10, 1774. at Preston; mar- 
ried. May 21, 1713. Caleb Forbes. 9. Johanna. 
10. Ruth, married. September 30, 1724, John 
Andros. 11. Caleb, died September 3, 1774. 
at Preston: married, 1716, Mary Forbes. 

(XII) John Gates, son of Thomas Gates 
(ii), was born at Sudbury, in 1678, and is 
said to have been the first of this name, after- 
wards common enough in the Gates family. 
He settled in Stow. Children: r. Hezekiah, 
born at Stow, married, February 17, 1729-30. 
Mary Sawyer. 2. Ephraim, born at Stow. 3. 
Samuel, born at Stow. 4. John, mentioned 
below. 5. Mary, born in Stow. 

(XIII) John Gates, son of John Gates 
(12), was born in Stow, about 1715, married 

Mary . Children, all born at Stow. i. 

Hannali, born September 6, 1737, died No- 
vember 19, 1814. 2. Josiah, born March 24, 
1739, died March 30, 1757. aged eighteen. 3. 
Dorothy, born December 11. 1740. at Stow, 
died .\ugust, 18 13. 4. Damaris. born January 
9, 1745-46. married, .\ugust 6, 1777, Asa 
Farnsworth. of Templeton. 5. John, born 
September 12. 174S. at Stow, died November 
25, 1814, at Stow: married, February 19, 
1778, Catherine Wethcrbee. and she died June 
13. 1834. 6. Caleb, born July 14, 175 1, men- 
tioned below. 7. Mary, born .April 25. 1753. 
8. Thomas, born June 5. 1755. married. June 
4. 1778. Lydia Hale: soldier in the Revolu- 
tion. 

(XIV) Caleb Gates, son of John Gates 
(13), was born July 14, 1751, at Stow, died 
at -Xcton. \'ermont, married, March 10, 1776. 
Mindwell Oakes. of Bolton, Massachusetts, 
who was born March 23, 1746, and died No- 
vember 22. 1826. Children: I. Achsah. born 
March 8. 1777. at Stow, died July, 1854. aged 
seventy-seven years, .it Townsend, \"ormnnt : 
married. March 19. 1807, Dennis Holdcn, who 
was born December 6. 1784. nnd died July 15. 
1872. 2. .\rtemas, born April 25, 1780, at 
Stow, died young. 3. Josiah. horn October 9. 
1783. mentioned Ix^low. 

(X\') Josiah Gates, son of Caleb (14), was 
born at Stow, October 9, 1783, died March 
TO. 1 81 2. in his twenty-eigiith \ear. He mar- 
ried .Sabra Holden, sister of Deddis Holden. 
She was bom December 23. 1782, died De- 



cember 13, 1815, aged thirty-three years. He 
settled at Acton, \'ermont, removing tlience 
to Reading, \ermont. Children: i. Artemas. 
Ijorn i'ebruary 14, 1803, at Acton, \'e:niont, 
died September 13, 1859, married December 
2. 1830, Sabra Dadman, who was born Sep- 
tember 10, 181 1, and died April 7, 1875: 
settled at \Vestford, Massachusetts; children: 
i. Edwin Artemas, born January 17, 1832, 
died March 30, 1872, unmarried : ii. Lydia 
Sarah, born December 2t,. 1833, died October 
12, 1893: married. January 29, 1851. Timothy 
L. Griffin ; iii. Alary Elizabeth, born December 
16. 1835, died October 2. 1837: iv. Mary Jane 
born .August 17. 1838, died .\ugust 15, 1842; 
V. Eunice Sophia, born September 20. 1840, 
died .August 19, 1842 ; vi. Willard John, born 
July 14. 1846, died July 29, 1867, unmarried; 
vii. Harriet Sabra, born March 17, 1848, at 
Tewksbury, married, August 7, 1890, Charles 
Henry Parker : viii. Hannah Sophia, born De- 
cemlxT 3, 1853, '1'*-"'' December 23, 1854, ix. 
Carrie Etta, born December 22, 1857, married, 
November 14, 1883. John Clinton Buxton. 2. 
Josiah, born August 31. 1805, mentioned be- 
low. 3. John Davis, born February 26, 1806, 
at Acton, \ermont, died March 13, 1862, aged 
fifty-si.x : married Susan Evans who was born 
July 25. 1803, and died October 20. 1852 ; 
resided in (irafton, N'ermont ; children: i. 
Josiah. died \oung ; ii. Susan .Augusta, Ixirn 
June 3, 1834, married, November 2^. 1855, 
.Ahert Colton, who was born May 13, 1836: iii. 
luiiily .Amanda, born July 26, 1835, died Sep- 
tember 5, 1891 : married. May 20, 1856, David 
Stowell Farr, born December 12, 1830. died 
.April 12. 1886: iv. John Emery, born March 
29. 1836, married. March 4. 1866. Sophia 
^loultrop: V. Charles Jerome, born .August 
27, 1837, supposed to have been killed by the 
Indians: vi. Alartha Maria, born May 7, 1839. 
married. February 6, 1862, Curtis William 
Davis. 

(X\T) Josiah Gates, son of Josiah Gates 
(15), was born in .Acton, X'ermont, .August 
31. 1805. He was educated in the common 
schools of his native town. He learned the 
trade of taimer and worked for some years in 
the manufacture of leather at Townsend. In 
1826, when he was twenty-five years old. he 
came to Lowell and was em])loyed by Daniel 
Hurd and the .Merrimack Manufacturing 
Company in their fulling mills, and after- 
wards became an overseer in the weaving de- 
partment of the Lowell Company's Mills. In 
1845 he engaged in business on his own ac- 
count, opening a store on Dutton street. Ixi- 
well, for the manufacture and sale of leather 



44 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



belting and manufacturers' supplies. Later he 
added the manufacture of leather fire hose, 
and in 1858 established a tannery for the 
manufacture of his own leather. The tanyard 
was on Qielmsford street. He owned the 
patents of the Murkland Carpet Power Loom 
and had an interest in the company manufac- 
turing them. In 1866 he associated with him in 
business his two sons, J. E. and P. C. Gates, 
and in 1870 R. W. Gates. In 1881 he erected 
a large brick block on Market street for the 
manufacture of his supplies. Since his deatfi. 
May 2, 1882, the business has been continued 
by his sons. In politics he was an earnest and 
active Republican, serving the city as member 
of the common council, and as alderman. He 
represented his district in the general court 
and served with credit on several important 
-committees. He was a director of the Wame- 
sit National Bank and of the Lowell Hosiery 
Company. He attended the Congregational 
church with his family. He was upright and 
enterprising in business, and enjoyed the con- 
fidence and respect of all his townsmen. 

He married (first) Lydia West; (second) 
Harriet N. Coburn. who died May 29. 1855. 
She was the daughter of Prescott Coburn, of 
Dracut, a descendant of Edmund Coburn, one 
of the first settlers of Dracut. He married 
(third) Sophronia Pike. Qiildren of Josiah 
and Harriet N. Gates i. Ellen Harriet, born 
August 3, 1839, married, April 14, 1880, Solon 
S. Whitehead, born November 22, 1S32 : no 
children. 2. Augusta Pauline, bom October 3, 
1842, married, February 21, 1867, Gideon 
Foster White ; children : i. Alice Gates, born 
August 9, 1869, married John Milton Wash- 
T>urn : ii. Harriet A., born October 2, 1872 ; iii. 
Royal P., born December 3, 1881. 3. Josiah 
Emery, born April 19. 1845, fl'^d September 
.4, 1878 : married .Anna Tilton ; child. Josiah 
Emery, born February, 1871, resides at Med- 
ford,. Massachusetts. 4. Prescoft C, born in 
Lowell, July 30, 1846. mentioned below. 5. 
Royal Wiswell, born June 25, 1849; men- 
tioned below. 6. Abbie Ann, born August 19, 
1832. resides in the homestead, Lowell : is a 
member of the Congregational church and 
Dolly \^arnum Chapter. Daughters of the 
American Revolution. 7. Clara Maria, born 
November 3, 1854; married June 12, 1884, 
Charles Abbott Roby, children : ii. Marion 
born May 6, 1885 ; ii. Kathleen, born Febru- 
ary 12, 1891 ; iii. Luther Abbott, born No- 
vember II, 1894. Child of Joseph and So- 
phronia Gates : 8. Kate. 

fXX^IT) Prescott C. Gates, son of Josiah 
Gates (t6). was born in Lowell. July 30, 1846. 



He attended the public and high schools of 
Lowell and then entered the employ of his 
father, learning the business thoroughly and 
in 1866 becoming a partner in the firm of 
Josiah Gates & Sons with his father and 
brother. He and his brother Royal W. have 
continued the business, since their father's 
death, with substantial success. He is a direc- 
tor in the Wamesit National Bank, the Lowell 
Hosiery Company, the Hillsboro Mills, the 
Lowell Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the 
Lowell & Andover Railroad Company, trustee 
of the Central Savings Bank, and member of 
the Lowell Board of Trade. He married, De- 
cember 29. 1868, Ellen F. Kittridge, daugh- 
ter of William Kittridge, of Lowell. Children: 
I. Henry Kittridge, born August 26, 1870. 2. 
Thayer Prescott, born May 14, 1879. 3. 
Edith Harriet, born August 31, 1880. 

(XVII) Royal Wiswell Gates, son of 
Josiah Gates (16), was born in Lowell, 
June 25, 1849, 'i"d received his early 
education in the public schools, grad- 
uating from the Lowell high school. He then 
entered the business office as bookkeeper and 
in 1870 became a member of the firm of 
Josiah Gates & Sons. He is a Republican in 
politics, attends the Kirk Street Congrega- 
tional Church, and is a member of the Lowell 
Board of Trade. He is a prominent Free 
Mason, belonging to Kilwinning Lodge of 
Lowell, to Pilgrim Commandery, Knights 
Templar, and to the Massachusetts Consistory, 
having taken the thirty-second degree. He is 
also a member of the Yorick Club and \'esper 
Country Club. 



William Richard Cutter, author 
CLATTER and editor, is a direct descend- 
ant of Elizabeth (i) Cutter, a 
widow, who came to New England, about 
1640, and died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
January 10, 1663 (1663-64). In her will she 
gave her age as about eighty-seven years, but 
as she lived about two years longer, she was 
at death aged about eighty-nine. She dwelt 
with her daughter in Cambridge about twenty 
years. Three of her children emigrated to 
this country : William, who after living in 
America about seventeen years, returned to his 
former home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in Eng- 
land : Richard, the founder of the Cutter fam- 
ily in America ; and Barbara, her daughter, 
who came to this country unmarried, and later 
married Mr. Elijah Corlet, the schoolmaster of 
Cambridge. In a relation Elizabeth made be- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



45 



fore the church she is called "Old Goodwife 
Cutter," and she makes a statement to tlie ef- 
fect that she was born in some small place, 
without a church, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
She "knew not'" her father, who may have 
died in her infancy, but her mother sent her, 
when she was oKl enough, to Newcastle, where 
she was placed in a "godly family," where she 
remained for about seven years, when she en- 
tered another where the religious privileges 
were less. Her husband died, and she was 
sent to Cambridge, New England, and came 
thither in a time of sickness and through many 
sad troubles by sea. What her maiden name 
was is not known to the present writer. From 
her own statement the inference is drawn that 
her mother at least was in humble circum- 
stances. She had with her in Cambridge a sis- 
ter or a sister-in-law, a widow named Mrs. 
Isabella Wilkinson, who undoubtedly was 
from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. There is more 
known of the Cutters in Newcastle, where it is 
said an English antiquary has discovered the 
name of the grandfather of William and Rich- 
ard Cutter, and this information is as yet with- 
held from us. 

Richard (2) Cutter, son of Elizabeth, died 
in Cambridge, at the age of about seventy-two, 
June 16, i6y3. His brother William had died 
in England before this time. Richard was un- 
der age and probably unmarried when he 
came to .America. He was one of the first to 
build a house outside of the settlement, in that 
part of Cambridge called Menotomy, and his 
house for defense against the Indians was 
furnished with flankers. In December, 1675, 
he sent four young men of his family — his two 
sons Ephraim and Gershom, and his stepsons 
Isaac and Jacob Amsden— to the severe cam- 
paign in Rhode Island which culminated in the 
Narragansett fight, in which a great part of 
the New England military were engaged. 
Richard Cutter was twice married : first, about 
1644, to Elizabeth Williams, who died March 
5, 1661-2, aged about forty-two years (grave- 
stone) ; she was the daughter of Robert Wil- 
liams of Roxbury and his wife Elizabeth 
(Stalham) Williams. Second, February 14, 
1662-3, to Frances (Perriman) Amsden, par- 
entage unknown : she was the widow of Isaac 
Amsden, and survived Richard Cutter's de- 
cease, and died before July 10, 1728. Fourteen 
children, seven by each wife. 

Elizabeth, eldest daughter and child of 
Richard Cutter, married William Robinson, 
and several of her descendants became famous 
as governors. She probably died a long time 
before her father, and was omitted in his will. 



Two of her sons laid claim to their share of 
their grandfather Cutter's estate at a later per- 
iod. William Robinson, Jonathan Robinson, 
and Elizabeth Gregory, and also Samuel Rob- 
inson, children of Elizabeth Robinson, daugh- 
ter of Richard Cutter, quitclaimed their rights 
to their grandfather Richard Cutter's estate 
(Middlese.x Registry Deeds, 39: 113, etc.) 
William Robinson died in 1693. 

William (3) Cutter, third son and fourth 
child of Richard Cutter, the immigrant, was a 
thriving farmer, and died in Cambridge, April 
I, 1723, in the seventy-fourth year of his age 
(gravestone). By his wife Rebecca he was 
father of ten children. She was Rebecca, 
daughter of John (2) Rolfe (Henry i) and 
his wife Mary Scullard (Samuel i). Rebecca 
Rolfe married for her second husband John 
Whitmore, Senior, of Medford, and died No- 
vember 13, 1751, aged ninety. 

John (4) Cutter, second son and fifth child 
of William, born October 15, i6yo, died Jan- 
uary 21, 1776, in his eighty-sixth year, and 
thirty-seventh in his office as a deacon. He 
was a farmer. He married Lydia Harrington 
(John (3), Robert (2), and possibly Ann 
(i) ; she was formerly of Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne, England,) and she died January 7, 
1755, in her sixty-fourth year. Eleven chil- 
dren. 

.\mmi (5) Cutter, tenth child of John, born 
October 27, 1733, died April ly, 1795, in his 
sixty-second year. He was a farmer and a 
miller, and had three wives and twenty-one 
children. By his first wife, Esther Pierce, he 
had ten children, the ninth of whom was 
Ephraim Cutter, born October 31, 1767, died 
March 31, 1841, who by his wife, Deborah 
Locke, had fourteen children, the tenth of 
whom was Benjamin Cutler, a physician, born 
June 4, 1803, died March 9, 1864, who by his 
wife Mary W'hittemore had six children, the 
youngest of whom was William Richard Cut- 
ter, born in Woburn, August 17, 1847, the sub- 
ject of this sketch. 

Mr. Cutter was educated in the public 
schools of his native town until his fifteenth 
year, when he was sent to the Warren. Vcademy 
in Woburn, whore he remained until April, 
1865, when he entered Norwich University at 
Norwich, \'ermont, — the institution now situ- 
ated at Nortlifield, Vermont, and known as the 
Military College of the State of Vermont. 
When at Woburn at the Warren Academy he 
commanded (1863-1865) a corps of cadets 
known as the Warren Cadets. He performed 
his share of duty at Norwich Military Univer- 
sity during the two years of 1865 and 1866. 



46 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



and leaving there in the latter year returned to 
Woburn, where he pursued his studies under a 
private instructor. In tlie fall of 1867 he en- 
tered the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale 
Universit}' at New Haven, Connecticut, as a 
special student, and left there in 1869. In the 
meantime, having access to the large college 
library at Yale, he became interested in the 
study of history and more especially geneal- 
ogy, as he had the use of a larger and more 
valuable collection of books here than he had 
ever had before, and he decided to publish a 
history of the Cutter Family, and issued, while 
at New Haven, his proposals for that work. 
He travelled extensively in his pursuit of ma- 
terial, and published his book at Boston in 
1871, under the title of "A History of the Cut- 
ter Family of New England." 

He was married, on August 31, 1871, to 
Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Kimball, 
teacher, editor, and lecturer, and his first wife, 
Mary Ann (Ames) Kimball, and a grand- 
daughter of Rev. David Tenney Kimball, for 
upwards of sixty years minister of a church in 
Ipswich, Massachusetts. One child, Sarah 
Hamlen, was born to them, July 25, 1873, but 
died April 26, 1890. Another died in infancy 
in 1880. 

In 1871 Mr. Cutter removed his residence 
to Lexington. Massachusetts, and devoted 
himself for ten years to various pursuits. 
While at Lexington he prepared and published 
a "History of the Town of Arlington, Massa- 
chusetts." which was issued from the press in 
1880. This work contained a very full geneal- 
ogy of the early inhabitants, and copies are 
now scarce. At Lexington also he edited, with 
notes, his article for the "New England His- 
torical and Genealogical Register," entitled a 
"Journal of a Forton Prisoner, England," 
1 777- 1 779, whose len,gth caused its publication 
to extend through the numbers of that period- 
ical from April, 1876, to January, 1879. While 
at Lexington also he prepared a sketch of Arl- 
ington, which was printed under his name in 
Drake's "Historv of Middlesex Countv" 
(1880). 

During his residence in Lexington he held 
the office by successive elections of clerk of the 
Hancock Congregational Church, and for sev- 
en years from 1875 that of member and clerk 
of the town school committee, and in connec- 
tion with the last named office that of trustee 
of the Cary Free Public Library, being for a 
greater part of that time clerk and treasurer of 
that board. In 1882 he was elected librarian 



of the Woburn Public Library in his native 
city, and assuming his duties on March i, of 
that year, removed at once to Woburn. He 
holds this office at the present time. He has 
served on the nominating committee of the 
Massachusetts Library Club, of which he was 
one of the original members, and has been one 
of its vice-presidents. In Woburn he has held 
the office of secretary of the trustees of War- 
ren Academy since 1885, and that of trustee, 
clerk, and treasurer of the Burbeen Free Lec- 
ture Fund since 1892. He is also one of the 
vice-presidents of the Rumford Historical As- 
sociation of Woburn, and is a member of the 
Massachusetts Society of Colonial Wars. He 
has been a vice-president of the Boston Alum- 
ni Association of Norwich University, and for 
more than a generation, or since 1870, a resi- 
dent member of the New England Historic 
Genealogical Society. He has written consid- 
erable for the publications of the Genealogical 
Society, and has held a position on its govern- 
ing council, and in 1906 was elected its his- 
torian. He has edited for the Massachusetts 
Historical Society a section of Hon. Mellen 
Chamberlain's "History of Chelsea," making a 
greater part of the second volume of that mon- 
umental work. He has prepared for publica- 
tion and now nearly finished, three volumes of 
the Towne "Memorial Biographies," published 
by the New England Historic Genealogical 
Society. In 1906 Mr. Cutter was elected by 
the Lewis Historical Publishing Company as 
editor of two of their publications. 

Since 1882, in his leisure from the urgent 
work of his library position, Mr. Cutter has 
written much for the newspaper and periodi- 
cal press, and has written or edited a number 
of works of greater or less extent. Among 
them sketches of the city of Woburn, and of 
the towns of Burlington and Winchester, for 
Hurd's "History of Middlesex County," 1890; 
"Contributions to a Bibliography of the Local 
History of Woburn," 1892, with additional ma- 
terial. 1893 ; "Diary of Lieut. Samuel Thomp- 
son of Woburn, while in service in the French 
War, 1758" (with copious notes) 1896; "Life 
and Humble Confession of Richardson, the 
informer" (fifty copies printed) 1894; "A 
Model Village Library" (an article descrip- 
tive of the Woburn Public Library) in "New 
England Magazine," February, 1890; "Wo- 
burn Historic Sites and Old Houses," 1892; 
etc. 

He received the degree of A. M. from Nor- 
wich University in 1893. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



47 



Thomas Dexter, the immigrant 
DEXTER ancestor, was born in England. 

He came to America either 
with Mr. Endicott in 1629 or in the fleet with 
Governor Winthrop in 1630. He brouglit with 
him three children t)r more and several ser- 
vants. There is reason to believe that his home 
in luigland was in Bristol, for he had consid- 
erable dealings afterward with people who 
lived there. In 1640 he gave a mortgage to 
Humphrey Hooke, an alderman of Bristol. He 
had a good education and was in the prime of 
life when he emigrated. He settled in 1^)30 on 
a farm of eight hundred acres in the town of 
Lynn, Massachusetts; was well-to-do and was 
called "harmer Dexter." His house was on the 
west side of the Saugus river about where the 
iron works were afterwards erected. In 1633 
he built a bridge over the river and stretched 
a weir across it and soon afterward built a 
mill there. He was greatly interested in the 
establishment of the Lynn iron works, inter- 
ested English capital and became general 
manager, but when convinced of the unprofit- 
ableness of the enterprise, he withdrew. He 
was admitted a freeman in 163 1, but was dis- 
franchised March 4. 1633. He was constantly 
involved in litigation and in 1631 had a quar- 
rel with Captain Endicott, afterward the gov- 
ernor. Mr. Endicott struck De.xter in court 
and was prosecuted for the assault in Boston. 
The defendant said in answer to the charge : 
"I liear I am much complained of by (iood- 
man Dexter for striking him. Understanding 
since it is not lawful for a justice of the peace 
to strike, but if you Jiad seen the manner of 
his carriage with such daring of me. with 
arms akimbo, it woidd have provoked a very 
patient man. He has given out that if I had 
a ])urse he would make me empty it. and if he 
cannot have justice here, he will do wonders in 
England, and if he cannot prevail there, he 
will try it out with me here at blows. If it 
were lawful for me to try it out at blows anfl 
he a fit man for me to deal with, you would 
not hear me complain." The jury awarded 
De.xter a verdict of ten pounds. Two \ears 
later the court ordered Dexter set in bilboes, 
disfranchised and fined ten pounds "for speak- 
ing reproachful and seditious words against 
the government here established." Mr. Dex- 
ter, having been insulted by Samuel Hutchin- 
•son, met him one day on the road "and jump- 
ing from his horse bestowed about twenty 
blows on the head and shoulders of Hutchin- 
son, to the no small danger or deray of his 
senses as well as sensibilities." These instances 
would indicate, suggests the family historian, 



"that .Mr. Dexter was not a meek man." In 
1637 he and nine others obtained from the 
I'lymouth Colony court a grant of land which 
became the town of Sandwich, where he built 
the lirst grist mill, but he did not remain there 
long. In 1638 he had three hundred and fifty 
acres assigned to him in Lynn, where he lived 
tmtil 1746. .About this time he bought two 
farms in liarnslable, one adjoining the mill 
stream, the other on Scorton hill. His dwell- 
ing in Barnstable was on the north side of the 
old county road in a sightly location. Here 
he lived a quieter life, yet his taste for litiga- 
tion continued, and in 1648 he had no less than 
six lawsuits decided in his favor. His most 
important case was lost. He Iwught the land 
on which the village of Xahant is now situate 
from the Indian chief, Pognaum or Black Will, 
paying therefor a suit of clothes, fenced it for 
a pasture and his title was undisputed until 
1657, when the proprietors claimed it. The 
case was in the courts over thirty-eight years. 
In 1657 he took the oath of fidelity and was 
admitted freeman in the Plymouth colony, 
June I, i(>58. He gave most of his property 
to his sons, sold his farm on Scorton Hill in 
1673 to William Troop, and removed to Bos- 
ton to spend his last days with his daughter, 
the wife of Captain Oliver. He died there in 
1677 and was buried in the King's Chapel 
burying ground. The name of his wife is not 
known. Children: i. Thomas, born in Eng- 
land, mentioned below. 2. William, married 
Sarah \'incent in 1653. 3. iMary, born in 
England, married (first) John Frend, (sec- 
ond) Captain James Oliver, of Boston. 4. 
Frances, born in England, married Richard 
Woodde (Woodhouse, Woodis, etc.). 

(II) Thomas Dexter, son of Thomas Dex- 
ter (i), was born in England about 1623; 
came to .-\merica with his father and settled 
finalh' at Sandwich, where he was elected con- 
stable in 1647. In 1648 he kept the mill his 
father built. In 1655 he was ensign of the mi- 
litia company and was afterward known by 
this title. He was often on juries: was sur- 
veyor of highways and collector of taxes in 
1675 and in 7680 was an inn-keeper. In 1663 
he served with Thomas Hinckley and Cons- 
tant Southworth on a committee to determine 
the line between Sandwich and Plymouth. He 
was a worthy citizen, enterprising, useful and 
influential. He died December 29, 1686. He 
married, November 8, 1648, Elizalx'th Vin- 
cent. Children: i. Mary, born August 11, 
1649, married. October 12, 1670, Daniel Allen, 
of Swansea. 2. Elizabeth, born September 
21. 1(151, died young. 3. Thomas, born 1653, 



48 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



died 1679. 4. John, born 1656, mentioned be- 
low. 5. Elizabeth, born April 7, 1660, sole 
legatee of her mother's estate, 1714. 6. Abi- 
gail, born June 12, 1663, married, June 30, 
1684, Jonathan Hallett. 

(III) John Dexter, son of Thomas Dexter 
(2), was born in Sandwich in 1656; was ad- 
mitted a freeman in 1681. He belonged to the 
militia company of that town in 1675 and 
while on guard duty was beaten by Joseph 
Burge, who was fined for the assault five 
pounds, of which ten shillings was given to 
Dexter. In 1686 he sold to his brother-in-law, 
Jonathan Hallett, a negro slave named Harry, 
aged twenty-nine years, for twenty pounds. He 
married, November 10, 1682, Mehitable Hal- 
lett, daughter of Andrew Hallett, Jr., of Yar- 
mouth, one of the wealthiest men of that place. 
He came over in 1636 at the age of twenty- 
eight from Weymouth, England. His father, 
Andrew Hallett, the schoolmaster, came at an 
earlier date. Andrew Hallett, Jr., removed to 
Yarmouth from Lynn in 1637; was admitted 
freeman before 1640 and in 1642 bought and 
occupied the first house known to have been 
built in the town. The DexteFS settled in 
Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where their chil- 
dren were born. 

Children of John and Mehitable Dexter : i . 
Elizabeth, born November i, 1683. 2. Thom- 
as, born August 26, 1686, mentioned below. 3. 
Abigail, born May 26, 1689, married, Septem- 
ber 10, 1713, Job Lawton. 4. John, born Sep- 
tember II, 1692, married, December 12, 171 7, 
Mercy Manchester. 

(IV) Thomas Dexter, son of John Dexter 
(3), was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 
August 26, 1686. He resided there probably 
until after 1738, when he left town. His chil- 
dren all appear to have been in Mansfield, 
Connecticut, where he also may have resided. 
He was deputy to the general assembly in 
1738 and on a jury in 1733 at Portsmouth. He 
married Mercy Fish, of Portsmouth, April 28, 
1710. Children: i. Mehitable, born March 
15, 1710-11. 2. Zuriel, born at Portsmouth, De- 
cember 16. 1712, married at Mansfield, June 
23, 1737, Ruth Stevens of Mansfield, daugh- 
ter of Mahurnan Stevens : Zuriel died August 
8, 1737- 3- Thomas, married at Mansfield, 
June 17, 1743, Sarah Knapp, of Tolland, Con- 
necticut; son Zuriel born 1746. 4. Jonathan 
(?). 4. Isaac, mentioned below. Perhaps 
others. 

(V) Isaac Dexter, son of Thomas Dexter 
(4), was bom in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 
about 1725. He married Esther — and set- 
tled in Mansfield. Children, born there: i. 



Hannah, born July 25, 175 1. 2. John, born 
October 28, 1753, mentioned below. 3. Ruth, 
born December 24, 1755, died July 7, 1756. 4. 
Nathan, born August 30, 1757. 5. James, 
born August 20, 1759. 6. Isaac, born Febru- 
ary 18, 1762. 7. Ruth, born February 22, 
1764. 8. Daniel, born December i, 1765. 9. 
Rhoda, born January 24, 1771. 

(VI) John Dexter, son of- Isaac Dexter 
(5), was born in Mansfield, October 28, 1753, 
and baptized there May 5, 1754. He resided 
in jXIansfield until the close of the Revolution 
when he made his home at Pomfret, Vermont. 
He was a prominent citizen of the new town, 
served as selectman, was elected representative 
to the legislature and to the provincial con- 
gress and held many other positions of trust 
and honor. He was a soldier in the Revolu- 
tion according to a list of veterans made up 
by Hosea Doton, of Pomfret. He is given in 
the Coimecticut records in 1818 as a Revolu- 
tionary soldier of Connecticut then residing in 
Vermont. He was a private in Captain Jon- 
athan Nichol's company of minute-men from 
Mansfield, in Colonel Experience Storrs's 
regiment in 1775, and in the second Mansfield 
company under Colonel Storrs and General 
Putnam in 1777. He was sergeant in Captain 
Shumway's company, First Connecticut Line, 
Colonel Jedediah Huntington, of Norwich, in 
1777.. Later he had the rank of captain. He 
married at Mansfield, April 15, 1779, Sarah 
Parker, daughter of Lieutenant Zechariah 
Parker, a Revolutionary soldier. Children : 
I. Phebe, born at Mansfield, May 20, 1781 ; 
died October 28, 1782, at Mansfield. 2. Aaron, 
born August 18, 1782, at Mansfield. 3. Park- 
er, born at Pomfret, Vermont, in 1797, men- 
tioned below. And probably others. 

(VII) Parker Dexter, son of John Dexter 
(6), named for his mother's family, the Park- 
ers, was born in 1797 in Pomfret, Vermont. 
He married in 1820 Betsey King, of Pomfret, 
and they settled in Topsham, Vermont, in the 
adjoining county. He died there in 1883. He 
was a farmer. Child, Solomon King, born 
May 23, 1839, mentioned below. 

(VIII) Solomon King Dexter, son of Park- 
er Dexter (7), was born in Topsham, Ver- 
mont, May 23, 1839, and died in Lowell, 
Massachusetts, August 10, 1906. He worked 
on his father's farm during his boyhood, and 
attended the district schools of his native town. 
He was clerk in the general store for a time. 
At the age of twenty-one years he went to 
Lowell and secured a position as clerk in a 
meat market. In 1862 he formed the firm of 
Ladd & Dexter, provision dealers, Lowell, but 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



49 



in the following year the partnership was dis- 
solved and Mr. Dexter became an army sut- 
ler and for some time was engaged in furnish- 
ing supplies to the soldiers of the Union army. 
In iS(>3 he became cashier of the Bullion liank 
of Washington, D. C. In 1865. at the close of 
the war, he removed to Waits River. N'ermont. 
near his native place and opened a general 
store. He was also postmaster. In 1868 he 
returned to Lowell, where he resided the re- 
mainder of his days. He engaged first in the 
griKery and provision trade, and in 1873 went 
into the wholesale produce and commission 
business, handling flour, grain, and country 
produce with a store at Stott's Block. In 
1885 he built an imposing brick building on 
Middlesex street and located his business in it. 
From a small beginning Mr. Dexter saw his 
business increase to large proportions and en- 
joyed a prosi>erous trade. His building is 
perhaps the best of its kind in the citw having 
four stories and basement, forty bv seventy 
feet, giving ample quarters for storage as well 
as the usual stock of tlour. grain, produce and 
poultry. 

Mr. Dexter was a Republican in politics and 
served in the Lowell common council in 1883- 
84, represented his district in the general court 
in 1886-87. 'I'l'' served on the committees on 
finance and library. He attended with his fam- 
ily the Eliot Congregational Church. He was 
a member of Highland Lodge of Odd hel- 
lows, the Improved Order of Red Men. the 
Lowell Rod and Gun Club, the Lowell Board 
of Trade, the Board of Trade of the State of 
\'ermont. He was a director of the Traders' 
National Bank from the date of its organiza- 
tion to his death. He was one of the leading 
citizens of Lowell, a man of upright character 
and large personal influence. 

He marrie.l. February 24. 1863. .Mary S. 
McCrillis, of Waits River, V'crmont. Chil- 
dren: I. Nellie M.. born March 15, 1865, 

married Batchellor: child. Ruby M. 

BatchcUor. 2. Jennie Y.. born May 27, 1869, 
died July 23, 1870. 3. Daisy B., born No- 
vember 22, 1872. married Edwin T. Shaw : 
child, Dexter N. Shaw. 4. Royal K., Ixirn 
Time 9. 1875. mentioned below. 

• (IX) Royal King Dexter, son of Solomon 
Kin.g Dexter (8). was born in Lowell, June 
9, 1875. He was educated in the public and 
high schools of his native city, graduating in 
1898. and immediately entered into business 
with his father. He was associated with his 
father until his death, since when he has been 
the sole proprietor. Under his management 
the business has continued to grow and pros- 
i— 4 



per. lie has one of the largest grain commis- 
sion business houses in the city. Mr. Dex- 
ter is a Republican in politics and is at present 
a member of the common council of the city 
of Lowell. He is a director of the Topsham 
Creamery Association of Topsham, \ermont, 
his father's birthplace. He attends the Eliot 
Congregational Church, Lowell. Mr. Dexter 
has a very promising career ahead of him as 
well as a successful one already to his credit. 
He married. October. 1898, .\nna S. Smith, 
daughter of Caleb and Sarah C. Smith, of Lo- 
well. Children: .Marion L., Royal King. Jr., 
( iratia C.. Mary S. .\11 the children were born 
in Lowell. 



.Anthony Fisher (1591-1671), 
FISHER the immigrant .son of .Anthony 
(died in 1640) and .Mary .\nne 
(Fiske) Fisher, of Weymouth, in the par- 
ish of .Syleham. Suffolk. England, and grand- 
son of U'illiam and Anne Fiske. of St. James, 
South Elmsham, and brother of Joshua, Cor- 
nelius, .Amos, Marie and .Martha Fisher, was 
born in Syleham, Suffolk. England, and bap- 
tized .April 20, 1591. He came to .Massachu- 
setts Bay Colony with his wife Alary, sailing 
from A'armouth in the ship "Rose." landing 
at Boston on June 26. 1637, and settled in 
Dedham. where he subscribed to the Covenant 
July 18, 1637. and was a meml>er of the com- 
mittee appointed to built a meeting house, and 
on July 28, 1638. he was assigned his house 
Int. liis wife Mary joined the Dedham 
church. .March 27. 1642. and .Anthony "on ac- 
count of his proud and haughty spirit" was 
not admitted until March 14, 1645. He 
served as selectman 1645 and 1647: was 
chosen county commissioner September 3, 
i6fxD: deputy to general court May 2, 1649; 
woodreeve 1653-55, 1657-58 and 1661-62. His 
wife Mary died, and he married (secondly) 
November 14, 1663, Isabell, widow of Edward 
Breck, selectman of Dorchester, 1664-66, of 
Dorchester. He died April 11, 1671. His 
children (all by his first wife, Mary) were: 
Anthony, Cornelius. Nathaniel, David. Lydia 
and John Fisher. 

(II) .Anthony Fisher, of Dorchester, son ol 
.^nthony and Mary Fisher, was born in Eni; 
land, came to .America with his father am) 
grandfather, and settled in Dedham in 1637 
He was a member of the Ancient and Honor- 
able .Artillery Company in 1644; jomed Ded- 
ham church, July 20. 1645, and was made a 
freeman May 6, 1646. Fie was married Sep- 
tember 7, 1647, to Joanna, only daughter of 



50 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Thomas and Joan Faxon, of Brinton, ^Nlassa- 
chusetts ; was a surveyor of town of Dedham, 
1652-1654, removed to Dorchester and was 
selectman there 1664. He was a printer, and 
was paid by the town £4 los. for printing the 
catechism prepared by Rev. Richard Mather, 
the pastor at Dorchester. He died February 
13, 1670, and his wife Joanna died October 
16, 1694. Their children were : iNIehitable, 
born 1648, died young; Experience, 1650, 
died young: Josiah, 1654; Abial. 1656, died 
1688 ; Sarah. 1658, married John Wild ; De- 
borah, 1661, married James Fales ; Judith, 
1663, married John Bullen ; Eleazer, 1669. 

(HI) Eleazer Fisher, son of Anthony and 
Joanna (Faxon) Fisher, born in Dedham, 
September 18, 1669, married there October 
13, 1698, Mary (1674- 1744), daughter of 
William and Mary (Lane) Avery, and their 
children were : Eleazer. born 1699 ; William, 
1701 ; Jemima, 1703, married Hezekiah Gay, 
of Dorchester ; David, 1705; Ezra, 1707; Na- 
thaniel, 1708, died 1733-34, unmarried ; Mary, 
1710, married William Alexander, of Stough- 
ton ; Ezekiel, 1712; Timothy, 1714; Stephen, 
1715, probably died young; and Benjamin, 
1721. Ezekiel Fisher died in Dedham, Febru- 
ary 6, 1722, and his widow at Stoughton, 
March 25, 1749. 

(IV) David Fisher, third son of Eleazer 
and Mary ( Avery) Fisher, born in Dedham. 
June 21, 1705, married, February 16. 1732, 
Deborah Boyden. of Walpole. With his wife 
he joined the South Parish church. November 
7. 1736. He removed to Stoughton. where 
his wife died July 18. 1770, aged fifty-nine 
years, and he married (second), November 
7. 1770, Elizabeth Talbot, of Stoughton. born 
February 22, 1754. He died July 30, 1779, 
and his widow July 2, 1802. His children 
were; David, born 1733; Thomas, 1735: 
Jacob, 1737; Deborah, 1739; married John 
Lewis; Hannah. 1742, married Nathaniel 
Kingsbury; Nathan. 1745; Oliver, 1747; Abi- 
gail. 1749, married William Starrett ; Mary, 
175 1, died 1768; Abner, 1755. 

(V) Thomas Fisher, son of David and De- 
borah (Boyden) Fisher, born in Stoughton, 
March 10. 1735, married, October 12. 1758, 
Mary, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Ciney) 
Pettee, of Dedham. They both joined the 
South Parish Church, July 13, 1760. Thomas 
Fisher served in Captain Ebenezer Tisdale's 
company from Stoughton for twenty-two days 
at the Lexingfton Alarm, and in Theophilus 
Wilder's company, Colonel Dike's regiment, 
from December 20, 1776, to March i, 1777. 
He died January 16. 1781, and his widow 



of Sharon, and died April 27, 1825, aged 
eighty-two years. The children of Thomas 
Mary married, April 26, 1787, Gilead Morse, 
and Mary (Pettee) Fisher as per record in 
Stoughton were: Seth, born 1759; Thomas, 
1761 ; Mary, 1763, married Jonathan Billings, 
Jr.; Lucy, 1765, married Captain John Morse; 
Ezra, 1769: Oliver, 1778, died 1830; Jabez, 
1780. 

{VI) Jabez Fisher, youngest child of 
Thomas and Mary (Pettee) Fisher, born in 
Sharon, May 7, 1780, married. May 13, 1819, 
Sarah (1788-1854), second child of Jonathan 
and ?ilary (Robbins) Livermore, of Brighton, 
or Little Cambridge. Jonathan Livermore 
(1743- 1 822) was a son of Oliver and Ruth 
(Stearns) Livermore, of Watertown, and a 
descendant from Jonathan Livermore, the im- 
migrant. Mary (Robbins) Livermore was a 
daughter of Solomon and Martha Robbins, of 
Newton. Jabez and Sarah (Livermore) 
Fisher settled in Cambridge where their chil- 
dren were born, and where he died November 
30. 1845. Children : George, born February 
15, 1820: Sarah, 1821, died 1823; Jabez, 1824: 
Sarah Livermore, 1826, died 1828 ; Oliver, 
1829, died 1830; Benjamin Franklin, 1832, 
died 1832. Jabez Fisher was a coal dealer in 
Cambridge. He died November 30, 1845. 

(VII) George Fisher, eldest child of Jabez 
and Sarah (Livermore) Fisher, was born in 
Cambridge, February 15, 1820. He took the 
full course in the public and high schools of 
Cambridge, and a partial law course at Har- 
vard University Law School, and was made 
a member of the Law School Association. He 
succeeded his father in the coal and wood 
business in 1845. and after carrjnng it on for 
several years sold it out and became a partner 
in the firm of Simmons & Fisher, organ build- 
ers in Charles street, Boston. On March 30, 
1859, he purchased the Cambridge Chronicle. 
and made the paper a profitable investment, 
and in 1859-66 it had no competition in Cam- 
bridge. In 1873 he sold the newspaper plant 
to Linn Boyd Porter. In the Chronicle he 
advocated anti-slavery, temperance and Am- 
ericanism as opposed to the "perilous en- 
croachments" of the Roman Catholic church. 
He represented his district in the general court 
in 1885. He founded the Cambridge Conser- 
vatory of Music in 1873, and with the assist- 
ance of his daughter taught music to large 
classes for several years. He was a well 
known expert performer on the organ, and 
held positions at various times in the largest 
churches in Cambridge. He made a discrim- 
inating collection of music both printed and in 





C/r^^p-^ 




'CJ. 





'/Sy^A- 



■^^-<.^ 



7 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



51 



manuscript, and was one of the earliest mem- 
bers of the Handel and Haydn Society of 
Boston, and a member of the governing board. 
The large Cambridge chorus that attracted so 
much notice at the World's Peace Jubilee was 
organized and trained by Mr. Fisher. He 
was a friend and benefactor to Elias Howe in 
his struggle to introduce the sewing machine, 
and gave his financial aid at a time when Mr. 
Howe appeared to him hopelessly in debt, and 
while the application for a patent was pending 
he accompanied Mr. Howe to Washington, 
and they each wore a suit of clothes made 
upon the machine which was the patent office 
model. He was married March 16, 1840, to 
Hannah Cordelia, third child of Samuel P. 
and Eunice S. Teele, who was born in Charles- 
town, October 9, 1818, died July 3, 1894. She 
was a member of the Austin Street Unitarian 
Church, Cambridge. George Fisher died in 
Cambridge, September 12, 1898. Their chil- 
dren were: Sarah Cordelia, born 1841, mar- 
ried, November 29, 1887, Colonel Austin C. 
Wellington. Caroline Louise, 1843, married 
Colonel .A ustin C. Wellington, as his first wife, 
June 30, 1869, and she died November 23, 
1879. George, 1845, died 1846. Anna Jose- 
phine, 1847, died 1851. Harriet Ellen, 1849, 
died 1850. Lizzie Livermore, 1850, died 1853. 
Eliza Bennett, 1853, died 1875. George, 1856, 
died i860. George William, 1858, died -1876. 
George Fisher outlived all his children except 
Sarah Cordelia ; he had no grandchildren. 

(VHI) Sarah Cordelia (Fisher) Welling- 
ton, eldest child of George and Hannah Cor- 
delia (Teele) Fisher, and the last surviving 
member of a large family, was born in Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, October 10, 1841. She 
was graduated at the Cambridge high school, 
attended Professor Louis Agassiz's school 
and received musical instruction in London, 
England, from Senor Randegger and 
Madam Rudersdorf, and while in Europe in 
1876 attended the firsi performance of Wag- 
ner's Niebelungenleid at Bayreuth. She mar- 
ried her brother-in-law, Colonel Austin Clarke 
Wellington, November 29, 1887, eight years 
after the death of his first wife, Caroline 
Louise (Fisher) Wellington. Colonel Well- 
ington nad no children by either wife. He 
was a son of Jonas Qarke and Harriet Eliza 
(Bosworth) VVellington, and was born in Lex- 
ington, July 17, 1840, where he attended 
school up to 1856, when his parents removed 
to Cambridge, and he became a bookkeeper in 
the establishment of S. G. Bowdlear & Com- 
pany, of Boston, and left the firm .August, 
1862, to enlist in Company F, Thirty-eighth 



Massachusetts Regiment, and accompanied the 
regiment to Baltitiiore, New Orleans, and on 
the Red River expedition under General N. P. 
Banks. In July, 1864, he was transferred to 
Washington. D. C, and was in the army of 
General Sherivlan during the closing period of 
the Civil war. He was acting adjutant of his 
regiment, with the rank of lieutenant, and 
later was appointed adjutant. His battles 
were: Bisland, Siege of Port Hudson, Cane 
River Ford. Mansura, in Louisiana, and with 
Sheridan in Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar 
Creek, Virginia. He was mustered out of 
the volunteer service June 30, 1865. Upon 
returning to Massachusetts he engaged in the 
coal business, and formed the corporation of 
the .Austin C. Wellington Coal Companv, of 
which he was treasurer and manager, and this 
grew into one of the largest concerns in its 
time, in New England. He continued his 
■nterest in military affairs, and May 2, 1870, 
entered the Massachusetts State Militia as cap- 
tain of the Boston Light Infantn*-, known as 
the "Tigers," Company .\, Seventh Kegimeiu. 
He was elected major of the Fourth Battalion 
in 1873, and coloiiel of the First Regiment, 
February 24, 1882. His patriotic spirit was 
kept alive by membership in the Grand Army 
of the Republic, his comradeshi]) dating from 
1867 in Post 15. In 1874 he was chosen com- 
mander of Post No. 30, which post he helped 
to organize and of which he was a charter 
member. He becaine commander of Post No. 
113 in 1887, holding the position at the time 
of his death. He was a member of the Ancient 
and Honorable Artillery Company, antl a trus- 
tee of the Soldiers" Home at Chelsea. His 
business association was with the Boston Coal 
Exchange, of which ho was chairman, and 
the Charles River Towing Company, of which 
he was president. He was president of the 
Boston Mercantile Library Association, and a 
member of the New England Club. Handel 
and Haydn Society, and Cecilia Society. Hi» 
service to his state in a civic capacity was as 
a member of the general court of Massachu- 
setts in 1875 and 1876. Colonel Wellington 
died at his home, 871 Massachusetts avenue, 
Cambridge, September 23, 1888. H;s widow, 
Mrs. Sarah Cordelia (Fisher) Wellington, 
survived him. 

She was president of the Ladies' .\id Asso- 
ciation, auxiliary to the Soldiers' Home at 
Chelsea : a director of the Cambridge Con- 
servatory of Music, founded by her father, and 
allied with other philanthropic, religious and 
musical associations. Her musical talent wav 
an inheritance from both her parents. She 



52 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



early sang in the choir in Cambridge and 
Boston. Her voice was heard for repeated 
seasons at Trinity Church, New Old South, 
Immanuel, and for nine seasons at the Park 
Street Church. She was a member of the 
Handel and Haydn Oratorio Society and of 
the Cecilia Society, and represented both so- 
cieties at various times as soloist at their con- 
certs in Music Hall, Boston. She was presi- 
dent of the Austin Street Unitarian Alliance, 
the largest in the United States, and of the 
Middlesex Alliance which met in Channing 
Hall, Boston. She was made a director of the 
National Alliance board ; a member of the 
council of the Cantabriga Club; a member of 
the Woman Suffrage League ; of the Cam- 
bridge Shakespeare Club and of the Brown- 
ing Society of Boston. She served as 
secretary and treasurer of the Round- 
about Club, as president of the Wednes- 
day Club, and as a director of the Young 
Woman's Christian Association. She was 
made a life member of the New England 
Woman's Club, and of the American Uni- 
tarian Association and an associate member 
of the Cambridge Conferences. Her interest 
in the Cambridge Conservatory of Music on 
Lee street began in 1873, when with her father 
she founded the enterprise. She was a mem- 
ber of the faculty of Wellesley College and of 
the Tourjee Conservatory of Music in Boston. 
She sang by request in one of the Montreal 
cathedrals, appeared as accompanist with Ca- 
milla Urso, the celebrated violinist, and was 
alwavs a willing volunteer on occasions for 
charity, given in opera, concerts or at society 
functions. Her home in Cambridge became 
a mecca for musical enthusiasts visiting Bos- 
ton who had heard her in public or learned of 
her work as teacher through her pupils scat- 
tered over the entire United States, who had 
been fortunate in receiving her instruction and 
advice. 



The family of Fitz or Fitts is one 
FITTS of great antiquity in England. 

The names of several of the family 
are on the rolls of Battle Abbey. The sur- 
name Fitz was doubtless derived from the 
French word "Fils" (son), which is spelt "fiz" 
in Norman French. The American line springs 
from the branch of the family at Tavistock, 
Devonshire, England. 

(I) John Fitz, to whom the lineage of the 
American pioneer is traced, was born at or 
near Tavistock, England, and became an emin- 
ent lawyer, following his profession in that 



famous public house, Lincoln's Inn, and be- 
coming so successful that he raised his family 
to great reputation both for quality and estate. 
In 1428 he was one of the governors of Lin- 
coln Inn. He established a family seat about 
a mile from the village of Tavistock, called 
Fitzford. His sons: i. John, died without is- 
sue. 2. Walter, mentioned below. 

(II) Walter Fitz, son of John Fitz (2), 
born at Tavistock about 1450, died 1510. 
Married Mary Sampson. Children: i. John, 
mentioned below. 2. Robert. 

(III) John Fitz, son of Walter Fitz (2), 
was born in the latter part of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Married Agnes Grenville, daughter of 
Roger Grenville. Children: i. John, men- 
tioned below. 2. Edward F. 3. George. 4. 
Grace, married John Eliot, Earl of St. Ger- 
main. 5. Hannah, married William Kanzezo. 
6. Catherine, married William Bond. 7. Mar- 
garet, married Richard Olcott. 8. Francis. 

(IV) John Fitz, son of John Fitz (3), mar- 
ried Mary Sydenham, daughter of Sir John 
Sydenham, of Brimpton, Somersetshire ; was 
an eminent lawyer and left in mss. a large 
volume called "Fitz, his Reports." Either he 
or his father built the conduct house at Fitz- 
ford, which he inherited. His only son was 
John, mentioned below. 

(V) John Fitz, son of John Fitz (4), was 
created a Knight by Queen Elizabeth. Mar- 
ried Gertrude Courtney, daughter of Sir Will- 
iam. Sir John fought a duel at the gateway 
of the Fitz mansion with Sir Nicholas Slan- 
ning. His only child was a daughter Mary, 
born about 1590. He was succeeded by Wal- 
ter Fitz, son of Robert (4), son of Robert 

(3)- 

(V) Walter Fitz (Robert (4), Robert (3), 

Walter (2), John (i,) born about 1550, was 
a contemporary of Sir Francis Drake who 
married a niece of Sir John Fitz's mother. He 
had business dealings, tradition says, with Sir 
Richard Grenville. His son Robert was born 
about 1600, mentioned below. 

(\T) Robert Fitts, son of Walter Fitz (5), 
according to the Genealogy, was born at Fitz- 
ford, Tavistock, Devonshire, England, and 
was among the original settlers of Salisbury, 
Massachusetts. His brother Richard settled at 
Newbury, where he was proprietor in 1637. 
Married^ October 8, 1654, Sarah Ordway, 
who died April 24, 1668. Robert was planter 
and proprietor of Salisbury in 1639. He was 
"a man of education and social position and of 
Puritan integrity." He removed from Salisbury 
with his family to Ipswich in 1652. He died 
May 9, 1665. His will dated January 5, 1663 ; 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



53 



proved June 26, 1665. bequeathing to wife 
Grace the goods and estate loft her by lier 
mother to (Hspose of among her own kindred ; 
his son Abraham to have land at Salisbury 
which he Ixiught of his brother-in-law. Will- 
iam Barnes, and other estate. His widow ap- 
pointed her brother-in-law, Robert Tbwnsend, 
of Ipswich, her attorney in a suit against Sam- 
uel Gove, June 17, 1667. She died April 25, 
1684. Robert Fitts married Grace Lord, sis- 
ter of Mr. Robert I^rd. 

(\II) Abraham Fitts. son of Robert (6) 
and Grace (Lord) Fitts was born in England, 
about if>30. He married. May 1(1, 1655, Sarah 
Thompson (by "Ve ^^'orshipful Mr. Symon 
Bratlstreet"). She was a daughter of Simon 
Thompson, of Ipswich, died June 5. 1664. 
.Abraham Fitts married (second), January 7, 
1668. widow of Tyler P.irdley. .Abrahani was 
admitted a freeman March 11. 1673-74. He 
was impressed for the Xarragansett Expedi- 
tion in King F'hilip's war, November 30. 1675, 
and he or Abraham Jr. was also with the 
Phipps Expedition to Canada in 1690. He 
was executor of the will of his uncle Richard. 
He was admitted to the church February 22, 
1673. He died March 27. 1692. Children of 
Abraham and Sarah Fitts: i. Sarah, torn 
February 21. 1657, died January 21, 1660. 2. 
.•\braham. mentioned below. 3. Robert, born 
March 30, 1660. 4. Sarah, born March 15, 
1661. Children of Abraham and Rebecca 
(Birdley) Fitts: 5. Robert, torn May 28, 
1670, died young. 6. Richard, torn February 
26, 1672; married Sarah Thorne. 7. Isaac, 

Ixjrn July 3, 1675, married Bethia and 

(second) Mary Noyes. 

(\TII) Abraham Fitts, son of .\braham 
(7), and .Sarah (Thompson) Fitts. was born 
atout 1658. and was a resident of Ipswich in 
1678 and afterward. He married (first) Mar- 
garet Choate, daughter of Sergeant John and 
Anne Choate, ancestors of the distinguished 
■Choate family of Massachusetts. John Choate 
was born 1624 and died December 4. i(>95. re- 
membering .^Iargaret Fitts. his daughter, in 
his will, dated i^gi. proved May I, 1697. Mar- 
garet Fitts died February 28, 1691-92. .Abra- 
ham Fitts married (second), January 2. 1693. 
Mary Ross. Children of .Abraham and Mar- 
garet (Choate) Fitts: r. .Abraham, born June 
16, 1683. 2. Ebenezer, born .August 6. 1685. 
died young. 3. .Anna, born June 18, 1686, 
died young. 4. Robert, born July 19. 1690. 
mentioned below. 5. .Anna, married .Stephen 
Severance, of Ipswich. 6. Margaret, horn 
January 25, 1692. married Ebenezer Grant. 7. 
Mary, born January 8, 1695. 8. Mercy, torn 



March 3, 1696. 9. Sarah, born March 15, 
1698. 10. Samuel, torn August 16, 1699. 11. 
John, born March 31, 1701. 12. Mary, born 
.March 13, 1703. 13. Ephraim, torn 1705, bap- 
tized Septemtor 30. 14. Ebenezer, born .April 
12, 1708. 

(IX) Robert Fitts, son of Abraham (8) 
and Alargaret (Choate) Fitts, was born at 
Ipswich, July 19, 1690, and was a yeoman 
there until 173 1, when he sold his property to 
his brother .Abraham and purchased another 
farm of Benjamin Marsh at Sutton, Massa- 
chusetts. He and his wife joined the church 
by letter from Ipswich in 1732. His will \\'as 
made May 10, 1753, and proved .August 22, 
1753- Eight of his children were born at 
Ipswich, three at Sutton. He married, Janu- 
ary I, 1717-18, Hannah Dike (by Rev. Samuel 
Wiggles worth). Children: i. Robert, torn 
November 19. 1718. 2. Jonathan, baptised 
April 24, 1720, mentioned below. 3. Hannah, 
baptised Novemtor 19. 1721, died December 
28. 1721. 4. Hannah, baptised January 20, 
1723, married, June 27, 1740. Bartholomew 
Towne. of Sutton. 5. Alargaret married 

Little. 6. Benjamin, baptised April 16, 

1728. 7. Mercy, baptised Alarch i. 1730. 8. 
Ebenezer. born March 19, 1732, married 
Bethia Hutchinson. 9. Alehitable. baptised 
March 11, 1733, at Sutton. 10. Mary, born 
October 29. 1734. 11. .Abraham, born Sep- 
tember 5. 1739, married Mary Holman ; sol- 
dier in Revolution. 

(X) Deacon Jonathan Fitts, son of Robert 
(9) and Hannah (Dike) Fitts. was born at 
.Sutton in 1720. baptised .April 24, and died at 
Oakham. Massachusetts. December 9, 1792, 
aged according to the inscription on his grave- 
stone seventy-two years. He married at Sut- 
ton, November 27, 1745. Marv Hutchinson 
(by Rev. David Hall). She died Octotor 25, 
1806, at Oakham, aged according to her 
gravestone eighty-four years. They lived in 
.Sutton and Oakham where he settled in 1775. 
He was chosen deacon of the Oakham church, 
.April II. 1776. and served the remainder of 
his life: was on the committee of the church 
November 24, 1785. and of the town .April 3, 
1786. to confer with Rev. Daniel Tomlinson 
respecting his settlement as minister. His 
will is dated October 6. 1791. proved January 
I. 1793. Children, torn in .Sutton: i. Sarah, 
born .September T2. 1747. married Benaiah 
Putnam, of Sutton. December 13. 1770. 2. 
Tamali. born December 15, 1748, married 
(iideon Sibley, Decemtor 14, 1771. 3. Mary, 
born January 27, 1750. married Jesse Cum- 
inings. 4. Anne, torn March 10. 1753, died 



54 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



unmarried. 5. Deborah, born July 19, 1756, 
married Benjamin Foster. 6. Jonathan, born 
May 30, 1758, died young. 7. Eunice, born 
M'arch 10, 1761, died young. 8. Peter, bora 
September 30, 1762, mentioned below. 9. 
Paul, born November 31, 1764. 

(XI) Peter Fitts, son of Jonathan (10) 
and Mary (Hutchinson) Fitts, was born at 
Sutton, Massachusetts, September 30, 1762, 
and died at Oakham, May 21, 1837, aged 
seventy-six years. He was a farmer in Oak- 
ham, owning eighty-five acres of land in the 
northern part of the town, near Coldbrook. 
He was a member of the Orthodox church 
and was deacon for many years. He was a 
Whig and Free Soiler in politics. He enlisted 
in the service during the War of 1812. His 
will was dated Alay 18, 1839, and proved July 
18. 1839. He married (first), August 23, 
1789, Lydia Berry, born at Rutland, Massa- 
chusetts. September 8, 1760, daughter of 
Sheers and Esther (Woodward) Berry. Her 
father was descended from the Berry family 
of Framingham, Massachusetts. She died 
February 25, 1810. Mr. Fitts married (sec- 
ond). 181 1, Lucy King, of Athol. Children, 
bom at Oakham to Peter and Lydia Fitts : i. 
Jonathan, born September 7, 1790, died No- 
vember 29, 1807. 2. Jesse, born March 24, 
1792, mentioned below. 3. Zadock. born 
March 28. 1794, died April 7. 1795. 4. Mary, 
born June 3, 1796, married, January 22, 1817, 
Frederick A. Preshoe of Oakham (they cele- 
brated their Golden Wedding). 5. Elisha, 
born March 24, 1799, married, February 17, 
1822. Zila Johnson; he died Miay 3, 1836. 

(XII) Jesse Fitts, son of Peter (11) and Ly- 
dia (Berry) Fitts was born at Oakham. March 
24, 1792, and died there Alay 22, 1853. His 
education was meagre. He attended school 
but three months all told, and was largely self- 
educated, but became an expert penman and 
speller. He remained on the homestead with 
his father and succeeded to the property when 
his fnther died. He used to transport country 
produce to Boston, Watertown, Salem and even 
Newburyport, bringing groceries and other 
supplies on his return to Oakham. He fol- 
lowed the trade of butchering also, having a 
slaughter house on his farm. He followed the 
teaming business for thirty-five years, and 
turned his business over to his son. At times 
this business was dangerous, the money he 
carried being a temptation to highway rob- 
bery. After he retired his health failed, and 
he sold his farm to William Howard, of Wor- 
cester, but continued to live on the old place in 
a cottage that he built there. He died May 22, 



1853. He was a member of the Orthodox 
Congregational Church of Oakham. In politics 
he was a Democrat, and served the town on 
the board of selectmen and school committee. 
He was a fifer in the militia when a young 
man, and had much musical ability. 

He married, March 19, 1816, Harriet Stone, 
born April 5, 1792, died November 15, 185 1, 
daughter of Alpheus and Lucretia (Nye) 
Stone, of Oakham. Alpheus Stone was a 
farmer. She died in 1849. Their children : 

1. Catherine Augusta, born June 8, 1818, 
married, December. 10, 1843, Daniel Noyes, of 
Oakham ; she died October 9, 1844, at Oak- 
ham. 2. Jonathan Harvey, born August 13, 
1821, mentioned below. 3. Harriet Amelia, 
born March 25, 1826, married, June 2 or 18, 
1844, Willliam A. F. Noyes, of Ashland; chil- 
dren — i. Charlotte Augusta Noyes, born De- 
cember 6, 1848, married, June 7, 1866, 
Thomas McDonough Robinson, who died 
October 11, 1877; (children: Lena Mabel 
Robinson, born April 10, 1867, died August 

2, 1888, aged twenty-one; Bertha Louise Rob- 
inson, born .August 25, 1869, married. 1892, 
Lawrence W. Weston ; she died of consump- 
tion, November 8, 1904, aged thirty-five ; 
Jessie Alice Robinson, born January 27, 1874, 
married, June 7, 1893, Samuel E. Coleman 
and have Dorris Emily Coleman, born March 
22, 1894. and Albert McDonough Coleman, 
born 1896). Charlotte Augusta (Noyes) Rob- 
inson married (second), October 2, 1881, 
Augustus Fairbanks (no issue), ii. Charles 
Fitts Noyes, born September 9, 1854 (twin), 
married. September 2, 1876, Alice Edith Nel- 
son (children : Blanche Evelyn Noyes, born 
March 26. 1877, married Roy Sinclair Perci- 
val, June 12, 1903; Everett Nelson Noyes, 
bom March 21, 1879, married, November 27, 
1905, Henrietta Johnson; Leroy William 
Noyes, born .A.ugust 24, 1882). iii. Chester 
Smith Noyes. (twin) September 9. 1854, 
married, October 20, 1885. Inez Whitehouse 
and had Herbert Niel Noyes. born January 27, 
1887. 4. John Williams, born December 13, 
1829, married, April 27, 1865, Susan A. 
Homer, of Ashland ; resided at Brookfield ; 
children : i. Benjamin Homer, born April 10, 
1866. ii. Jesse Clarence, born October 3, 
1876, died July 17, 1901 ; married, September 
27, 1894. Medea C. Hunt (children : Earle Le- 
roy, born June 21, 1897; Marion Elizabeth, 
born September 23. 1898, died September 11, 
1899; Jesse Clyde, bom February 23, died 
1902). iii. Frank Nathan, born July 15, 
1873. died June 5, 1874. 5. Mary Abbott, 
born March 14, 1837, married April i, 1855, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



55 



^^'illiam W . Clark, of I'.rookfield and Spencer, 
Massachusetts: children: John Herbert, horn 
November 8, 1861, married, July 3, 1882, Jo- 
sephine Riley (they had: Chester Leroy, born 
November 8. 1884 : William Murray, born 
tanuarv 20. 1891 : Marv Catherine, born .May 
4. '.'^95). 

I XI II ) Jonathan Harvey Fitts, son of Jesse 
(12) and Harriet (Stone) Fitts. was born at 
Oakham, August 3, 1 82 1. He was educated 
in the district schools of his native town. From 
an early age he worked with his father on the 
homestead, and at the age of fourteen began 
to drive his father's four-horse team from the 
towns in the vicinity of ( )akliani to the Boston 
markets, carrying produce and provisions and 
bringing general freight on his return trip. 
He succeeded to his father's business and 
later bt)ught the homestead of William How- 
ard, to whom his father had sold it, and con- 
ducted it with profit for a number of years. 
He also made shoes during the winter season, 
as was the custom of the time among farmers 
of .Massachusetts, in 1857 he went to Cali- 
fornia and spent about four years in prospect- 
ing and mining. He returned in i860 with 
his health much improved, and in the spring 
following he removed to Ashland, Massachu- 
setts, where he worked for a year in the Til- 
ton shoe factory. He bought a farm of John 
Gark in Holliston. a town adjoining .\shland, 
selling it later to Charles .\lger. This farm 
consisted of a hundred and twenty-five acres 
and he had it several years. In 1873 he en- 
gaged in the retail fish business in the adjoin- 
ing town of ?Iopkinton and continued for a 
period of .'ight years, selling to .\. E. Farwell. 
In 1882 he bought a fish business at South 
Framingham, formerly the Hall & Howes 
market, which he conducted for five years. In 
1807 h*" sol'I o"t to his son, (ieorge II, Fitts, 
and retired. He lived at South Framingham 
the remainder of his life, and die.l tliere .April 
9. 1904. He attended the Congregational 
church. He was a Democrat in politics. He 
belonged to Eagle Lodge. No. 144. Odd Fel- 
lows, of Hopkinton, and was its treasurer for 
a number of years: to Fidelity Lodge, Daugh- 
ters of Rebekah, .South Framingham. 

Jonathan H. I'itts married, October 15, 
1850, Elizabeth Jane Austin, born .August 29, 
1828, (laughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Ab- 
bott) .\ustin. of Ilollis, New Hampshire. 
Benjamin was a farmer and cooper. Children 
of Jonathan H. and Elizabeth J. Fitts: i. Liz- 
zie Maria, born January 19. 1854. died Sep- 
tember 20. i860. 2. Cieorge Harvey, born 
April 26. 1862, mentioned below. 3. Arthur 



McQellan, born June 21, 1864, mentioned 
below. 

(.\1\ ) George Harvey Fitts, eldest son of 
Jonathan Harvey (13) and Elizabeth Jane 
(Austin) Fitts, was born at Ashland, April 26, 
1862. He was educated in the public schools 
of Hopkinton. He worked with his father in 
the fish market, and when his father re- 
tired bought the business. In 1889 he 
and his brother, .\rihur .\1. Fitts, formed 
the firm of Fitts Brothers and extended 
their business to other lines. They 
conduct an extensive business in groceries, 
nie;its, fish, kitchenware, hardware, and has 
also a bakery and confectionery department. 
In i8(;2 the Iiusiness was removed to its pres- 
ent location. 50 and 52 Concord street, in the 
Mtts Block. The store is the largest in the 
town, and worthy of special mention for its 
systematic arrangement and .special sanitary 
features. Fitts Brothers have also stores in 
Natick, Marlborough and Hudson, Massachu- 
setts, towns in the neighborhood, and both 
partners have invested extensively in real 
estate, (ieorge H. Fitts married, December 
23, 1885, Nancy Helen lUillard, Ixirn .April 13, 
i860, daughter of Joseph W.andM:'.ry (Gould- 
ing) Bullard, of South Framingham. Joseph 
W. Bullard was a manufacturer and a dealer 
in wf)od and coal. Children : .Arthur Bullard, 
born .\ugust 2T,. 1888. Helen, .March 25, 
1890. 

(XI\') Arthur .McClellan l-"itts, youngest 
sfin of Jonathan Harvey (13) and Eliza- 
beth Jane (.\ustin) I'itts, was born at .Ash- 
land, June 21, 1864. He attended .school there 
in early youth, and at the age of nine went to 
Hopkinton with his parents and attended the 
public schools there rntil he was thirteen years 
old. He assisted his father in the market be- 
tween terms and after leaving school. He al- 
,so worked in the boot and shoe factory of S. 
& .A. Crooks for one season. .At the age of 
eighteen years he removed with his parents 
to .South Framingham, and for five years was 
employed in his father's market. Then his 
brother, George H.. bought the business, and 
for alK)ut a year he remained in his employ. 
He bought a fish market in \\'altham in 1888 
of H. .A. Caswell, but at the end of a year 
sold it to W. -A. Locke and returned to .South 
Framingham, entering ])artnership with his 
brother under the name of Fitts Brothers. 

.Arthur M. Fitts is a Congregationalist in 
religion, a Rcpubh'can in politics. He is a 
member of Alpha Lodge of Free Masons, 
South Framingham, and was formerly a mem- 
ber of Framingham Lodge, No. 45, of Odd 



56 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Fellows; and of the Encampment. He be- 
longs to the Retail Grocers' Association of 
Massachusetts. He married, October 25, 1898, 
Mary Louisa Amsden, born January, 1868, 
daughter of George M. and Louisa (Fair- 
banks) Amsden, of South Framingham. Her 
father was a dealer in general merchandise. 
Children: i. Harvey Amsden, born March 
31, 1903. 2. George Austin, born June 20, 
1904. 3. Arthur McCIellan, Jr., born, Decem- 
ber 20, 1905. 



Hon. John M. Harlow died at 
HARLOW his residence, 505 Main street, 
Woburn, May 13, 1907, after 
a lingering illness due to his advanced age, 
which was eighty-seven years and six months. 
As Dr. Harlow has been kind to many people 
and enjoyed during his lifetime a very ex- 
tensive medical practice, there are, doubtless 
a large number who have known him in his 
various characters as a financier, a politician 
(in the best sense), a medical man, an ad- 
viser and helper in their personal affairs, who 
would gladly read an account of his life in the 
pages of this work. 

He was a native of Whitehall, New York, 
the son of Ransom and Annis (Martyn) Har- 
low. He was born November 25. i8ig. He 
was fitted for college at educational institu- 
tions in West Poultney, Vermont, and Ashby, 
Massachusetts. In early life he was a teacher, 
and part of the time at Acton in this state. He 
was also interested in singing, and while a 
very young man was leader of a choir in the 
local Baptist church in his native town. He 
began his study of medicine in 1840. He 
pursued a course in the Philadelphia School 
of Anatomy, and was graduated at the Jef- 
ferson Medical College of Philadelphia in 
1844. He began the practice of medicine in 
1843 ^t Cavendish. Vermont, where he re- 
mained fifteen years, when he was obliged to 
retire on account of ill health, .^fter spending 
nearly three years in travel and in study in 
Stillwater, Minnesota, and in Philadelphia, he 
came to Woburn. By his agreeable manners 
and his skill Dr. Harlow soon became a com- 
petitor of the other physicians of the place, 
and worked hard and constantly until within 
a few years, when from his age he demanded 
a retirement. He, however, retained the care 
of his financial affairs, which occupied the 
grenter part of his time until the last. 

He was for many years the oldest physician 
living in Woburn, and the last remaining here 
of those of his school of practice who were 



living in this city in the early eighteen hun- 
dred and sixties. He settled in practice in 
Woburn in 1861, where from the first he held 
a prominent position in his profession, a great 
variety of local offices and among them also 
that of state senator and a member of the 
Governor's Council. 

Dr. Harlow's record as a family physician 
has been one of the longest — in all sixty-two 
years, and in Woburn alone a period of forty- 
six years. In skill he was far more than an 
ordinary practitioner, and his standing in the 
estimation of the public furnishes the highest 
tribute to his character, tact, sympathy and 
personal worth. In numberless homes he has 
shown a kindliness and friendship which will 
not be forgotten by the different generations 
of our citizens who have known and respected 
him as a man of high mind, and self-sacrific- 
ing, kind-hearted and true. These will pre- 
serve, while they live, anecdotes of his prow- 
ess in combating disease, and reminiscences 
of instances of his wit and cases of his gener- 
osity which have been in these long years not 
a few. 

It may not be known to the younger gen- 
eration that Dr. Harlow acquired his fame be- 
fore his coming to Woburn by his cure of a 
remarkable case of accident. An account of 
it was read and published by himself, by invi- 
tation of the Massachusetts Medical Society, 
in 1868. This was, however, twenty years after 
the accident happened. The title of the pamph- 
let read ."Recovery from the passage of an Iron 
Bar through the Head." The circumstances 
were these : .\ young man, Phineas P. Gage 
bv name who. while engaging in drilling a hole 
in a rock in Cavendish, on September 13, 1848, 
was the victim of a premature blast. The ex- 
plosion drove the iron bar which he had in his 
hand completely through his head and high 
into the air. The bar was three feet seven 
inches in length, and round in shape and 
smooth by use. The man was carried some 
distance in an ox-cart after the accident and 
got out of the cart himself, with but little 
assistance, and at a later hour walked up a 
long flight of stairs, with his physician's aid, 
and got upon the bed himself in his room. 
"He spoke and said : 'The iron entered there,' 
pointing to the hole, in the cheek, 'and passed 
through my head.' He hoped he was 'not 
much hurt." The iron had passed through the 
brain, and the patient continued in a reason- 
ablv comfortable state, with his mind clear, 
saying he did not 'care to see his friends,' and 
said he should 'be at work in a few days.' 
.After lingering between life and death — his 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



57 



friends were so certain of his immediate death 
that they had the coffin and clothes in readi- 
ness — he gradually improved under treatment 
and recovered, after which he took to travel- 
ing, visited many places near home, and in 
1852 turned his back upon New England 
never to return. He remained nearly eight 
years in Chili, South America, and eventually 
went to San Francisco, California, and died 
there of convulsions on May 21, 1861, twelve 
years and six months after the date of his 
accident." 

Dr. Harlow lost sight of his patient for a 
time, but finally retraced him, through his 
family, who resided in California. After 
Gage's death Dr. Harlow prevailed upon the 
family, in the interest of science, to send him 
the skull and bar. which he placed in the 
Warren Museum of the Harvard Medical 
School. At the new' Harvard Medical School 
to-day the skull and bar form two of the most 
prized exhibits. On an examination of the 
skull it may be seen that the larger pieces of 
bone which were replaced over the aperture 
have joined firmly. The bony substance of 
the jaw has been wholly renewed. A second 
skull accompanying the exhibit has been pre- 
pared to show the exact course of the iron. 
A cast of Gage's head shows its appearance 
after the healing of the wounds. And lastly 
the bar itself appears, on which is engraved an 
explanatory inscription. 

Dr. Harlow was chairman of the school 
committee of Cavendish. \'ermont, for nine 
years. He was appointed by Governor .Xn- 
drew, of Massachusetts, a special examining 
surgeon for recruits in 1862. He was coun- 
cillor in the Massachusetts Medical Society for 
many years, and president of the Middlesex 
East District ]\Tedical Society for several 
terms. He was a director, vice-president and 
president of the First National Rank of Wo- 
burn, and one of the directors of the new 
Woburn National Bank, also president and 
director of the Woburn Gas Light Company, 
trustee of the Woburn Public Library, and at 
one time chairman of the board of sinking 
fund commissioners of W^oburn. Tt was due 
to his influence that the Woburn Public Li- 
brary was incorporated. He was elected to 
the Massachusetts ."senate in November, 1884. 
and to the Governor's Council two terms in 
1895 and 1896. 

Dr. Harlow was of Pilgrim descent. His 
ancestor, William Harlow, came to Sandwich 
from Lynn, and moved to Plymouth. In Ply- 
motith he married Rebecca P.artlett, whose 
grandfather. Richard Warren, came over in 



1620 in the "Mayflower." The family have 
lived for several generations at Plymouth, ap- 
peared eventually at Pittsfield, whence they 
removed to the state of New York, to that 
part adjoining Vermont. In conformity with 
the ideas of his Puritan ancestry. Dr. Harlow 
held some positive opinions. He could never 
forgive Count Rum ford — our eminent Wo- 
burn native — for fighting against the Ameri- 
cans in the ranks of the British, more than a 
century ago ; and he had an old-fashioned sort 
of integrity which had no patience with those 
who practiced crooked methods of finance or 
who used their advantages in public life for 
their own private gain. He was endowed 
naturally with a large amount of executive 
ability, which displayed itself more publicly 
than ever before in his life on important occa- 
sions during the time when he was a member 
of the governor's council. He was appointed 
by Governor Wolcott a trustee of the Massa- 
chusetts General Hospital. 

Isaac Harlow, grandfather of Dr. John M. 
Harlow, was Ixirn in New Jersey, July 26, 
1757, and died at Whitehall. New York, Janu- 
ary II, 1829, aged seventy-two. He was mar- 
ried to Mcliitable Lnthrop, who was born July, 
1752, and died at Whitehall, May 24, 1810, 
in her fifty-eighth year. Children: i. Ran- 
som, see forward. 2. Isaac, lived in White- 
hall. 3. Lucy, died April 20, 1842, aged 

sixty-five: married Dwyer, a Baptist 

minister, and lived in Essex, New York, 
where her death occvirred. 

Deacon Ransom Harlow, son of Isaac, and 
father of Dr. John M. Harlow, was born De- 
cember 22, 1780, and died in Whitehall, Feb- 
ruary 24, 1855, in his seventy-fifth year of age. 
He was married on May 15. 1803, to Annis 
Martin, who was born March 30, 1785. and 
died at Whitehall, June 28, 1861. aged 
seventy-six vears. They were both members 
of the Baptist church, and this item has been 
preserved : "September fi, 1807, R. Harlow, 
Annis Harlow, and Hester, baptized and 
joined the Baptist church in Hampton ; Isaac 
Harlow and wife baptized in October follow- 
ing." The last item evidently refers to the 
parents of Ransom Harlow. Children, born 
at Whitehall. New York: T. George C. born 
.\pril 20, 1804. died at Whitehall. September 
28, 1878: married, August, 1823. Polly Mans- 
field. 2. Clarissa Caroline, born May 22, 
1806, died at Pawlet, Vermont, March, 1882: 
married, September 22, 1832. Hiel Hollister. 
3. Lucy M.. born January 9. 1808, died Oc- 
tober 10, 1847, in Pawlet; married. May 26, 
183 1, Chester L. Carver. 4. (Byron) Lothropv 



58 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



born May i, i8io,died in Michigan, 1888, aged 
sevent3'-eight years ; married, February 9, 
1834, Celia Manvill. 5. Adeline, born August 

9, 1812, died January 9, 1890, aged seventy- 
eight years; married, May i. 1833, Philo Man- 
vill; he died July 6, 1835, at \Varsa\v, Gene- 
seo county. New York, aged twenty-nine 
years; and she married second, October 25, 
1853, Asa E. Clark. 6. Frederick M., born 
April 7, 1815; died September 2, 1835, aged 
twenty years. 7. Judson R., born November 
30, 1817; died \larch 31, 1896, aged seventy- 
eight years ; married, March 28, 1844, Weltha 
Goodrich. 8. John M., born November 25, 
1819: subject of this sketch. 9. Eliza C, born 
September 17, 1821 ; died January 29, 1824. 

10. Isaac J., born July 10, 1823 ; died August 
12, 1887; married, November 26, i85o,.\tlanta 
F. Felton. 11. Mary E., born April 10, 1826; 
died in Shaftsbury, \'ermont, October 1864. 
12. Stanley, born November 25, 1827; died 
.A.ugust 28, T828. 

Dr. Harlow was married January 5, 1843, to 
Charlotte Davis, daughter of Ebenezer and 
Abigail, (Faulkner) Davis, of Acton. His 
first wife died on July 5, 1886, and he mar- 
ried second, August 2, 1888, Frances A. Kim- 
ball, daughter of Daniel and Mary A. (Ames) 
Kimball of A\'oburn. He left no children by 
either marriage. 

After personal bequests to his widow and 
immediate relatives and a few personal 
friends. Dr. Harlow bequeathed the following 
sums to the following objects : The Woburn 
Home for Aged Women, $5,000; and the 
First Congregational Parish in Woburn, 
$5,000. The residue of the estate is given 
in trust as a life benefit to his wife, and at her 
decease is disposed of to the following organi- 
zations : Massachusetts General Hospital, 
seven-fortieths for establishing the "Dr. John 
M. Harlow Ward," with a proviso in certain 
contingencies about free beds ; the city of Wo- 
burn seven-fortieths, for the benefit of the 
Woburn Public Library, the income to be 
used for the purchase of certain books, or the 
maintenance of lecture courses on certain sub- 
jects ; the City of Woburn, one-fortieth for the 
establishment and maintenance of a reference 
library and the purchase of art works for the 
public high school ; the Middlesex East Dis- 
trict Medical Society one-fortieth, the income 
to be used for its expenses and annual dinner ; 
the Woburn Home for Aged Women two- 
fortieths, in addition to the previous legacy ; 
the First Congregational Parish in Woburn 
two-fortieths, additional to the immediate leg- 
acy ; the First Baptist Church of Woburn one- 



fortieth, as a memorial to his parents, "who- 
were of that faith ;"' the Woburn Society of 
the [Methodist Episcopal Church, one-fortieth ; 
to the Trinity Episcopal Parish in ^Voburn, 
one-fortieth: to the Congregational Society in 
North Woburn, one-fortieth ; to the Church 
of Christ in Burlington, Massachusetts, one- 
fortieth ; and to the Evangelical Society in 
Acton as a- memorial of his first wife, two- 
fortieths. The value of a fortieth part in the 
above distribution has been estimated at a con- 
servative figure to amount to about $5,500. 



The surname Home is also 
HORNE spelled Horn, Orne and Lahorne 

in the early records. John Home 
was an early settler at Salem, Massachusetts, 
aproprietorof thetown; on a court commission 
as early as 1638 ; deacon of the Salem church. 
Most of his descendants have spelled their 
names Orne. .\n immigrant of a generation 
later, Robert Home, who located in Framing- 
ham, Massachusetts, came from Flanders. 

(I) William Home, brother of John Home 
mentioned above, was the immigrant ancestor. 
He came from England to Dover, then Coche- 
co. New Hampshire, where his name first ap- 
pears on the tax list in 1659. It is said that 
even earlier he lived at Salisbury, and in 1661 
and 1662 he lived in Salisbury, Massachu- 
setts. He settled in Dover, however, how- 
ever, and bought there September 20. 1661, 
two hundred and forty acres of land lying be- 
tween Cocheco and Tole End in Dover, a por- 
tion of which were recently owned by lineal 
descendants still. He was killed in the Indian 
Massacre, June 28, 1689. The inventory of 
his estate was filed July 15, following. He 

married Elizabeth , who survived him 

and settled the estate. Children: i. Elizabeth, 
born February I, 1662, at Salisbury. 
2. John, mentioned below. 3. William, 
born May 11, 1674, resided in Dover; 
died April 12, 1697; and had only 
son Thomas and daughter Elizabeth who mar- 
ried Moses Kimmin. 4. Thomas, born No- 
vember 28, 1676, settled in Dover; married 
.A.pril 28, 1699, Judith Ricker, daughter of 
George and Eleanor (Evans) Ricker. 5. 
Margaret, born May 10, 1679, died 1697. 6. 
Mercy, married, April 6, 1704, Joseph Evans. 

(II) John Home, son of William Home 
(i), was born at Dover, New Hampshire. Oc- 
tober 25, 1663. married, June 30, 1686, Mary 
Ham, daughter of John and Mary (Heard) 
Ham. She v.'as born October 21, 1668. Home 
died March, 1696-97, and she married (sec- 




lOXATHAN HORNI; 




DANIEL W. HORNE 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



59 



oiul), August 29, 1698, Jolui Waldron, and 
was mother of .Meliitable W'aLlron who mar- 
ried James Cheslcy (4), grandmother of Col- 
onel John Waldron, who married Margaret 
(Frost) Wentworth, widow of Hon. John 
Wentworth, Jr. Children: i. John Home, 
born 1687, as the eldest son and heir of his 
father received sixty acres of land October 31, 
1717. from his uncle, Thomas Home (2), as 
his full share of his father's estate ; married, 
Deceinber 29, 1708, Elizabeth Heard; chil- 
dren : i. Nathaniel, married Sarah Hayes, 
daughter of Ichabod and Abigail Hayes ; ii. 
Isaac ; iii. William, sold to his brother John his 
rights in his father's estate ; iv. John. 2. Wil- 
liam, mentioned below. 3. Daniel, born 1689. 
And perhaps others. 

(HI) William Home, son of John Home 
(2), was bom about 1690, died IJecember 20, 
1742. There is on record a receipt in full that 
he gave his brother, John Home, July 17, 
1731, Thomas Home, witness, for twenty 
pounds. He was a Friend, resided on north 
side of Willard's Pond, Dover, and was a 
housewright by trade. He conveyed his house 
and land to his son Ebenezer, February 26, 
1754, and on the same date land in Somers- 
worth to his son William. His will was dated 
December 14, 1767, and proved August 29, 
1770. He married, October 17, 1713, Mary 
Varney, who died September 18, 1735. mar- 
ried (second) Rachel : married (third) 

Elizabeth . He bequeathed to wife Eliza- 
beth, and to eleven children. Qiildren : i. Eb- 
enezer. married Mary , and had five sons 

and two daughters at Dover ; tax collector of 
Wolfeborougii in 1791. 2. Andrew, settled in 
Dover and had sons, Andrew, Jacob, Gershom 
and Ephraim. 3. William, settled in Somers- 
worth. 4. Peter, mentioned below. 5. Moses. 

born June 8. 1741. 6. Sarah, married 

Gould. 7. Mary. 8. Lydia, married Twom- 

bly. 9. Mercy, married Hussey. 10. .Abi- 
gail, married Hayes. 11. Martha, married 

Copp. The foregoing arc not in order of 



their birth. 

(IV) Peter Home, son of William Home 
(3), was born at Dover. New Hampshire, 
about 1730. He received from his father land 
in Rochester on Chestnut Hill, February 26, 
1754. eighty acres of the original right. He 
was a blacksmith by trade. He died in 1795; 
his widow Mercy appointed administratrix 
that year; her widow's third set off in Novem- 
ber, 1800. Children, born at Rochester: i. 
Daniel, born about 1760. 2. Rebecca, married 
October 20, 1783, John Wentworth. 3. Eli- 
jah, born .May 4, 1764, baptized May 21, in 



Rochester Church. 4. Moses, mentioned be- 
low. 5. Ednumd, born May 24, 1769. 6. Ja- 
cob, bom May 22, 1771, baptized in October. 
7. ..Abra, baptized September 20, 1778, in Ro- 
chester, married Joseph Corson, October 11, 
'795- 8. i-iachel, torn 1778, baptized Septem- 
Ixr 20, 1778; married Jones. 9. Rich- 
ard, bom .March 17, 1778, baptized September 
20, 1778. 

(\') Moses Home, son of Peter Home (,4), 
was born in Rochester, New Hampshire, about 
1765. He received land from his father and 
.settled in Rochester on a farm adjoining his 
father's on Chestnut Hill. He died in 1800 
when guardians were appointed for four min- 
or children. These children were baptized 
October 17, 1802, in the Rochester ciiurcli. He 
married, June 9, 1788, .Mary Wingate. He 
married (second). December 31, 1795, .Mice 
Furber. Children: i. Jonathan, mentioned 
below. 2. Mary, married Dr. Hiram Cannon, 
August 18, 181 1. 3. Rachel, baptized Janu- 
ary 5, 1802. 4. Peter, baptized October 17, 
1802, married Sarah Piper. 5. Elizabeth 
Downing, baptized October 17, 1802, married 
George Carter. (See manuscript of Dr. J. 
R. Ham at Library of N. E. Historic-Genea- 
logical Society, Boston). 

(VI) Jonathan Home, son of Moses Home 
(5). was born at Rochester, New Hamp- 
shire, late in 1788 or early in 1789, and died 
here in 1 871. He was a farmer. He married 
(first), July 5, 1815, Betsey Main, of Roches- 
ter; (second) Elizabeth Wallingford. Chil- 
dren: I. Mary I).. Iwrn 1816, died 1844. 2. 
Elizabeth -Vdeline, born 1819, died 1841. 3. 
.Xdaline, born 1821, died 1849; niarried 
James E. Gardner : child : James Gardner, 
txirn 1848, died 1855. 4. Daniel W., men- 
tioned below. 5. Clara, born 1828. died 1906. 
6. Emily Ann, born 1830. 7. Lydia Frances, 
bom 1832, died 1851. 8. George W.. born 
about 1835. 9. Charles S., born and died in 
1840. Child of Jonathan and Ivlizabeth Home : 
10. Elizabeth, married Edwin Chesley : chil- 
dren : i. Gertrude Chesley, married Ellsworth 
Pearl and had two children : Winifred and 
.\lden ; ii. Guy Chesley. 

(\TI) Daniel W. Home, son of Jonathan 
Home (6). was born at Rochester, May 4, 
1823. died .April i. 1903. Married, November 
(>. 1848. Mary Smith, born in Windham. New 
Hampshire, January 5, 1827, died July 3, 
1891. He married (second), 1893. Mary 
.Atherton. He settled in Lowell. Massachu- 
-setts, and became a prosperous coal merchant 
there. Children of Daniel W. and Mary 
(Smith) Home, all born in Lowell, Ma.ssachu- 



'6o 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



setts: I. Mary Ella, born October i8, 1849, 
married Woodward E. Murkland, November 
8, 1871, resides at Springfield, Massachusetts, 
and had one child, Bertha Frances Murkland, 
born at Worcester, Massachusetts, January 15 
1874, married Rev. Harry C. Meserve, May 
.23, 1894; children, all born in Springfield: 
Faith Lucena, Jean Chamberlain, Constance 
Eambert, Louis, died young. 2. Frances, born 
March 21, 1852, married, January 5, 1876, 
Almy J. Flint ; children : i. Edith Frances, 
l)orn July 10, 1879, married, October 21, 1903, 
Walter N. Burtt and has child, Richard Flint 
Burtt, born September 12, 1904; ii. Rachel, 
born May 7, 1885. 3. Flora, born October 26, 
1853, married, June 27, 1895, William H. 
England : child : Doris, born July 6, 1896. 4. 
Fred., mentioned below. 5. Qara Belle, born 
September 26, 1858. 6. Catherine Wingate, 
torn August 12, i860. 

(VIII) Fred. Home, son of Daniel W. 
Home (7), was born in Lowell, November 2, 
1856. He was educated in the public schools 
•of his native place. He learned the trade of 
stone cutting and followed it for a number of 
years. In 1891 he entered into partnership 
with his father in the coal business under the 
name of D. W. Home & Son, and since his 
father's death has been the sole proprietor of 
the concern. The business was built up by his 
father to large proportions and has steadily 
prospered. He has taken a foremost position 
In the business world. The business has been 
incorporated under the name of the Home 
Coal Company, of which he is director and 
treasurer. He is a prominent Republican, 
serving two years in the common council of 
the city of Lowell. He attends the Elliot Con- 
gregational Church of Lowell. He is a mern- 
■ber of the Free Masons, Knight Templar's 
Pilgrim Commandery. 

He married (first) April, 1877, Nellie 
Prye, of Lowell, who died shortly after the 
marriage. He married (second), September 
20, 1883, Martha W. Conlan, of Lowell. Chil- 
dren of Frederick and Martha W. Home: i. 
Herbert W., born February 13, 1885 ; 2. Be- 
atrice M.. born November 23, 1888. 3. Au- 
gusta M.. bom June 11, 1892. 



Nathaniel Potter, the immi- 
POTTER grant ancestor, was born in 
England, and settled before 
1638 on the Island of Aquidneck in New Eng- 
land. He was admitted an inhabitant in 1638, 
and .April 30, 1639, he and twenty-eight others 
signed the compact for the government of the 



colony. He died before 1644, leaving a wife 
Dorothy, born 161 7, died 1696, who married 
(second) J. Albro, and had one son, Nathan- 
iel, Jr. 

(II) Nathaniel Potter, son of Nathaniel 
Potter ( I ) , was born in England ; settled in 
Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and Dartmouth, 
Massachusetts. He was admitted a freeman 
in 1677. His will was dated October 18, 
1704, and proved November 20, 1704, his wid- 
ow and son Stokes being executors, his friends 
James Tripp and Hugh Mosher overseers. He 
left to his son Stokes half the land on the north 
side of the road and other property. Children, 
born at Portsmouth: i. Nathaniel, born about 
1640, died October 20, 1704; mentioned below. 
2. Ichabod, died 1676; married, about 1651, 
Martha Hazard, daughter of Thomas and 
Martha Hazard. 

(III) Nathaniel Potter, son of Nathaniel 
Potter (2), was born at Portsmouth, about 
1640, died October 20, 1704. He married Eliz- 
abeth Stokes. He settled at Dartmouth, where 
his children were born, viz: i. Stokes, died 
1718, mentioned below. 2. John, died 1769. 3. 
Nathaniel, died November 16,1736. 4. William 
married .Anne Durfee, daughter of Tiiomas 

Durfee. 5. Benjamin, married Mary . 6. 

Samuel, born January, 1675 ; married Mary 
Benton. 7. Ichabod, died 1755; married 
Eleanor . 8. Mary, married Samuel Wil- 
bur. 9. Rebecca, married Robert Kirby. 10. 
EHzabeth, married July 31, 1709, Benjamin 
Tripp. II. Katherine, married Thomas Cor- 
nell. 12. Ruth. 

(I\") Stokes Potter, son of Nathaniel Pot- 
ter (3), was born at Dartmouth ; married Eliz- 
abeth , who died in 1718. He died 1718. 

His will was dated January 25, 1718, and 
proved February 3, 1718, his wife, Elizabeth, 
executrix. He gave land at Dartmouth to his 
son Nathaniel. The inventory amounted to 
384 pounds. Children, born at Dartmouth : I. 
Isabel, born October 19, 1703, married. Janu- 
ary 7, 1720, Jonathan Mosher. 2. Margaret, 
born June 30, 1705. 3. Hannah, born May 3, 
1707. 4. Nathaniel, bom January 7, 1709, 
mentioned below. 5. Benjamin, born June 
21, 171 1, married, December 30, 1730, Prue 
Hicks, of Dartmouth. 6. Dorothy, born Feb- 
ruary 2, 1714, married, February 24, 1730, 
Richard Smith. 7. Sarah. 

(V) Nathaniel Potter, son of Stokes Pot- 
ter (3), was born at Dartmouth, January 7, 
1709, married, November 3, 1726, Mary De- 
vol. Children, born at Dartmouth, i. Lydia, 
born December 7, 1727, married, March i, 
1748, William Sisson. 2. Desire, born Sep- 




c::y^^uc/. J^-^^-^^^ 




A/^^u^^ ^"A^. 



cT-^-^^:^ 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



6i 



tember u, 1729, married, December 13. 1744, 
Jolin Macomber. 3. Stokes, born December 
10, 1731, married, May 30, 1750, Rebecca 
Shaw. 5. Joseph, born July 31, 1735, men- 
tioned below. 6. Bathsheba, born May 10 
1737, married, February 13, 1755, Benjamin 
Wing. 7. Cornelius. l)orn May 20, 1739. mar- 
ried, July 3, 1757, Deborah Carr. 8. Stephen, 
born March 5, 1741, married Bridget Allen. 9. 
Mary, born December i, 1743, married Jacob 
Williamson. 11. Hannah, born October 25. 
1747, married Daniel Tripp. 

(VI) Joseph Potter, son of Nathaniel Pot- 
ter (5), was born July 31, 1735, married Din- 
ah Gifford. He settled in Washington county, 
near Vermont, in New York state, and from 
there his descendants have scattered all over 
that section. Children, born in W'ashington 
county: i. Jonathan, born yia.\ 11. 1765, died 

September 30, 1835 ; married Mary . 2. 

Cornelius, born September 4. 1767. died Au- 
gust 11, 1835; married Judith Benson. 3 
Jeremiah, born July i, 1771 ; mentioned be- 
low. 4. Stephen, born June 14. 1777: died 
February 6. 1849: married. January 3, 1796, 
Lydia Potter, daughter of Benjamin and 
Keziah Potter. 5. Roba, married Joel Tal- 
madge, of Schaghticoke. 6. Gideon. 7. Jo- 
seph. 8. Elizabeth, married Jonathan Prince. 
9. Desire, married Bildad Benson. 10. Na- 
thaniel, married Clara Cornell, daughter of 
Gideon. 

(VH) Jeremiah Potter, son of Joseph Pot- 
ter (6). was born July i, 1771. He married 
(first), when less than eighteen, January i, 
1789, IXircas Gulick, who was born in 1767; 
married (second), January, 1796, Philomela 
Raskins, who was born in 1776; married 
(third), January 30. 1817, Martha Bidvvell, 
who was tx)rn in 1784. 

(\TII) Mitchell Potter, ."^on or near relative 
of Jeremiah Potter (7), was born in PlAtts- 
burg. New York, where he attended the public 
schools and settled as a farmer. He was a 
prominent citizen of the town. He married 
Cecilia Wells, of Plattsburg. Children : Isaac, 
Louise, Mary, Olive, .'Kmelia. Henry, Jere- 
miah, William E., born in 1830, mentioned be- 
low. 

(IX) William E. Potter, son of Mitchell 
Potter (8). was born at Plattsburg in 1830 
and died in Lowell in 1904. He was educated 
in the public schools of his native town. He 
helped his father on the farm until he was of 
age, when he accepted a position as guard in 
the New York state prison at Dannemora. He 
filled this office acceptably for several years. 
He resigned and in 1866 engaged in the real 



estate business in Lowell, Massachusetts. He 
was successful from the outset and his busi- 
ness increased in extent until he had one 
of the largest real estate agencies in the state. 
Having acquired a competence he retired from 
active business in 1900. He was well known 
m Masonic circles, having taken all the degrees 
to and including the thirty-second. He was 
also a member of the Lowell Board of Trade. 
He attended the Bapti.st church. He married 
in Ellenburg, New York, Cynthia Howland,^ 
who was born in Burlington, X'ermont, .\pril 
2. 1842, daughter of .\rnold and Harriet A. 
(Wright) Howland, of Burlington. She sur- 
vives him. Their children: i. Helen, resides 
at home with her mother. 2. Florence, mar- 
ried S. \\'. Kidder. 3. Henrietta, married W. 
H. Wilson. 4. William E., unmarried. 5. 
Charles M., born January 16, 1862. mentioned 
below. 

(X) Charles .M. Potter, .son of William E. 
Potter (9), was born in Ellenburg, Clinton 
county. New York, January 16, 1862. He was 
educated in the public and high schools of 
Lowell. He was then associated with his 
father in the real estate business and has con- 
tinuetj it since, holding well his leadership in 
his line of business. .Many of the most im- 
portant real estate transactions of his city have 
been eflfected through his a,gency. His integ- 
rity and thorough knowledge of property in 
the city have made him the leading expert in 
his line, and his advice is constantly sought by 
investors and intending purchasers. He is a 
Republican in politics. He takes great inter- 
est in the order of Elks, of which he is an 
active member. In religion he is a Baptist. 
.-\ leader in financial and business circles, Mr. 
Potter is one of the most influential and highly 
esteemed citizens. He married, January 5, 
1892, Mary E. Campbell, who was bom Alay. 
1867, daughter of Dr. Daniel and Julia Hall 
Campbell, of Bellows Falls, \ermont. Chil- 
dren: I. Robert S., bom February, 1894. 2. 
Madeline, born February, 1895. 3. Daniel, 
born 1896. 



Deacon Thomas Loring. of 
LORTNG Hingham and Hull. Massa- 
chusetts, was bom in .\xniins- 
ter. County Devon, England, and died at Hull, 
.Massachusetts, .'\pril 4, 1661. His widow, 
fane (Newton) Loring, died August 25. 1672. 
Mr. Loring arrived in this country on De- 
cember 23, 1634, and for a short time resided 
at Dorchester, Massachusetts, and removed 
thence to Hin.gham. He was one of the early 



62 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



deacons of the church in Hingham, and subse- 
quently removed to the town of Hull, and 
there died. 

(II) Thomas Loring, son of Deacon 
Thomas Loring (i), born in Axminster, 
County Devon, England, died at Hull, Massa- 
chusetts, 1679, aged fifty years ; married De- 
cember 16, 1657, Hannah Jacob, baptized Feb- 
ruary 23, 1639-40, died October 20, 1720; 
daughter of Nicholas and Mary Jacob of 
Hingham. She married second, Captain 
Stephen French, of Weymouth, Massachu- 
setts. 

(III) Lieutenant Thomas Loring, son of 
Thomas Loring (2), born at Hull, Massachu- 
setts, March 15, 1667-8, died at Duxbury, 
Massachusetts, December 5, 171 7: married 
April 19, 1699, Deborah Cushing, born Sep- 
tember, 1674, daughter of John and Sarah 
(Hawke) Cushing, of Scituate, Massachusetts. 
She married second, February 18, 1727, Syl- 
vester Richmond, Esquire, of Little Compton, 
Rhode Island. 

(IV) Benjamin Loring, son of Lieutenant 
Thomas Loring (3), born at Duxbury, Massa- 
chusetts, about 1708, died there March i, 
1781, "in the seventy-third year of his age;" 
married, February 8, 1739, Anna Alden, born 
June 14, 1716, died July i, 1804, aged eighty- 
nine years, daughter of Colonel John and 
Hannah (Briggs) Alden, of Duxbury. and 
great-granddaughter of John Alden, who 
came in the "Mayflower," 1620. Mr. Loring 
was bred a farmer, and was esteemed as a man 
of sound judgment, uprightness, and integ- 
rity. 

(V) Daniel Loring, son of Benjamin Lor- 
ing (4), born at Duxbury, Massachusetts, 
January 8, 1751, died at Braintree, Massachu- 
setts, July 27, 1831, aged eighty years; mar- 
ried, (intention dated August 8, 1778) Mary 
Thayer, born March 30, 1757, died April 8, 
1834, aged seventy-seven years, daughter of 

James and Esther (Wales) Thayer, of Brain- 
tree. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
war, held the position of a sergeant, and late 
in life received a pension. He resided at 
Braintree, and was a shipbuilder, his shipyard 
"being on the Monatiquot River. 

(VI) James Loring. son of Daniel Loring 
(5), born at Braintree. Massachusetts, June 
t8, 1780, died at Boston, Massachusetts, Janu- 
ary 4, 1866, aged eighty-five years, six 
months, and sixteen days ; married first, Mary 
Freeman, born December 29, 1779, died at 
Duxbury, November 9, 1816. aged thirty- 
seven years ; married second, Mrs. Ruth 
.(Dingley) Delano; she died February 10, 



1830. He resided at Duxbury, was a cabinet- 
maker by trade, and was a deputy sherifT of 
Plymouth county. 

(\MI) Deacon Judah Loring, son of James 
Loring (6), born at Duxbury, Massachusetts, 
.\pril 15, 1809, died at Lawrence, Kansas, Oc- 
tober 31, 1857; married December 3, 1835, 
Betsy (White) Faxon, born April 22, 181 1, 
died at Medford, Massachusetts, January i, 
1886, daughter of Captain Asaph and Eunice 
(.\llen) Faxon, of Braintree. He learned the 
trade of shipjoiner, and at the age of twenty- 
two settled in Medford and began the success- 
ful prosecution of his vocation as a master 
shipjoiner. .\s soon as he became a resident 
of Medford he identified himself with some of 
her prominent public interests, and early be- 
came a leading spirit in works of improve- 
ment and reform. He held many town offices, 
such as school committee, overseer of the poor, 
selectman, etc., and for a long time was a 
justice of the peace. He was elected to the 
office of deacon in the Second Congregational 
Church, and served in that capacity with great 
acceptance for many years. He was a zealous 
temperance advocate, and an uncompromising 
foe of human slavery at a time when it re- 
quired moral courage and personal sacrifice to 
act in either cause. He went to Kansas in 
May, 1857, and there died before the close of 
that year, as above stated. His wife, who 
justly shared the respect that he won in the 
places of his residence, survived him, with his 
three children — Freeman Allen, Mary James, 
and Arthur Greene Loring. 

Mr. Loring was a true man. a sincere and 
loyal patriot, and a courteous and christian 
gentleman. He possessed in a large degree 
qualities that commanded respect and confi- 
dence of his fellow-citizens. The town of 
Medford delighted to honor him while he 
lived; and, after his decease resolutions in 
deserved commendation of his life and public 
services were presented at meeting of the 
town and adopted unanimously. 

(VIII) Arthur Greene Loring. son of Dea- 
con Judah (7) and Betsy White (Faxon) 
Loring, was born on Ship street, now River- 
side avenue, Medford, September 29, 1844. 
His parents were prominent residents of that 
town. In 1857 he went with them to Law- 
rence, Kansas, where they had intended to 
live, but his father dying in October of that 
year, he returned with his mother and his 
brother and sister, in 1858, to Medford, 
Massachusetts. He was educated for mercan- 
tile pursuits and was engaged for a time in 
various undertakings, and then entered the 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY 



63 



shoe and leather business in Boston. Later he 
was engaged in the tanning business, and was 
superintendent of the tannery of Loring & 
Avery, in Winchester, Massachusetts, and 
later of that of F. A. Loring & Company, at 
Xorth Winchester and Woburn. 

Mr. Loring has interested himself for many 
years in historical and genealogfical pursuits, 
anfl has made these matters a serious study. 
He is a member of the New England Historic 
Genealogical Society of Boston, and of the 
Rumford Historical Association of Woburn. 
In the course of his experience he has accumu- 
lated a large amount of information on the 
subject of the families of the Old Colony and 
on the families in that section of Massachu- 
setts about Boston. He has the reputation of 
being one of the most painstaking and accu- 
rate genealogists in the profession. He is an 
expert on the handwriting of the ancient col- 
onial and provincial records of Massachusetts, 
and has copied literally many petitions and 
rolls, the originals of which are to be found at 
the State House in Boston. As a handwriting 
expert he assisted in the preparation of the 
second volume of Judge Chamberlain's "His- 
tory of Chelsea," now in press, published by 
a committee of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society. He has also been selected by the 
Lewis Historical Publishing Company as one 
of the editors of their forthcoming work on 
Eastern Massachusetts. 

Mr. Loring. while in active business with F. 
A. Loring & Company, resided in Winchester. 
Massachusetts, and in 1891 he became a resi- 
dent of Woburn. At Medford he held the 
ofWce of town auditor, and also served as one 
of the cemetery committee and as a member of 
the fire department, and companies F (Law- 
rence Rifles) and E (Lawrence Light 
Guard), belonging to the Fifth Massachu- 
setts Regiment i>f Infantry: and is now a 
member of the Lawrence Light Guard X'eteran 
.Association. At Woburn he held the office of 
alderman for two terms in 1889 and 1900, and 
was candidate of the Democratic party for 
mayor in 1901. 

Mr. Loring has written considerable for the 
newspaper press on subjects in which he is 
intere.sted. He is the author of a pamphlet 
entitled "Woburn Men in the Indian and 
Other Wars previous to the year 1754" (Bos- 
ton. 1897). and furnished an appendix to the 
publication called "The Diary of Lieut. Sam- 
uel Thompson, of Woburn. Massachusetts, 
while in service in the French War. 1758." 
and published in 1896. which was largely a 
record of the service of all the Woburn men in 



the French war. compiled from the original 
rolls on flic in the archives of the state of 
Massachusetts at Boston. For the New Eng- 
land Historical and Genealogical Register he 
furnished articles entitled "The .Ancestry of 
I'liehe Pierce, of Woburn." (i8y8) : "The De- 
scendants of Xahum Parker of Kittery, 
Maine," (1900); "Samuel Walker, of Wo- 
burn. .Massachusetts, and some of his De- 
scendants" (1903); "The Brooks Family of 
Woburn, Massachusetts," (1904); "Robert 
Eames of Woburn, Massachusetts, and some 
of his Descendants" (1908) ; etc. 



The Chase family is of ancient 
CH.ASE English origin, derived undoubt- 
edly from the French word. 
chasser, (to hunt). The ancestral seat of the 
branch of the family from which the .Ameri- 
can line is descended was at Chesham, Buck- 
inghamshire, through which runs a rapidly 
flowing river, the Chess, which gives its name 
to the place. The Chase arms : Gules four 
crosses patonce argent (two and two) on a 
canton azure a lion passant, or. 

(I) Thomas Chase, of Chesham. was de- 
scended from the ancient family there. 

(II) John Chase, son of Thomas Chase 
(i), was also of Chesham. 

( III) Mathew Chase, son of John Chase 
(2), was of Chesham: married Elizabeth 
Bould. daughter of Richard Bould. Children : 
Richard, married Mary Roberts : Francis, 
John. Mathew, Thomas, mentioned below: 
Ralph. William. liridget. 

(I\') Thomas Chase, son of Mathew 
Chase (3), was of the Hundrich in Parish 
Chesham. Children born at Hundrich: i. 
John, baptized November 30. 1540. 2. Rich- 
ard, baptized August 3. 1542, mentioned be- 
low. 3. Agnes, baptized January 9. 1 55 1. 4. 
\\'illiam. 5. Christian. 

(V) Richard Chase, son of Thomas Chase 
(4), was born in Hundrich. Chesham, Eng- 
land. November, baptized August 3, 1542; 
married. .April 16, 1564. Joan Bishop. Chil- 
dren, born at Hundrich: i. Robert, baptized 
September 2. 1565. 2. Henry, baptized Aug- 
ust 10. 1567. 3. Lydia, baptized October 4, 
1573. 4. Ezekiel. baptized .April 2, 1576. 5. 
Dorcas, baptized March 2. 1578. 6. Aquila, 
baptized .August 14. 1580. mentioned below. 
7. Jason, baptized January 13. 1585. 8. 
Thomas, baptized July 18, 1385. 9. Abigail, 
baptized January 12. 1588. 10. Mordecai, 
baptized July 31, 1591. 

(VI) .Aquila Cha.se, son of Richard Chase 



64 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(5). was baptized at Hundrich, in Chesham, 
England. August 14, 1580. Children: i. 
Thomas, mentioned below. 2. Aquila, born 
1618, mentioned below. 

(VH) Aquila Chase, son of Aquila Chase 
(6). was born in England in 1618. He was a 
mariner, probably employed by his uncle or 
brother, Thomas Chase, who was in 1626 part 
owner of the ship "John and Francis." He 
was of Hampton as early as 1640; 
removed to Newbury in 1646 when 
he had four acres granted for a house 
lot and six acres of marsh on condition 
that he go to sea and do service in the town 
with a boat for four years. He and his wife 
and David Wheeler were fined "for gathering 
pease on the Sabbath," but were admonished 
and the fine remitted September, 1646. He 
was a ship master. He died December 2"], 
1670, aged fifty-two. His will was dated Sep- 
cember 19, 1670. He married Anne Wheeler, 
daughter of John Wheeler, and she married 
(second), June 14, 1672, Daniel M|ssiloway. 
She died May, 1688. Children: i. Sarah, mar- 
ried May 15, 1666, Charles Annis, born in Ire- 
land, 1638. 2. Anna, born July 6, 1647. men- 
tioned below. 3. Priscilla, born March 14, 
1649, married, February 10, 1671, Abel Mer- 
rill. 4. iNIary, born February 3, 165 1, married, 
March 9, 1670, John Stevens. 5. Aquila, born 
September 17, 1652, married Esther Bond. 6. 
Thomas, born July 25, 1654, married (first), 
November 22,' 1677, Rebecca Follansbee ; 
(second), August 2, 1713, Elizabeth Mowers. 
7. John, born November 2. 1655, married, 
May 23, 1677, Elizabeth Bingham. 8. Eliza- 
beth, born September 13, 1657, married, June 
27, 1678, Zachariah Ayer. 9. Ruth, born 
March 18, 1660, died' May 30, 1676. 10. 
Daniel, born December 9, 1661, married Mar- 
tha Kimball. 11. Moses, born December 24, 
1663, married (first) Ann Follansbee (sec- 
ond), December 13, 1713, Sarah Jacobs. 

(Vni) John Chase, son of Aquila Chase 
(7), was born November 2, 1655, at Newbury, 
Massachusetts. He married (first), May 23, 
1677. at Newbury, Elizabeth Bingham or 
Bingley; (second), December 21, 1687, Lydia 
Challis. Chase took the prescribed oath of 
allegiance and fidelity at Newbury in 1678. 
He was a soldier in King Philip's war and was 
under Captain Turner in the Falls Fight, May 
18, 1676. His will dated October 22, 1730, 
proved March 17, 1739. states that John Chase 
was his son and mentions his grandson John, 
son of his son John, thereby disproving the 
statement that John (3) Chase was son of 
Ann Chase (2)". made in the old genealogy. 



Children of John and Elizabeth Chase: i. 
William, born January 20, 1678-79. 2. John, 
mentioned below. Children of John and Ly- 
dia Chase : 3. Philip, born September 23, 
1688, at Newbury, married, April 17, 1712, 
Mary Follansbee. 4. Charles, born January 
12, 1689-90, married, July 15, 1714, Hepsibah 
Carr. 5. Jacob, married, August 24, 1716, 
Joanna Davis. 6. Abraham, married, Novem- 
ber 16, 1716, Ruth Morse; (second) Abigail 

. 7. Phebe, married, August 25, 1726, 

Nathaniel Tucker. 8. Mary, married, July 
30, 1726, Joseph Safiford. 9. Lydia, married, 
November 5, 1725, William Blay. 10. Eliza- 
beth, born about 1710. 11. David, born Octo- 
ber 20, 1 7 10, married, November 24, 1729, 
Sarah Emery. 

(\TII) Anna Chase, daughter of Aquila 
Chase (7), born July 6, 1647, married (first) 

; (second), April 27, 1671, Thomas 

Barber. Children: i. John Cliase (given 
thus in the records), born December 23, 1669. 
Children of Thomas and Anna Barber: 2. 
Thomas Barber, born February 16, 1672. 3. 
Alice Barber, born March 3, 1674. 

(IX) John Chase, son of John Chase (8), 
was born August 26, 1684, at Newbury. Mar- 
ried Abigail Chase, who was born August 
27, 1 68 1, daughter of James (8) and Eliza- 
beth (Green) Chase. James died in 1704 and 
his widow married (second) John Cass. 
James was born in 1649, married, September 
2, 1676, Elizabeth Green, was the son of 
Thomas Chase (7) mentioned above, who 
came over v^'ith his brother Aquila Chase (7) 
and who married Elizabeth Philbrick and 
lived in Newbury and Hampton, New Hamp- 
shire. QiiMren of John and Abigail Chase : 
I. James, born July 27, 1694, died young. 2. 
Jonathan, born October 21, 1700, married, De- 
cember 18, 1723, Patience Heath. 3. Eliza- 
beth, born April 13, 1702. 4. Elihu. born 
September 7. 1705, married, December 9, 
1730, Mary Swain ; settled in Kensington, 
New Hampshire. 5. John, born September 
18, 1708, mentioned below. 

(X) John Chase, son of John Chase (9) 
was born September 18, 1708, married, March 
27, 1729, Anna Rundlett. His will was proved 
September 25, 1726: wife legatee; son James 
executor. He resided at Seabrook. Children: 
I. Thomas, born 1730, mentioned below; 
John, Daniel," James, Charles. 

(XI) Thomas Chase, son of John Chase 
(10), was born at Seabrook, New Hampshire, 
in 1730, married (first), 1752, Mary Dow, of 
Seabrook; (second) Widow Bean. Children: 
I. Nathaniel, born January 9, 1753, married 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



65 



Man- Brown, of Hampton : he died September 
19, 1847: settled in Henniker. Xew Hamp- 
shire. 2. .\mos, mentioned below. 3. Charles, 
married Mary Calef, of Kingston. 4. Edward. 
5. Rachel, born January 25, 1759, married 
Eliphalet Page, of Wearc. 6. Winthrop, torn 
1761. married Sarah , and lived in Hen- 
niker. 

(XHj Amos Chase, son of Thomas Chase 
(11), was born July 12. 1756, -lied June 3, 
1827. .Married, 1780, Elizabeth Kimh-ill. of 
Hopkinton, New Hampshire. She was born 
November 22, 1754 or 1764, died January 24, 
1794. He married (second) Hannah Dow. of 
Seabrook or vicinity; she died .\ugust 3. 1835. 
He settled in Deering, New Hampshire : chil- 
dren, born there: i. John, born .Angus; _';. 
1782. 2. Mary, born .\pril 6. 1784. 3. Ed- 
ward, born January 15, 1786, mentioned be- 
low. 4. Dolly, born February 17, 1788. 5. 
Rachel, born February 7. 1789. 6. Rhoda, 
born September 15, 1791-92, 7. Elizabeth, 
born October 22, 1794. Most of the Chase 
family for many generations were Friends. 

(Xni) Edward Cliase, son of .Amos Chase 
(12), was Ixjrn January 15, 1786. .^amuel is 
one of his children. 

{XI\ j Samuel Chase, son of luhvard 
Chase (13) was born at Deering, Xew Hamp- 
shire, alx)ut 1800. He was educated there in 
the public schools. He was a well-to-do 
farmer and a prominent citizen of the town. 
In politics he was an Old Line W hig. He was 
selectman of the town and held other positions 
of trust and honor in Deering. He married 
Esther .Manahan. of Deering. They had fivt 
sons and four daughters, among whom was 
Ira Mason, mentioned below. 

(XV) Ira Mason Chase, son of Samuel 
Chase (14), was born in Deering, Xew Hamp- 
shire, May II, 1821, died at Lowell, Novem- 
ber, 1901. He was educated in the common 
schools of his native town. He worked with 
his father on the farm during his youth. He 
then secured a position as clerk in a dry goods 
store. When he was twenty-two years old he 
engaged in the meat and provision business in 
Ix)well, Massachusetts. From the first his 
business prospered and his store became one 
of the best known and most successful in the 
city. He was a Republican in politics. He 
was an active member of the Odd Fellows, of 
which he was a member many years. He was 
greatly interested in the Congregational 
church, of which he was an attendant and gen- 
erous with his means in a quiet way. He was 
a sagacious business man, honest, upright and 
straightforward. He was respected by all his 
i— 5 



townsmen. He was in active business until 
ten years before his death. He was trustee of 
the Lo\vell C'-metery. 

lie married, .March 30, 1847, Josephine M. 
Leland, who was born in \ermont, the daugh- 
ter of Otis and Nancy (Spaulding) Leland, of 
Cirafton, Massachi:setts. Children: i. Cleora 
I'rances, born .March 6, 1849, died June 21, 
1872: married, June 4, 1868, Roscoe Turner; 
child, Ernest \V. Turner, born in Portland, 
-Maine. .May 15. 1872. married Carrie M. 
i'.rackelt. .May 17, 1893 (Children: Mildred 
Brackett Turner, born .\iay 19, 1894, died 
.March 7, 1896; John Roscoe Turner, born No- 
vember I, 1897, died Xovember 18, ; 

Carolyn Kingsbury Turner, born September 
12. ujoi.) 2. (Jet)rge Fred, born July 18, 
1851. married, ( )ctober 25. 1877, Loretla Cun- 
ningham ; children: i. Eva May Chase, born 
in l)owney, California, .\ugust 10, 1878, mar- 
ricvl, December 20, 1900. John .Mien .\kers 
(Children: Dorothy .\kers, born .March 18, 
1902; John Fred, .\kers, born February 16, 
Kp6) ; ii. Ralph .Arthur, born in Lowell. July 
10, 1880; iii. \A'a1ter Mason, born January 30. 
1883, married, June 8, 1905, Eda .Anna Cur- 
tis ( Child : Ralph Curtis, born .August 20, 
UX36. died December 21. i(p6) ; iv. Marguer- 
ite Chase. b(3rn at Lowell. June 12, 1890; v, 
Chester Cunningham, born in Los .Angeles, 
California, .August 11. 1894. 3, Laura Jane 
Chase, born .SepteiTiber 4, 1853, resides at the 
homestead with her mother, and is active in 
the work of the Congregational church of 
which she is a member, 4. Maria Josephine, 
born June 30, 1856, died Deceml)er 30. i85f). 
5. l"",(lwin Eugene, born .Xovember 28, 1JS57, 
married, I'ebruary 2, 1882, Elizabeth S. Jew- 
ett: children: i. Edwin Kirk Chase, born at 
Central City, Colorado, .May 12, 1883; ii. 
Reginald Leighton Chase, born at Central 
City, Colorado, June 24, 1889. 6. Roscoe Le- 
land, Ixirn October 25, i860, married, March 
27. 1888. Xellie \'. Colton, and had Alarion 
\arnum Chase, bom at Lowell, December 28, 
1888. 7. Nettie Mav, born .September 26, 
i8f/,. died October ' 28, 1883. 8. Harold 
Mason, born January 15, 1872, 



(For early generations see preceding sketch.) 

(VIII) Thomas Chase, son of 
CH.\SE Aquila Cha.'^c (7), Aquila (6), 
Richard (5), Thomas (4), 
JVFathew (3), John (2), Thomas (i), was 
born at Newbury, Massachusetts. July 25, 
1654, and died in 1733. He married, Novem- 
ber 22, 1677, Rebecca Follansbee, daughter of 



66 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Thomas Follansbee. Children, born in New- 
bury : I. Thomas, born September 15, 1680, 

married Sarah ; resided at Newbury. 

2. Jonathan, born January 13, 1683, married. 
1703, Joanna Palmer. 3. James, born Sep- 
tember 15, 1685, married Lydia ; mar- 
ried (second), December, 1707, Martha Rolfe. 
4. Aquila, born July 15, 1688, married in 1712 
Mary Smith. '5. Ruth, born February 28, 
1691', married, May 29, 1716, Nathaniel 
Miller. 6. Mary, born January 15, 1695, mar- 
ried Horton. 7. Josiah, born July 15, 

1697, died young. 8. Rejjecca, born April 26. 
1700, married, December 14, 1721, Stephen 

Moulton. 9. Judith, married Horton. 

10. Lizza (?), married in 1732 Benjamin 
Rogers. 11. Nathan, mentioned below. 

(IX) Nathan Chase, son of Thomas Chase 
(8), was born at Newbury, Massachusetts. 
He married (first), November 29, 1723, Ju- 
dith Sawyer; (second), December 30, 1740, 
Joanna Cheney; (third), January 9, 1763, 
Ruth Davis. Children of Nathan and Judith 
Chase, born at Newbury: i. Nathan, born 
January 28 or 29, 1725, mentioned below. 2. 
Mary, born November i, 1727. 3. Moses, 
born March 31, 1729. 4. John, born July 27, 
1731. 5. Judith, born April i, 1734. 6. Josiah, 
born September, 1735. 7. Edmund, born June 
2, 1738. Children of Nathan and Joanna 
Chase: 8. Moses, born September 21, 1741. 
9. Lydia, born September 25, 1742. 10. Park- 
er, born February 28, 1745. 11. Stephen, born 
July 16, 1750. 12. Jonathan, born December 

(X) Nathan Chase, son of Nathan Chase 
(9), was born in Newbury, January 28 or 29, 
1725. He settled in Haverhill when a young 
man. He married in 1748 Lydia Moulton. 
Their descendants are living to the present 
time in Haverhill. He purchased the "Corlis 
Hill Farm" November 18, 1761, and bequeath- 
ed it to his son Josiah. He died May 21, 1791. 
Children: i. Eliphalet, born January 25, 1749, 
died April 11, 1769. 2. Lydia, born March 30, 
1750, died June 12, 1759. 3. Abigail, born 
June 22, 1752, died December 25, 1846, aged 
ninety-four. 4. Judith, born October 22, 1754, 
died January 27, 1789. 5. Josiah, born April 
18, 1757, mentioned below. 6. Ruth, born 
January 9, 1760, died October 12, 1762. 7. 
Ruth, born January 5, 1763, died in 1801. 

(XI) Josiah Chase, son of Nathan Chase 
(10), was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, 
April 18, 1757, and died there March 15, 1826. 
He inherited the homestead. He married, 
about 1779, Ruth Bradley, who was born No- 
vember 29, 1764, and died September 10, 1829. 



Children, born in Haverhill: i. Rachel, bom 
June 28, 1780, married Joseph Kimball. 2. 
Samuel, born May 13, 1783, mentioned below. 
3. Lydia, born November 3, 1785, married E. 
Colb}. 4. Ruth, born October 17, 1788, mar- 
ried David Chase. 5. Nathan, born April 19, 
1791, married Hannah Chase. 6. Josiah, born 
December 28, 1793, died April 22, 1796. 7. 
Judith, born August 12, 1796, married Dudley 
Holt. 8. Josiah, born December 31, 1798, 
died September 10, 1803. 9. Caroline, born 
April 29, 1801, died September 15, 1803. 10. 
Adaline, born August 7, 1804, died April 5, 
1842. II. Lois, born November 10, 1807, 
married Isaac W. Merrill. 

(XII) Samuel Chase, son of Josiah Chase 
(11), was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, 
May 13, 1783, died Septembef 24, 1848. He 
inherited the homestead mentioned above, and 
was a farmer in Haverhill all his life. He 
married, November 11, 1813, Sally x\dams 
Gile, who was born March 6, 1792, and died 
October 28, 1858. Children, born in Haver- 
hill : I. Lorenzo, born April 5, 1815, mention- 
ed below. 2. Charles 'Chauncy, born January 
19, 1818, died May 15, 1900; married, No- 
vember 30, 1841, Martha Smith Cowles, who 
was born December 23, 1819, died December 
30, 1900; their third child was Francis N. 
Chase, born July 28, 1849; cashier of the Old 
Lowell National Bank, Lowell, Massachu- 
setts; authority of the genealogy of this 
branch of the Chase family. 3. Elbridge, born 
February 23, 1820, died June 12, 1880. 4. 
Celesta, born January 9, 1822, died December 
29, 1823. 5. Samuel, born March 5, 1825, 
died April 8, 1825. 6. Samuel A., born May 
9, 1826, died October 27, 1904. 7. Sarah 
Ayer, born June 28, 1828, married John Par- 
sons. 8. Leverett M., born July 18, 1832, died 
May 19, 1901. 9. Mary White, born January 
25, 1835, died November 16, 1901 ; married 
John Bradley. 10. Elizabeth Gile, born March 
^7^ 1837, married Charles H. Bradley. 

(XIII) Lorenzo Chase, son of Deacon 
Samuel Chase (12), was born at Haverhill, 
April 5, 181 5, and died at Lowell, March 5, 
1890. He was educated in the public schools 
of his native town and for a short time followed 
teaching as a profession. He started in busi- 
ness on his own account as a manufacturer of 
boots and shoes at Nashua, New Hampshire. 
Later he removed to Lowell, Massachusetts, 
and established the shoe store which he con- 
ducted successfully the remainder of his life. 
He acquired a competence and took high rank 
among the tradesmen of the city. He was up- 
right and honorable in his dealings, of spotless 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



67 



integrity and character. He commanded the 
confidence and esteem of all his townsmen. 
In fwlitics he was a Republican, though a very 
active and earnest advocate of restrictive tem- 
f>erance legislation and measures, and later in 
life supported the Prohibition party ticket. He 
never accepted public honors, but performed his 
duties of citizenship with rare zeal and fidelity. 
In religion Mr. Chase was a faithful and de- 
vout attendant of the First Congregational 
Church of Lowell. He was a member of no 
fraternal orders. He married (first) Permilla 
Colby, of Hillsborough, New Hampshire. She 
died in 1844 and he married (second), Betsey 
O. Gove, of Ruinney. New Hampshire. She 
died at Lowell in 1898. Children of Lorenzo 
and Permilla Chase : Celestia P., born in 
lx)well, educated in the Lowell public and 
high schools ; was a teacher in the public 
schools twenty-six years, but is now retired, 
living quietly in her home at Lowell ; member 
of the Middlesex Woman's Club and Daugh- 
ters American Revolution; she is active in 
benevolence. Children of Lorenzo and Betsey 
O. Chase: Ellen A., died young. Mary E., 
died young. George G., died young. 



Thomas Brown, the immigrant 
BROWN ancestor, was born in England 

in 1609, according to his deposi- 
tion made in 1670 that his age was sixty-one. 
He came to Concord in 1638. and was one of 
the original proprietors of Sudbury who were 
given authority by the general court to begin 
the plantation September 6, 1638. He was ad- 
mitted a freeman March 14, 1639, and the gen- 
eral court, October 7, 1640, granted him two 
hundred acres of land for the twenty-five pound 
"adventure" (subscription) of Mrs. .A.nnc 
Harvyes. He was a proprietor in Sudbury in 
1640. but within a year was back in Concord. 
He bought land in Concord, May 20, 1655, in 
1661 and in 1671 being called a resident of 
Concord in each deed. He removed to Cam- 
bridge, however, and was a town officer there 
in 1^^-63-68; was admitted to the Cambridge 
church. May 18, 1666. He served on a com- 
mittee to divide Concord property March 26, 
1676, and November 20, 1680. in a deed of 
land to his son, Thomas Brown, Jr., he calls 
himself "late of Concord, now of Cambridge." 
It has been proved, anyhow, that there was but 
one Thomas Brown to whom all the records 

refer. He married Bridget , who 

died at Cambridge, January 5, 1681 ; he died 
November 3, 1688. "He filed May 11, 1681, a 
list of the lands that he had given his son 



Boaz. Children of Thomas and Bridget 
Brown, born at (.Cambridge: i. Boaz. born 
February 14, 1642, married, November 8, 
1664, Mary Winship; (second) Abigail 
Wheat. 2. Jabcz, born in 1644, resided in 
Concord and Sudbury until Stow was founded. 
3. Mary, born March 26, 1646, married (first) 
John Woodhead. of Chelmsford; (second) 
John Gove, of Cambridge. 4. Eleazer, born 
July 6, 1649, married, February 9, 1674-75, 
Dinah Spalding. 5. Thomas, born 165 1, men- 
tioned below. 

(II) Thomas Brown, son of Thomas 
Brown (i), was born in Concord in 165 1. He 
deposed in 1 67 1 that his age was nineteen 
years. He died .\pril 4, 1718, aged sixty- 
seven years. He settled in Concord and 'was 
town clerk in 1718. He married, November 
12, 1677, Ruth (X'inton) Jones. Children: i. 
Ruth, born February 8. 1678-79, married. No- 
vember 10, 1698, Samuel Jones. 2. Mary, born 
November 18, 1681, died July 14, 1750; mar- 
ried John Hunt. 3. Rebecca, born March 5, 
1683-84, married, September 26, 1704, Jona- 
than Hubbard. 4. Thomas, Ixirn August 28, 
1686, died March 13, 1717-18; married, No- 
vember 22, 1709, Hannah Potter. 5. Ephraim, 
born April 21, 1689, mentioned below. 6. 
Elizabeth, bom March 8, 1691-92, died De- 
cember 28, 1717; married, September 22. 
1713, Jonathan Hartwell. 

(III) Ephraim Brown, son of Thomas 
Brown (2), was born .^pril 21, 1689, died 
February 6, 1749-50. Married at Concord, 
August 28, 1719, Hannah Wilson, daughter of 
William Wilson. They resided at Concord 
where their children were born, viz: i. 
Thomas, born December 26, 1720, mentioned 
below. 2. William, born January 9, 1722-23. 
3. Hannah, born February 14, 1726-27, died 
October 31. 1794, unmarried. 5. Mary, born 
January 21, 1728-29, married, July 14. '"S^, 
Captain Jonathan Buttrick (See sketch). 6. 
Sarah, born January 29, 1730-31, died June 6, 
181 5. 7. Captain David, born March 12, 
1732-33, died May 22, 1802; married, Septem- 
ber 30, 1756, Abigail Monroe. 8. Ruth, born 
October 26, 1739. 

(IV) Thomas Brown, son of Ephraim 
Brown (3), was born at Concord, December 
26, 1720. died 1784. He married at Concord, 
May 26. 1748, Mary Flint, and they settled 
there. Children, born in Concord: i. Mary, 
born .'Kpril 9, 1749. 2. Hannah, born Novem- 
ber 15, 1750. 3. Jonas, born December 15, 
1752, mentioned below. 4. John, born July 2, 
I75.S- 5- Ephraim, born March 27. 1758. 6. 
Charles, born October 13, 1760. 



68 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(V) Jonas Brown, son of Thomas Brown 
(4), was born in Concord, December 15, 1752, 
died at Temple, New Hampshire, July 31, 
1834. He was a soldier in the Revolution and 
his record here given is taken from his own 
statement in his pension application late in 
life : "From the first of January to the first of 
May, 1775, I was enlisted as a minute man 
(being a native of and resident of Concord, 
(Massachusetts) under Captain Buttrick of 
the militia and trained twice a week, and with 
the rest of the company kept guard most of 
the time over the public stores and roads and 
bridges in Concord. Early on the 19th of 
April an alarm was given that the enemy were 
coming from Boston to Concord, and our com- 
pany was paraded about daylight and kept un- 
der arms most of the time until the enemy ar- 
rived and destroyed military stores and provi- 
sions and set a guard on the bridge. and I was 
ordered with others to rout them, which we 
did, when several were killed on both sides, 
and the enemy retreated and we pursued to 
Menotomy, had skirmishing on the road and I 
returned to Concord. Captain Buttrick went 
to Cambridge and several times sent for his 
company. I went twice or three times and re- 
turned the ne.xt day. On the first of August, 

1775, I entered the service as a corporal under 
Captain Abisha Brown in the regiment com- 
manded by Colonel John Nickson (Nixon), 
Lieut. -Colonel Thomas Nickson ( Nixon ) and 
Major Buttrick in the Massachusetts Line, 
and served at Cambridge and Charlestown, 
and the company was in the Battle of Bunker 
Hill on the 17th of June and was dismissed 
the 1st of January, 1776. Again the militia 
was called for and on the first of February, 

1776, I enlisted for two months under Captain 
Ashel (Asahel) Wheeler in the regiment com- 
manded by Colonel Robinson, Lieut. Colonel 
Buttrick and Major McCobb, in which regi- 
ment I served February and March, two 
months, as quartermaster's sergeant ; was in 
the service at Charlestown and vicinity when 
the British army left Boston and was dis- 
charged the first of April. On July 12, 1776, 
I was commissioned Ensign, and immediately 
entered the service under Captain Charles 
Miles (see sketch) in the regiment command- 
ed by Colonel Jonathan Reed in the i\Iassa- 
chusetts Line in the Brigade destined for 
Canada, in which regiment was Lieut.-Colonel 
Brown and Major Fletcher. I marched from 
Concord to Keene, New Hampshire, thence by 
way of Charlestown, New Hampshire, Otter 
Creek and Shrewsbury, Vermont, where we 
took boats and went down Lake Champlain to 



Ticonderoga, and joined the army under Gen- 
erals Gates, Arnold and Waterbury and Gen- 
eral Brickett, of Massachusetts, was there. I 
was at Ticonderoga when Arnold and Water- 
bury went down the lake with a fleet of gon- 
doliers which were mostly destroyed. I re- 
mained at Ticonderoga until about the middle 
of December, 1776, when I entered my name 
to serve during the war as a lieutenant under 
Captain Monroe, of Lexington, Massachusetts, 
and had leave to return to Concord until called 
for. I did so, and about the middle of March I 
was called upon to take my appointment as 
lieutenant. I obeyed the call and went to the 
captain who told me there were others who 
would like to take my chance and I resigned 
it and was excused from further service, mak- 
ing eight months in which I was underorders 
as an Ensign." An annual pension of $117.33 
was granted March 4, 183 1. He was wounded 
at the battle of North Bridge, Concord. He 
removed to Temple, New Hampshire, and set- 
tled on the farm now known as the J. B. 
Wood farm, Lot 8, R. viii. He was a valu- 
able and worthy citizen of that town until his 
death, July 31, 1834. 

He married, August 10, 1784, Hannah 
Heald, daughter of Major Ephraim ' 
Heald. Her father was one of the first set- 
tlers and she was the first girl born in Temple, 
1761. She died April 7, 1834. Children, born 
at Temple: i. Jonas, born July 18, 1785, 
settled at Oppenheim, New York. 2. Charles, 
born August 16, 1787, married, September 17, 
1816. 3. Lydia Woods, removed to Batavia, 
New York. 4. Ephraim, born July 13, 1790, 
mentioned below. 5. Lucas, born September 

17. 1792, at Norridgcwock, Maine, died May 

18. 1855. 6. John, born August 13, 1795, 
married, 1820, Cynthia Baker ; (second) 
Sarah Wheeler; settled in Bangor. Maine. 7. 
Polly, born February 17, 1798, married, Feb- 
ruary I, 1816, Jeremiah Cutler; settled at Se- 
bec, IMaine. 

(\T) Ephraim Brown, son of Jonas Brown 
(3). was born at Temple, New Hampshire, 
July 13, 1790, died at Wilton, December 11, 
1840. Married, December 4, 1816, Sarah 
King, of Wilton. In 1806 he was apprenticed 
to William Howard, of Temple, to learn the 
carpenter's trade ; in 1809 he entered the em- 
ploy of Kimball Putnam, of Wilton, as a jour- 
neyman and later worked in the cabinetmak- 
ing shop of Isaac Blanchard. At the time of 
his marriage, in 1816, he settled on a place a 
mile west of Wilton Center, and in 1820 
bought the Silas Buss farm where Albert Carl- 
ton lived later. He was successful both as 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



69 



farmer and carpenter, an excellent craftsman, 
of g^od judgment, quick in execution, in- 
genious in devices and plans, and ready in 
adapting means to the end. His advice was 
often sought and cheerfully given. Between 
1830 and 1838 he invented a threshing ma- 
chine very like those now in general use and 
constructed a horse power to operate it. He 
was a member of the Unitarian church at Wil- 
ton, a diligent reader of solid books, quick in 
comprehension, modest, broad in his views of 
life and lilieral to all men, a man much re- 
spected and beloved by his townsmen. 

He married, December 4, 1816, .Sarah King, 
daughter of Benning and Abigail (Morgan) 
King, who was born at Wilton. November 4. 
1797. She married (second), March 31, 1847. 
Nathaniel Thurston, who died .April 3. 1874, 
when she removed to Far Rockaw-ay. Nev/ 
York, to live with her grandson, Theodore W. 
Harris. Children of Ephraim and Sarah 
Brown, born at Wilton: i. Sarah Maria, born 
November 7. 18 1 7, died December 2. 1818. 2. 
Ephraim. lx)rn October i. 1819, mentioned be- 
low. 3. -Abigail K., born December ig. 1821. 
died December 29, 1824. 4. (jeorge. born 
October 11, 1823, a physician, superintendent 
of a private institution for the Education of 
Idiots, Imbeciles and Eccentric Children at 
Barre, Massachusetts. 5. Sumner, born Sep- 
tember 5, 1825, died .August 30, 1827. 6. .Abi- 
gail Maria. 1x>rn .August 26. 1828. married. 
.September 22, 1847, Dr. Norman Smith, of 
Groton. Massachusetts: she died July 17, 
1832. 7. Diantha. born February i, 1831, mar- 
ried P. S. Harris, artist, resides at Bath, 
Maine. 8. .Anstriss, born March 5. 1834. 
married D. F. Haynes, December 18, 1855: 
resides <-it Baltimore. 

(\TI) Ephraim Brown, son of Ephraim 
Brown (6). was born at Wilton, New Hamp- 
shire. October i. 1819. and .lied in Lowell, 
Massachusetts, March 4. 1900. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools- of Wilton, and was 
fitting for college when the illness and death 
of his father obliged him to change his plans. 
He carried on the farm for his mother until 
he was about twenty-eight, teaching school in 
the winter. In 1845 he took a course at 
Phillips Academy. .Andover. and afterward ac- 
cepted the position of assistant in the Moody 
(jrammar School, Lowfell. He decided to make 
his home in Lowell, and in 1850 went into 
business on his own account as proprietor of a 
crockery store, Merrimac street. The venture 
was successful, and he prospered in business 
for many years. Naturally of an inventive 
mind he began a notable career as an inventor 



with a patented safety alarm cash drawer in 
1854, from which he derived large sums of 
money. From 1858 to 1865 he was a popular 
lecturer at lyceums, schools and various other 
societies on the subject of geology and paleon- 
tology, in which he had made special re- 
searches. In politics Mr. Brown was a Re- 
publican, active in supporting and working for 
the candidates of his party, but never willing 
to hold public office himself. He was one of 
the founders in 1864 and director of the Lo- 
well National Bank until his death. He was 
a trustee of the Central Savings Bank. In 
1848 he was one of the founders of the How- 
ard Fire Insurance Company of P.oston, was 
first a director, then its president in 1865. The 
company thrived until the "P'ig Fire" of Bos- 
ton, in 1872. which caused its ruin, as it did of 
many other companies. Mr. Brown himself 
lost eighty thousand dollars through the fail- 
ure caused b\- the fire. He then went into the 
manufacture of foot and cabinet lathes, a busi- 
ness that he followed with much success until 
his death. lie invested extensively in real 
estate and built many buildings in Lowell, and 
this property is now owned by his widow. He 
was a devout member of the Congregational 
church. 

He married (first) January i, 1846, Mary 
F. Pollard, who died .August 17, 1849. He 
married (second), .August 27, 1851, Sarah H. 
Barrett, of Barre, who died .August 24, 1852. 
He married (third), September 12, 1854, 
Ennna Cornelia Daniels, who was born 1833, 
and she survives him. She resides in the 
homestead at Lowell, built by Mr. Brown. 
She is the daughter of John and Harriet Dan- 
iels, natives of New Hampshire. Child of 
Ephraim and Mary F. Brown. Ijorn at Lowell: 
I. Martha .Ann, born October 13, 1846, died 
September 3, 1849. Children of Ephraim and 
Emma Cornelia Brown : 2. George Ephraim, 
born October 9. 1855. married, February t8, 
1880, Mary L. De Roehn : resides in Lowell. 
3. Frederick Rogers, born July 20, 1862, died 
October 4, 1878. Mary Etta', torn July 31, 
1863, died January 27, 1884. 5. Emma .Alice, 
born November 4, 1868, married C. W. Whid- 
den, and have three children. 



James Petmiman. the im- 
PENXIM.AN migrant, was Ixirn in Eng- 

laUvl, alx>nt 1600. He came 
to New England with John Winthrop, Jr., in 
1^)31, and in that year he and his wife were' 
admitted to the church at Boston. He mar- 
ried Lvdia Eliot, daughter of Bennett and Let- 



7° 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



tice Eliot, of Widford and Nasing, England. 
Penniman was admitted a freeman at the same 
time as the brothers of his wife, Rev. John 
Eliot, the Indian .A.postle, and Jacob, March 6, 
1632. There were four of Mrs. Penninian's 
brothers among the early settlers ; Francis, 
Jacob, John and Phihp. 

Francis Eliot settled at Braintree ; was ad- 
mitted freeman June 2, 1641 ; be became 
schoolmaster to the Indians under his brother. 
Rev. John, about 1650; with his wife Mary 
sold land in Braintree, May 4, 1662; died in 
1677. 

Jacob Eliot was baptized September 21, 
1606, in England ; came to Boston early ; was 
deacon and ruling elder ; admitted freeman 
March 6, 1631-32; died in 1651. His will was 
proved November 20, 1651, bequeathing to 
wife, son Jacob and daughter Hannah ; other 
children to have portions at marriage or ma- 
jority. 

Rev. John Eliot was baptized at Widford, 
England, August 5, 1604 : came to New Eng- 
land. November 2, 1631, and was acting pas- 
tor of the Boston Church in the absence of Mr. 
Williams : was ordained over the church at 
Roxbury, October, 1632 ; found time to learn 
the language of the Indians, reduced it to writ- 
ing and translated the Bible and other books 
into the language of the Indians and achieved 
a great work in the conversion and education 
of the natives, justifying his title of Indian 
Apostle: married in 1632,- Anne Mumford, 
who died March 22, 1686; he died May 20, 
1690. 

Philip Eliot was baptized April 25, 1602, 
and came early to Roxbury, Massachusetts. 
He was deacon of the church; died October 
22, 1657; will proved February 11, 1658, be- 
queathing to wife Elizabeth, son .\ldis and 
daughter Sarah .\ldis ; grandchild, Henry 
Withington. daughter Lydia. 

.■\bout 1638 Penniman moved to Braintree 
where Francis Eliot also located. His first 
three children were born in Boston, the re- 
mainder in Braintree. Mr. Penniman died 
December 26, 1664. His will was proved 
January 31, 1864-5, bequeathing his movable 
estate and half his land and buildings to his 
wife Lydia for the support of herself and the 
lesser children ; the other half to his son 
Joseph, who was directed to help his mother. 
James already had his share. The youngest 
son Samuel and three youngest daughters 
were bequeathed twenty pounds each. The 
widow married (second) Thomas Wight, in 
whose will and her own are proofs that she 
was daughter of Bennett Eliot and sister of 



the four Eliot brothers. Children : i . James, 
baptized March 26, 1633. 2. Lydia, baptized 
February 22, 1634-35. 3. John, baptized Janu- 
ary 15, 1637. 4. Joseph, born at Braintree, 
August I, 1639. 5. Sarah, born November 14, 
1645, died young. 6. Samuel, born November 
14, 1645, died young. 7. Hannah, born 
March 26, 1648. 8. Abigail, born December 
27, 165 1, married, April 18, 1678, Samuel 
Neale. 9. Mary, born September 29, 1652, 
married, April 4, 1678, Samuel Paine. 10. 
Samuel, born November i, 1655, mentioned 
below. 

(II) Joseph Penniman, son of James 
Penniman (i), was born in Braintree, 
August I, 1639. He settled in Brain- 
tree and married there September 25, 
1666, Waiting Robinson, who died August 21, 
1690. Children: i. Joseph, bom March 15, 
1669-70, died young. 2. Joseph, born Janu- 
ary 20, 1670-71, settled in Mendon, according 
to the history of Milford, Massachusetts. 3. 
Moses, born March 15, 1676. 4. Moses, born 
February 14, 1677-78. 5. Deborah, born Feb- 
ruary 2^. 1679- 6. James, born February 16, 
1683, removed to Mendon and owned land 
there in 1719: see history of Milford and the 
proprietors' records of Mendon. 7. Nathan, 
born March, 1689, called brother of Joseph by 
historian of Milford: mentioned below. 

(II) Samuel Penniman, son of James Pen- 
niman (i), was born in Braintree, November 
I, 1655, and died January 16, 1705, He was 
admitted a freeman in 1678, and was lieuten- 
ant of the Braintree militia company. He 
married Elizabeth Parmenter, daughter of 
Robert Parmenter, January 7, 1674. Children, 
born at Braintree: i. Elizabeth, bom Febru- 
ary, 1674-5. 2. Samuel, born March 15, 
1675-6. 3. Samuel, born November 5, 1677. 
4. Josiah, born November 21, 1678. 5. Han- 
nah, born February 12, 1682. 6. Jonathan, 
born February 17, 1685-6. 7. Nathan, 1689 
(not recorded) ; mentioned below. 8. James, 
born March 29, 1695. 

(III) Deacon Nathan Penniman, son of 
Samuel Penniman (2), was born in Braintree, 
i68g, in March. He came to Mendon. Massa- 
chusetts, about 1718. Joseph Penniman, his 
cousin, and James Penniman, probably his 
brother, were also proprietors of Mendon as 
early as 1719. He built his house first at Quis- 
set, later settling in what is now South Mil- 
ford. Joseph lived on what is now called the 
Henry Swan place on the old Medfield road. 
He bought land of Benjamin Thayer, ten acres 
in the Old Field on the south side of Muddy 
brook on Joseph Penninian's meadow, June 




GKORGK. F. PENNIMAN 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



71 



27, 1732. He also bought a lot of land 
April 8, 1738, of Joe Keith, and many other 
lots in Mendon. He deeded farms to his sons. 
He deeded his homestead where he lived with 
forty acres of kuivl to his son i'eter. A])ril i, 
1 75 1. It adjoined the farm previously given 
to his son Samuel. Nathan gave Samuel more 
land in 1774. Nathan was a cordwainer by 

trade. He married (first I Mary . 

who tiled May 11, 1757, at Mendon. He mar- 
ried (second), January 16, 1758, Mary Hol- 
broo'c. of I'ellingham. who 'lied September 11. 
1759. He married (third) Joanna (Thayer) 
Chene\-. widow of William Cheney. Jr.. .May 

28, i7('xD. He died June 14, 1773. having dis- 
tributed his estate Ix-fore his death. Chililren 
of Natlian and Mary I'eimiman : I. Samuel, 
born October 11, 1717. Lieutenant or Land- 
lord I'enniman; married, December 3, 1741, 

Huldah White, (second) Deborah . 

2. Jiinathan. born July 30, 1719. 3. Nathan. 
Jr.. Inirn May 8. 1 721. was some time in IMed- 
field. 4. .\nn. born October 27,. 1726. 5. 
Peter, liorn September 1 1 , 1 728, mentioned be- 
low. 

(IV) Peter Penniman. son of Deacon Na- 
than Penniman (3), was born in Mendon. 
September 11, 1728, and died there in 1806. 
He was a captain in the Revolution, a promin- 
ent patriot. He was first liertenant in the 
third Mendon company. Captain Joseph 
Daniels, and marched with it on the Lexington 
Call, .\pril 19, 1775, to Roxbury. He was 
chosen captain of his company, July 9, 1776, 
and commissioned the same day, the sixth 
company. Third Worcester County Regiment, 
Colonel t>ra W'ood. He vi-as captain of a 
comjjany in Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Ty- 
ler's regin-ent from December 8, 1776. to 
January 21. 1777. in the Rhode Island cam- 
paign : in the service again in Ajiril and May, 
1777, in the same regiment. He and other 
officers resigned July 20, 1779. His relatives, 
Pelatiah, Jesse, John and Baruch. were also 
soldiers in the Revolution from Mendon. some 
of them in his company. He settled on the 
homestead in Mendon. He w^s one of the 
early proprietors of the town of Warwick in 
centra! Massachusetts, after the Revolution, 
but did not move there. His son I'unyan and 
son-in-law. Jacob White, settled in Warwick. 
Peter gave a hundred acres of wild land there 
to his elde.st daughter. Catharine, wife of 
Jacob White. Hefore his death be gave a 
house and farm at Cxbridge to his daughter. 
Abigail ISrnstow. He died intestate leaving a 
large amount of real estate. The valuation for 
the pi;rp<ises of partition amounted to $5,737. 



ami the division among the heirs took place 
by agreement in 1806. His widow Huldah 
was the administratrix. Her Ixind was dated 
July 8. i8of). Children: i. A.sa. the eldest. 

2. r>un\an, the second son, mentioned below. 

3. Rev. .Andrew Penniman, the youngest son. 

4. Catherine, married Jacob ^\■hite. 5. Elea- 
nor, married .Moses Peters. 

iV) John llunyan Penniman, son of Cap- 
tain Peter Penniman (4). was born in 
Mendon. Massachusetts, about 1750. He 
and his father were among the proprietors 
of Warwick in 1798. and he settled there. 
The record of his death gives his name 
"John" Bunyan Penniman, died July 21, 
1825, at Warwick. He married Sarah Bnt- 
triek. Child, Bunyan, mentioned below, 

< \ 1) Bunyan Penniman. son of John Bun- 
yan Penniman (5), was born in Mendon about 
1772 and died in Warwick, Massachusetts, in 
1848. Child, Dean mentioned below. 

(\'II) Dean Penniman. son of ISunyan 
Pemiiman {(>). was born in Warwick in t8oo, 
and died in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1864. 
He was educated in the ])ublic schools of his 
native town. He learned the trade of carpen- 
ter, and when a young man settled in Lowell. 
He went into business as a contractor and 
builder, and was eminently successful. He 
took an active ])art in the development and up- 
buildmg of the city of Lowell, and erected 
many of the buildings of importance in the 
early .lays of the town. He made good invest- 
ments himself in Lowell real estate and ac- 
(|uired a competence before he retired from 
business. In politics Mr. Penniman was a 
Whig, but followed his party into the Republi- 
can organization, and was active in his support 
of the L'tiinn during the Civil war. He was a 
member of the Congregational church, and a 
generous supporter of the church and its 
charities. He had an irreproachable character. 
a kindly and attractive way and manner of 
speech. .'>nd enjoyed the fullest measure of 
confidence and esteem in the hearts of his 
friends ,ind townsmen. He married (inten- 
tions November 17). 1821. Hann'di Hastings. 
Chil.lren : 1. (,'larice. died yorng. 2. Isaac 
H. 3. John R. 4. (ieorge !•". 5. I'ranklin H. 
6. HarnKth A., resides on the hoiuestead in 
Lowell, unmarried. 7. Mary .\.. resides on 
the homestead in Lowell, umuarried. 8. 
Sarah .'\.. resides mi the homestead with her 
sisters, in Low '11 : member of the Congrega- 
tional church. 

(\ IIT) (Jeorge I". I'ennini.m. son of Dean 
Penniman (7). was born at Warwick. Massa- 
chusetts, in 183 1, and died in Lowell, Massa- 



72 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



chusetts, in 1904. He was educated in the 
common schools of his native town. He was 
employed for a few years in Warwick in 
various clerical positions. He removed to Lo- 
well when a yovmgf man and established him- 
self in the express business in that town. His 
business grew rapidly and he was shortly the ■ 
leading man in his line of business. He ex- 
tended his faoilities, and as the city grew his 
business continued to increase, and Penni- 
man's Express became a household word in 
Lowell. He retired a few years before his 
death and devoted his attention to his real 
estate in which he invested extensively in Lo- 
well. He bought a large tract of land in what 
is called Lowell Highlands, laid it out in house 
lots with broad streets, and himself built many 
houses upon it. This property is very desir- 
able and attracts tenants readily. The results 
of his business and the increase from his 
shrewd investment in real estate and other 
property brought wealth to Mr. Penniman. He 
was enterprising, energetic and always inter- 
ested in the development and upbuilding of the 
city of Lowell. He was active in his civic 
duties, a Republican in politics. He served 
with credit in the common council of Lowell. 
He was a director of the Lowell National 
r>ank and trustee of the Five Cents Savings 
Bank. He was active in the Masonic order, 
and a member of the Universalist church, 
Lowell. He married Mary A. Mc.\lvin, daugh- 
ter of John McAlvin. She was born 1840, 
and died at Lowell, March, 1907. Their chil- 
dren were : Caroline L., born at Lowell, and 
George R. Caroline L. married Loren E. 
Pullen, who is a prominent advertising man 
of Boston. Their children: I. Raymond L. 
and Leslie Pullen. 



The first settler in New Eng- 
SIMPSON land by the name of Simpson 
was John of Watertown, I\Tas- 
sachusetts, although about the same time 
Henry Simpson came from England and set- 
tled at York, Maine. He was there before 1640, 
and his only known son, Henry Simpson, was 
born about 1647 and died 1695. From Henry, 
Jr., most of the Simpsons in Maine are de- 
scended. The Nottingham, New Hampshire, 
history traces the family in that town to An- 
drew Simpson, who was born in Scotland in 
1^^)97, married Elizabeth Patten, who was 
killed by the Indians; married (second) 
Widow Brown, of York. 

According to the history of Windham, New 
Hampshire, two more emigrants of the name 



of Simpson are the progenitors of the Wind- 
ham families of this name. Alexander Simp- 
son was the immigrant ancestor of most of the 
Simpsons of Windham ; was of Scotch de- 
scent ; came from the north of Ireland to 
Windham and bought land of James Wilson, 
November 24, 1747. His brother-in-law, 
.Adam Templeton, came with him ; Simpson 
was a weaver and could do exceedingly fine 
work : Templeton was a maker of spinning 
wheels. 

(T) William Simpson, the immigrant, ac- 
cording to the \Mndham history, came from 
the north of Ireland and was of Scotch ances- 
try. He settled in Greenland, New Hamp- 
shire, where he died. The connection with the 
family of Alexander Simpson is not known, 
but it is likely that he was a nephew or cousin, 
both from the fact that they lived in the same 
towns and of the similarity of the names in the 
two families. A \\'illiam Simpson served in 
the Revolution from Pembroke, though he is 
not mentioned in the Pembroke history. 
Joseph Simpson, the permanent settler of this 
name in Pembroke, came there from Green- 
land and was probably a brother of William. 
Two of his children married Simpsons from 
Greenland. It ma\- be presumed that a brother 
of .\lexander of Windham settled in Green- 
land and had sons : Joseph, of Pembroke, 
William, of Pembroke, and Windham, and 
pernaps Thomas Simpson, of Haverhill, New 
Hampshire. William married Mary Haynes, 
of Portsmouth. Children i. Joseph, removed 
to Windham about 1788 and lived where 
the T. W. Simpson house now stands ; 
built Simpson's Mills soon after he came ; 
was a fine carpenter and millwright ; mar- 
ried Jennie Wilson, daughter of George ; 
children : i. Charles, resided in Pennsylvania ; 
ii. .-Mva O. ; married Sarah Packard, of Wind- 
ham ; resided in Lowell ; farmer ; died in 1881 ; 
iii. Esther, removed to Vermont : iv. Joseph, 
went to California. 2. George, mentioned be- 
low. 

(II) George Simpson, son of William Simp- 
son (i), was born in Greenland, New Hamp- 
shire, in 1767; removed to Windham in 1793 
and lived a few rods from T. W. Simpson's 
mill near the Pelham line. The house has 
disTppeared, but the old cellar remains to mark 
the site. He lived in Windham just sixteen 
years and sold his place to one .\twood, and 
in i8og settled at Rumney, New Hampshire, 
where he died in 1850 at the age of eighty- 
three years. He married Mary Lang, daugh- 
ter of Thomas Lang, of Lee, New Hampshire. 
She was born in Portsmouth. Children: i. 




MARY A. PKNMMAN 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



73 



Mary, born in Portsmouth, October 27, 1787; 
died November 13, 1876; married Robert 
Simpson, son of Samuel, grandson of .Alexan- 
der Simpson, mentioned above. 2. Thomas, 
born at Portsmouth ; merchant, resided in Bos- 
ton, buried in Mount Auburn cemetery ; had 
two children : Sarah and Thomas. 3. CJeorge, 
Jr., born at Windham, 1797; went to Went- 
worth ; died and was buried with his family in 
West Rumney : married Mary Savage, of Or- 
ford. New Hampshire, and had six children : 
Mary, Katherine, Thomas, Dan Y., John, 
Ayer. 4. Benjamin F., born July 21, 1799, 
mentioned below. 5. Sally, born at Windham, 
1801, married John M. Smart, of Runmcy, 
lived in Plymouth and New ^'ork- City where 
he died, leaving six children. 6. William Wash- 
ington, born in Windham. 1803; farmer and 
stage owner in Haverhill. New Hampshire: 
died about 1873 '• married Sarah Burnham, of 
Rumney, w^ho died in 1875: children: George, 
Charles, born .\ugust 22, 1828. married Ro- 
salie J. Lund : \\'illiam, Henry, Jabez, John 
Ellen and Frank. 7. Dr. Daniel Lang, born 
in Windham. May 9, 1807, graduated from 
Dartmouth Aledical School in 1827: practiced 
in Colebrook and Londonderry, coming to 
A\'indham in 1832 and resided there sixteen 
months and was on the school committee : re- 
moved to Londonderry and lived until 1837 : 
then went to Nashua and back to Windham : 
settled finally in \^'est Runmcy in June. 1838: 
died July 15, 1878: married, February 5. 1829, 
Angeline L., daughter of Edward Kneeland, of 
Hartford, Vermont, born November 20, 1809; 
children : i. Henry Clay, born at Londonderry, 
January 29, 1830, resided at Keesvillc, Ver- 
mont, and Potsdam, New York ; first lieuten- 
ant in Second Regiment Minnesota N'olunteers 
in Civil war. and died in service, December i 
1861. ii. Edward .Mphonso, born at London- 
derry, April I, 1832, postmaster at Chelmsford, 
Massachusetts: was surgeon three years in the 
Thirtieth Massachusetts Regiment and lost a 
leg in the service : iii. Minerva Jane, born in 
Londonderry, December 28, 1833, married, De- 
cember 27, 1852, James M. Douglass, and set- 
tled at .Anoka, ^linnesota. iv. Helen Maria, 
born at Windham, May 17, 1834: married, 
.\pril 5. n%3, Alphcus C. Hobbs. v. Giarlos 
Daniel, born at Londonderry. January 31, 1836. 
married Rosanna G. Pitman, of Gilmanton : 
resided at Fairport, New York. vi. Mary 
Lang, born at Windham, March 24, 1838, 
married Joshua Fessenden. vii. Evelyn Louise, 
born at West Rumney. February 11, 1841. 
married. January 8, 1869, Henry Clark, viii. 
Oliver Everett, born at West Rumney, January 



24, 1842, was in Twelfth Regiment, New 
Ilampsiiire \'olnnteers in Civil war. ix. Har- 
riet 1-Vances, birn at West Rumney, June 25, 
1844, married, March 19, 1866, Dixie C. Smol- 
ley. x. Susan Caroline, born at West Rumney, 
June 17, 1846, music -teacher in West Rum- 
ney. xi. .Mice ( )lena. born at West Rumney, 
■April 9, 1848. married. February. 1869, Aaron 
Hamblett, of I'elham. xii. Elizabeth, born at 
West Rumney, .\pril 30. 1830, married William 
K. Flynn. xiii. I-^raiik I^dwin. born at West 
Rumney, July 3, 1853. married, July 8, 1878, 
Lucy Holyoke. 

(in) Dr. Benjamin F. Simpson, son of 
George Simpson (2), was born in Windham, 
July 21, 1799. He went to Rumney with his 
father in 1809, and when sixteen years old pur- 
chased an old horse and wagon and, being sup- 
plied with dry goods by Thomas and John Nes- 
mith, then in trade at Windham Centre, he 
peddled these goods through the country from 
Windham to Haverhill, New Hampshire, and 
laid the foundation of the wealth he acquired. 
He taught school in the winter and ditfing 
three years saved a thousand dollars which he 
expended in acquiring an education. In 1819 
he commenced the study of medicine under 
Dr. David Gibson, of Rumney, graduated at 
Dartmouth Medical School in 1821, and prac- 
ticed his profession in Rumney seven months, 
having but one patient, whom he succeeded in 
curing, but who never ])aid his bill. He removed 
to Plymouth, in 1822, where he practiced until 
the fall of 1829, when he removed to Chester. 
He came to Windham in the fall of 1829, living 
in the village. Afterwards he owned and lived 
uixm the farm of G. W. Noyes : remained there 
twelve years, and was successful in his prac- 
tice. He served the town of Windham as col- 
lector of taxes and in 1834 as selectman. He 
settled in Lowxll, Massachusetts, in 1843, and 
practiced his profession until 1879. During 
liis later years nnich of his time was occupied 
in the care of his property and making invest- 
ments. He was a Republican in politics, a man 
of large intlucnce, and great ability and force 
of character. He died in Lowell. .April 10, 
1883, and was buried in Windham, his native 
place. He married. 1827, Elizabeth AIcDear- 
maid. of Thornton, New Hampshire, who was 
born July 23, 1801. Children: i. Olenia. born 
at Plymouth, February 20, 1829, died January. 
1841. 2. Odanathus, Iiorn at Windham, De- 
cember 15. 1831. mentioned below. 3. \'era- 
zino, born at Windham, December 31. 1833, 
resided at Winona, Minnesota, and has been 
mavor of that citv : has children. 4. Longinus, 
born at Windhan'i. March 10, 1841. died 1843. 



74 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



5. Longimis, born at Pelham. June 4. 1843. 

(IV) ( klanathus Simpson, son of I3r. lien- 
janiin F. Simpson (3), was born in Windham, 
December 15, 1 83 1. He received his early ed- 
ucation in the district schools in Windham and 
in Lowell, whither his father went to live in 
1843. After graduating from the high school 
he was apprenticed to learn the trade of car- 
penter, and he followed it as a business for 
many years, as a builder and carpenter, be- 
coming one of the best known and most suc- 
cessful contractors in the city. He built many 
of the important buildings of Lowell. He in- 
vested extensively in real estate, and his time 
was occupied in later years in the care of his 
property and in dealing in real estate. When 
a. young man he belonged to the militia com- 
pany in Lowell. In politics he was an active 
Republican, and was a delegate to various 
political conventions, though he declined all 
public offices. He was a man of sterling char- 
acter, whose memory is cherished by many 
friends. He died June, igoi. 

H£ married, 185 1, Esther P. Clifford, daugh- 
ter of Moses and Lavinia (Barnes) Clifford, 
natives both of New Hampshire. Mrs. Simp- 
son survives her husband and resides with her 
family in the homestead on Branch street, Low- 
ell. Children: i. Benjamin F., born Septem- 
ber 13, 1851, died October 10, 1897; married 
Emma Mancil : children: Elizabeth, (ieorge, 
Arthur, Benjamin, Edward. 2. Olena, born 
September 13, 1854, married Rockford Snow. 
3. Lavinia, born November 5, 1858, married 
August 7, 1877, Arthur Gross, and they have 
one child. Ralph Gross. 



Richard Robbins, the immi- 
ROBBINS grant ancestor, was born in 

England, and settled early at 
Charlestown, Massachusetts. His brother, 
Nicholas, was a settler at Cambridge very 
early, removed to Duxbury, Massachusetts. 
Richard and his wife Rebecca were admitted 
to the Charlestown Church, May 24, 1640. 
They removed to Boston and again to Cam- 
bridge, where they settled on the south side of 
the river until about 1673, when he removed 
to the center of the village, on the Crackbone 
place. He deeded March 14, 1678-79, to his 
son Samuel thirty-six acres ; to son Nathaniel 
thirty-four acres, and June 7, 1681, to daugh- 
ter Rebecca thirty acres. He married (first) 
Rebecca : (second) Elizabeth Crack- 
bone, March 26, 1673-74. Children of Richard 
and Rebecca Robbins: i. John, baptized at 
Charlestown, May 24, 1640. 2. Samuel, born 



May 22, 1O43. 3. Nathaniel, baptized in Lex- 
ington, mentioned below. 4. Rebecca, baptized 
in Lexington, married John Woodward. 

(II) Nathaniel Robbins, son of Richard Rob- 
bins (i), was baptized in Cambridge in 1643; 
died there in 171Q. He married, August 4, 
1669, Mary Braside. He was hog reeve for the 
district on the south side of the river in 1679. 
Children: i. Rebecca, born January 6, 1671-72, 
married Joseph Cheney. 2. Mary, born May 31, 
1673. died November 30, 1676. 3. Deborah, 
born June 6, 1674, married Thomas Squires ; 
(second) William Brown. 4. Nathaniel, born 
February 28, 1677-78. 5. John, born Novem- 
ber 21, 1680, mentioned below. 6. Thomas, 
born November 6, 1683, died January 31, 
1700-01. 7. Samuel, born May 30, 1686. 8. 
Joseph, born November 8, 1689. 

(III) John Robbins, son of Nathaniel Rob- 
bins (2), was born at Cambridge, November 
21, 1680, died there June 10, 1751. He married, 
.\pril 4, 1705, Abigail Adams; (second), about 

1762, Hepzibah . He probably lived 

on the south side of the Charles river. (Thildrem 
born in Cambridge: I. John, born February i, 
1705-06. 2. Daniel, born November 25, 1707, 
married, October 23, 1731, Hannah Trow- 
bridge of Newton. 3. Mary, born May 20, 
171 1. 4. Roger, born 1714, baptized Septem- 
ber 26, 1 7 14, mentioned below. 5. Eliphalet, 
baptized January 26, 1717-18. 6. Solomon, 
baptized September 25, 1720. 7. Abigail, born 
February 24, 1/21,-24. married Par- 
ker. 

(IV) Roger Robbins, son of John Robbins 
(3). was baptized September 26, 1714. at Cam- 
bridge. He settled at Lancaster, Massachu- 
setts, and married there October 17, 1744, 
Lucy Smith, of Lexington. Children, born at 
Lancaster: i. Silas, born November 24, 1746. 
2. Luke born April 25, 1748. 3. Jacob, born De- 
cember 16, 1750, mentioned below. 4. John, 
born January 12, 17.56. 5. Lucy, born Sep- 
tember 8, 1758. 6. Levi, born May 5, 1761. 
7. Jude. born April 17, 1765. 

(V) Lieutenant Jacob Robbins, son of Roger 
Robbins (4), was born at Lancaster, Decem- 
ber :6. 1750. He settled in the adjoining town 
of Harvard. He was selectman there in 1798, 
1803 and 1814: assessor in 1777 and 1809. He 
was on the committee of safety and corres- 
pondence in 1776, and was a soldier in the Rev- 
olution, a lieutenant in Captain Burt's company 
which marched from Harvard to Cambridge 
on the Lexington alarm, /\pril 19, 1775. Be- 
fore the Revolution he was active in the militia 
and was sergeant of the "younger company" 
under Captain Josiah Whitney in 1774. He 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



75 



uas ill the Rhode Island campaign in 1777 un- 
der General Joseph Spencer. He married 
(first) (intentions I-'ebruary 14,) 1778, Sophia 
Houghton ; (second) Olive W'illard. of Lancas- 
ter, a descendant of Major Simon Willard, the 
principal founder of Lancaster and its most 
prominent citizen for many years. Children of 
Jacob and Olive Robbins : i. Onesiphorus, 
born at Harvard, August 19, 1792. 2. Nabby. 
born January 28, I79<J. 3. Jacob, (twin), was 
born October 24, 1798; mentioned below. 4. 
Olive (twin), txirn October 24, 1798. 5. Au- 
gustus, born October 17, 1805, graduate of the 
Harvard Medical School in 1832; removed to 
Holden, Massachusetts, in 1842; to Brooklyn, 
New York, in 1850, and died there September 
13. 1855. 

(\ 1) Jacob Robbins, Jr., son of Jacob Rob- 
bins (5), was born in Harvard, October 24, 
1798, and died in Lowell. Massachusetts. 
March 8, 1885. He was educated at the dis- 
trict schools of his native town and the acad- 
emy at W'estford, Massachusets. He began 
his business career as clerk in a drug store, 
learned the business thoroughly and eventu- 
ally engaged in the drug business on his own 
account. He was successful from the first and 
became the leading druggist of the city. Some 
years before his death he retired from busi- 
ness. He was active in political and municipal 
affairs. First a Whig, he naturally went with 
the majority of that party in this state into the 
Republican party. He was appointed post- 
master of Lowell in 1841 by President Tyler. 
He was one of the first board of aldermen of 
the city of Lowell after its incorporation. He 
was trustee and vice president of the City 
Institution of Savings, and a director of the 
Lowell Fire Insurance Company. He was 
fond of travel and often went abroad. He at- 
tended the High Street Congregational 
Church. I if which he was a generous supporter. 
He ciinimanded the utmost respect and esteem 
among his townsmen. His personality was un- 
usually attractive and he made friends through- 
out his life. He was upright, able and honor- 
able in all the walks of life, but quiet and un- 
pretentious withal. 

He married Nancy Pierce Hartshorn, 
daughter of Roland Hartshorn, of P>oston. She 
died in Lowell. Children: i. Elizabeth Olive, 
was very prominent in art and literary 
circles, and spoke many languages : 2. Nancy 
P. H., educated in the Lowell schools, private 
scho<jls and resides in the Robbins homestead ; 
is a member of Daughters of the American 
Revolution : she has made a studv of art and 



kindred subjects, and is reckoned among the 
social leaders of the city. 



John Swan, the immigrant ances- 
SW.AN tor, was born in Ireland of English 
ancestry. He came from the vi- 
cinity of Londonderry, in the Province of Ul- 
ster with various Scotch-Irish neighbors, and 
doubtless many of his own ancestors were 
Scotch. He may have been in this country 
several years when he settled in Lunenberg, 
Massachusetts, and bought land there before 
May 21, 1745. He went to Petersborough, 
New Hampshire, late in life to carry on the 
farm of his son (justavus. He was generally 
known as "Old John." He planted the first 
apple tree in Petersborough. He married 
(first) in Ireland Peggy McCrossin ; (second) 
Mrs. Jane Wilson, mother of Major Robert 
Wilson, whose maiden name was Jane Bell. 
He married (third) Mary (Alld) Glaney. aunt 
of Captain William Alld. All the family be- 
longed to the Presbyterian church. Children 
of John and Peggy Swan: i. Gustavus, born 
1717, mentioned below. 2. Lieutenant John, 
married .Agnes Nay, daughter of William Nay 
(or McNee). 3. William, married, I'>bruary 
26, 1750-51, at Lunenburg, Mary Russell, of 
Petersborough : he died in the service during 
the French war. and she married (second) 
Moses Adams, of Dublin, New Hampshire. 4. 
Jeremiah, born about 1736, lost in the French 
war, 1758-59: married Nabby Stone. 5. .-Mex- 
ander. married (first) Elizalieth Putnam: sec- 
ond) Lizzie Stiles, of Lunenburg; married 
third, March 7, 1756, Lucy Foster. 

(II) (Gustavus Swan, son of John Swan (i), 
was born in Ireland in 1717, and came with his 
parents to Lunenburg, Massachusetts. He went 
to Peterslx>rough, New Hampshire, in its early 
days and began to clear the place now known 
as the Samuel Morison farm, but after a time 
went to New York to make bricks and his- 
father came to Petersborough to live on the 
place. He married. November 4, 1747. (by 
Thomas Prentice) Isabel Wilson, of Town- 
send. Massachusetts. He died January 8, 1769^ 
aged fifty-two years. Children: i. William, 
born at IVtersborough, married Annas Wood 
and had seven children, all in Petersbor- 
ough ; married (second) .\bigail Coburn, 
by whom he had two children : resided 
in St. Albans, \'ermont, and was drowned 
on Lake Champlain. Christmas Day, 1799, 
by the breaking of ice when he was on 
his way to Montreal. 2. Captain Robert, 



76 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



born September i6, 1752, mentioned below. 3. 

Jean, born jMay 9, 1755, married Stin- 

son ; settled in Maine. 4. Elizabeth, born July 

24, 1759, married Parker, of Stoddard, 

New Hampshire. 5. Susey, born June 30, 
1761, married Frank Stuart ; resided at Grand 
Isle, Vermont. 6. Jeremiah, born April 25, 
1764, married Anna Wilson ; he died January 
3, 1828, aged sixty-five years. 

(III) Captain Robert Swan, son of Gustavus 
Swan (2), was born in Petersborough, Sep- 
tember 16, 1752. He was a farmer, living in 
the eastern part of his native town. His early 
days were spent in the usual struggles of the 
first settlers to clear their land. He endured 
the trials and hardships of his environment, 
and with practically no school advantages man- 
aged to become a man of e.xtensive knowledge 
and good general education. He did not read 
much, but he was a careful observer and had 
the power of absorbing information. He had 
great natural ability, was much respected by 
his townsmen for his good judgment, common 
sense and patriotism. He was a good speaker 
and was called upon often by the town to serve 
on important committees. He was a soldier 
in the Revolution in Captain Joseph Parker's 
company. Colonel Enoch Hale's regiment, 
which joined the Northern army at Ticonder- 
oga in 1776; also in Captain Alexander Robie's 
company in the same regiment in the Northern 
army in 1777. Later he was captain of a 
militia company. He married Jane AUd, 
daughter of Captain William Alld, she died 
April 10, 1846, aged eighty-four years. He 
died May 25, 1835, aged eighty-three years. 
Children : i. Polly, born June 20, 1780, married 

Butters, resided at Houlton, Maine ; 

died 1850, aged seventy. 2. Robert, born Oc- 
tober 20, 1782, married Margaret Scofield, of 
Maryland ; died there in 1846, aged sixty-three. 
3. Jane, born 1783, died unmarried November 
13, 1849, aged sixty-six. 4. Lettice, born Jan- 
uary 15, 1784: married Hugh Graham; died 
1852, in St. Louis, aged sixty-seven. 5. James, 
died in Maryland while visiting his brotlier. 
6. Samuel, born June 16, 1791. married Janet 
Steele. 7. Sally, born 1796, married Zadoc 
Chamberlain; she died 1836, aged forty. 8. 
William, born 1802, mentioned below. 

(IV) William Swan, son of Captain Robert 
Swan (3), was born in Petersborough, in 1802 ; 
died in 1865, aged sixty-three years, in North 
Adams, Massachusetts. He was educated in 
the public schools of his native town, and then 
learned the trade of machinist. He was a skill- 
ful mechanic and began his business career in 
Petersborough manufacturing turbine water 



wheels. His business grew and he removed to 
North Adams for enlarged facilities. He was 
appointed a superintendent of construction of 
the Hoosac Tunnel, built by the Fitchburg 
Railroad and the state of Massachusetts, and 
held this position at the time of his death. He 
was well known and popular among his towns- 
men, of much energy and force of character. 
In politics he was a Republican, but never 
sought public honors. He attended the Unitar- 
ian church. He married Louisa Fletcher, who 
was born in Petersborough in 181 2, and died 
in 1856, aged forty-five years. Children: 
James, William, Sarah, Charles ."Mfonso 
Fletcher, born August 18, 1830, mentioned 
below ; Rodney deceased. 

(V) Charles Alfonso Fletcher Swan, son 
of William Swan (4), was born at Peters- 
borough, August 18, 1830. He came to 
Lowell with his parents when he was 
eight years old and received his early educa- 
tion in the schools of that town. When about 
ten years old he began to work in the spinning 
room of the Appleton Company Mills, in ac- 
cordance with the customs of the day, and he 
worked there the greater part of his time for 
several years. He was apprenticed to learn 
the trade of machinist in the shop of Aldrich 
& Tyng, then on Middlesex street, and soon 
became proficient, but abandoned this trade 
for the more congenial profession of civil en- 
gineering. He formed a partnership with 
John B. Straw and continued several years. 
He finallv chose the law as his profession, how- 
ever, and fitted himself in the offices of John 
P. Robinson and of Norris & Blaisdell. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1858 and began to 
practice in Lowell. During the first ten years 
of his professional career he had various law 
partners, but from 1869 until his death he was 
alone in business. He devoted himself to the 
practice of his profession and enjoyed abun- 
dant success in the courts and in a material way. 
He was a shrewd judge of the value of real es- 
tate, and his property grew to large values. 
.-\mong the members of the bar he was recog- 
nized as a man of great natural ability and ex- 
tensive legal knowledge. He was prominent in 
nnmicipai affairs and a most efficient and use- 
ful public officer. He was a Republican in pol- 
itics and held many positions of trust and hon- 
or. He was elected alderman in 1873, and 
representative to the general court in 1875-76. 
He was a member of the Unitarian church on 
Merrimack street. 

He married, January 10, 1866, Mary J. 
Butcher, daughter of John and Elizabeth 
(Smith) Butcher, who came to this country 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



77 



from l-"raiice. .Mr. Swan died in Lowell, Sep- 
tember 13, 1878. His widow survives him and 
resides in the homestead in Lowell. They had 
one daughter, .Mary L., born in Lowell, July 
12, 1867; married May 5, 1892, Charles Baron, 
of Lowell. She has five children: i. Virginia, 
born in Boston, March 21, 1893, died June ij, 
1895; 2. Gerald S., lx)rn in Boston, Novemlx;r 
I, 1896; 3. Natalie. June 18, 1898: 4. Richard, 
January 22, 1901 ; 5. Gwendolen. 



Robert Horn or Home was orig- 
HORN inally from Flanders, according to 

Temple's History of Framingham, 
Massachusetts, where he settled before 1725. 
As many of the Framingham settlers at this 
period were from Salem and vicinity it may 
be presumeil, however, that he was related to 
the Homes or Ornes of Salem. We find that 
Robert Horn was a soldier in Colonel John 
Wheelwright's command at York, Maine, No- 
vember 27, 1722. and it is probable that he 
came directly afterward to MarllK)rough, where 
he lived a short time before settling in the ad- 
joining town of Framingham. Robert Horn 
married, in 1723. Flizabeth .Maynard. daugh- 
ter of Simon and Hannah Maynard. .She was 
born September 26. iTkjS, and -lied March 16, 
1766. Her grandfather. John Maynard, was 
one of the original petitioners of the town of 
Marlborough, being of Sudbury as early as 
1639; married, April 5, 164^, Mary Gates. 
Home died at Soutliborough, September 27. 
1760. Their only known child: Robert, lK>rn 
at Marlborough, .\ugust 6, 1726. 

(H) Robert Horn, son of Robert Horn, (i), 
was born at Marlborough, August 6. 1726. died 
at Southborough. May 3. 1763. He had a large 
farm at Southborough. where he married, No- 
vember I, 1749. Thankful Moore, daughter of 
Captain Samuel Moore, of Framingham. Chil- 
dren : I. Elizabeth, born .August 28. 1750; mar- 
ried, April 22, 1772. Moses Xewton. 2. Sam- 
uel, born February 26, 1753, soldier in the Rev- 
olution : married, April 22, 1787, Mitte .\ngier. 
3. Robert, born December 25, 1754; mentioned 
below. 4. Katherine, born January 24, 1757; 
married February 17, 1777, Jedediah Parker. 
(HI) Robert Horn, son of Robert Horn (2), 
was born at Southborough, Massachusetts. De- 
cember 25, 1754, and died there July 21, 1800. 

He married Molly . He was a soldier 

in the Revolution in Captain William Brig- 
ham's company, Colonel Jonathan Ward's regi- 
ment on the Lexington Alarm, .\pril 19, i775- 
He was also in Captain Silas Gates's company, 
Colonel Ward's regiment in 1775 and 1776; 



and in Captain Reuben Sibley's company. Col- 
onel Josiah Whitney's regiment, on the Rhode 
Island Alarm in 1778. He resided in South- 
ijorough where his children were born, viz ; 
1. Windsor, born .August 20, 1782, mentioned 
below. 2. Robert, born .March 23, 1784, died 
July 6, 1824. 3. John, born February 25, 1786, 
married, I'ebruary 17, 1808, Betsey Potter. 4. 
Catherine, born April 8, 1788. 

(IV) Windsor Horn, son of Robert Horn 
(3), was born .\ugust 20, 1782, at Southbor- 
ough. and died at Westford, Massachusetts, 
June 13, 1852. During his active years he was 
a farmer at Southborough and Westford. He 
married, November 20, 1803, Matilda Nichols, 
who was horn at Southborough, December 11. 
1781, and died at Westford, January 25, 1837, 
Children, born at Southborough: i. Caty, 
born .\pril 7, 1804. 2. Samuel, horn De- 
cember 31, 1806, mentioned below. 3. 
Robert, born August 20, 1808. 4. .Martin^ 
born October 17, 1810. 5. Mary, born Sep- 
tember 23, 1812. 6. Betsey, born Septem- 
ber 9, 181 4. 7. Nancy, born 1820, died March 
8, 1832, aged twelve years. 8. Child. 

( \' ) .Samuel Horn, son of Windsor Horn 
(4) was horn in SouthlK)rough, December 30, 
i8of). according to the town records, but the 
hour of birth made the day doubtful and the 
family Bible record has it December 31. In 
nis early youth he worked on his father's farm, 
but when thirteen years old he began to work 
for Colonel De.xter Fay who had two large 
farms and a general store at Southborough, 
and raised cattle for the I'righton market. His 
schooling was limited, but he made the most of 
erly all the books that came his way. During 
the nine years spent in the employ of Colonel 
Fay, Mr. Horn received an excellent business 
training and was well prepared to enter busi- 
ness on his own account. When he was twen- 
ty-two he decided to leave his native town and 
strike out in new fields. He sought work first 
in Providence, whither he traveled on foot. 
Failing there, he returned to his native town, 
but soon started out again, spent a night at 
Chelmsford, and stopped at Lowell where, af- 
ter a long search for work he was finally suc- 
cessful in his quest. He was employed by 
Orin Nichols, a chandler. He was so apt and 
enterprising that after two years he was admit- 
ted to partnership. The place of business was 
on Tyler street. The firnt manufactured can- 
dles, tallow and soap and also had dealings in 
hides, etc. Mr. Horn continued in this busi- 
ness for nearly sixty years, retiring, after a 
very long, honorable and entirely successful 
career, in 1886. He began business in 1828, 



78 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



only two years after the incorporation of the 
town of I^xiwell and continued active until 
about a Aveek before his death, a business car- 
eer of seventy years in Lowell. He was in more 
•senses than one a founder of that city. He 
-was one of the founders of the Wamesit Na- 
tional Bank in 1853 and one of the directors 
until his death, acknowledged to be one of the 
soundest and most far-sighted financiers ever 
connected with the bank, always a leading fac- 
tor in its affairs during his life. In 1871 he was 
one of the founders of the Merrimack River 
Savings Bank and a trustee from the first until 
his death. 

"In business," said his friend, Rev. John M. 
Green, D. D., at his funeral, "he was perfectly 
honest and upright: a 'square man,' as such as 
he is sometimes called. He never took advan- 
tage of the weak and ignorant. He never 
robbed the fatherless and widows. He aimed 
to be just and righteous, giving every man his 
due. He managed his own business with pru- 
dence and sagacity. He was industrious. He 
did not think any business would be a success 
unless industry and economy were elements in 
It. He was not afraid of work himself. He felt 
that what our city needs is the element of care- 
ful business management in all its affairs. Mr. 
Horn was a successful business man in thetru- 
■est sense. He did not seek to accumulate a for- 
tune in a day or a year ; he was not looking for- 
ward to the time when he could fold his hands 
in idleness or live in luxury, having nothing to 
do : but business was to him a life-long occu- 
pation. He loved to engage in it, and he so 
did it that there was no need to give soothing 
syrup to his conscience, when he lay down at 
night to sleep. Mr. Horn was also a public- 
spirited man. He did not live for self, but he 
aimed to make his city and the world better 
for his having lived in it." For several years 
in the early history of the city he was first 
a fireman, then an assistant engineer in the 
fire department and he never lost his interest 
in the department and in the firemen them- 
selves. He was a Whig in early life, later a 
Republican. He was a member of the com- 
mon council of Lowell in 1839, but never cared 
for public office. He did his duty at 
the polls and used his influence for 
the best at elections. He was active 
in movements against gambling and in- 
temperance. He was generous to the poor and 
unfortunate. He was an earnest friend of the 
public schools and aided in the development of 
the present system, believing firmly that com- 
pulsory education is the foundation of good 
citizenship. Doiring his first years in Lowell 



he attended the Appleton Street (now Eliot) 
Congregational Church, but in 1835 left it to 
become a Unitarian. Yet occasionally he at- 
tended the Orthodo.x Church where he had 
many friends. He had one of the most at- 
tractive homes in the city. He laid out the 
grounds, superintended the building of his 
house and planted the trees and shrubs. Mr. 
Green said : "It was his home in the fullest 
sense of the word. He did not belong to any 
of the lodges or orders of our city. He had no 
objection to those institutions for those who 
felt the need of them. His home was his sacred 
retreat from the cares and anxieties of business, 
and the place where he found society, comfort, 
sympathy, rest. 

During all these subsequent fort}- years (af- 
ter the death of his wife), he has been living 
to make his home happy for his children, and 
to hallow the memory of her who was by 
death taken from him. We who are left shall 
miss his ever genial and inspiring presence. 
He was a conspicuous personage among us — 
dignified in his bearing, courteous in his man- 
ners, active in his habits, remarkably well pre- 
served for one of his age, walking, at the age 
of ninety-one years, our streets unattended, 
punctual at the places of business, always kind 
and cordial, the best of company for young or 
old. He had a fund of anecdote, and could 
both tell and relish a good story. He never 
said aught against anyone, and none in his 
presence felt like airing the infirmities and 
faults of others. His presence lifted one above 
all that is mean or low. I have had many pleas- 
ant hours with him, and all my recollections of 
him fill me with joy and delight. There was a 
sweetness about his disposition which was re- 
markable : none of the moroseness and fault- 
finding which sometimes mar the spirit of the 
aged. He took a cheerful, hopeful view of 
everything and if he had sorrows he did not 
obtrude them upon others." He died April 15, 
1898. 

He married, in 1835, Hannah T. Harper, of 
Sanhlornton, New Hampshire. She was born 
January 10, 1813, and died June 13, 1857. 
Children: i. Emma J., born June 16, 1837. 
2. Alfred S., born April 13, 1842, mentioned 
below. 3. Isabelle P., born June i, 1844. 

(VI) Alfred S. Horn, son of Samuel Horn 
(5), was born in Lowell, April 13, 1842. He 
received his education in the public schools of 
Lowell and in Boscawen and then entered his 
father's office anl learned the business. He be- 
came associated in business with his father, in 
the manufacture of candles, tallow, soap, etc., 
and finally became the manager of the busi- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



79 



ness. After his father's death he continued the 
business until a few years ago, when, on ac- 
count of his liealth. he retired. Mr. Horn has 
had a very successful business career and had 
much to do with the success of the firm in later 
years. He has a handsome residence at 1148 
Middlesex street, Lowell, where he lives quiet- 
ly. He is a member of no clubs nor secret or- 
ders. In politics he has been active but never 
in his own interests. In religion he is a Uni- 
tarian. Mr. Horn is counted among the most 
upright, sagacious and substantial citizens of 
Lowell. He married. October 2, 1867. .Ara- 
bella Churchill, daughter of Thomas Churchill, 
of Lawrence. Massachusetts. She was born 
in Xewmarket. Xew Hampshire. Children : 
I. I'Mward .A.. lx)rn .August 7, 1872: died 
June 20, 1890. 2. Samuel C, born .August 17, 
1878. mentioned Ix-low. 

(VII) Samuel C. Horn, son of Alfred S. 
Horn (6). was born in Lowell. August 17, 
1878. He was educated in the public and 
high schools of his native city. He began his 
business career in the office of L. R. J. and 
W. H. Varnum. He has taken a prominent 
position in the financial and business world, 
and has won the respect and confidence of his 
townsmen. In politics he is a Republican, in 
religion a Congregationalist. and attends the 
Trinitarian Congregational Church. He re- 
sides with his father in the family mansion at 
1148 Middlesex street. I^well. He married. 
June 28, 1900, Grace Edna Varnum, daughter 
of Leavitt, R. J. and Elizabeth (Clark) Var- 
num, of Lowell. Her father is living. Thev 
have had one child. Varnum C. Horn, born 
May 24, 1905, died September 9, 1905. 



John Stevens, the immigrant 
STEVENS ancestor, was born in England 

in 1605. He came from Cav- 
ersham (or Gonsham), Oxfordshire. England, 
in the ship "Confidence," sailing in .April, 1637, 
from Southainpton. Caversham is in the 
southern jiart of Oxford near Reading in 
Berkshire. He gave his age at that 
time as thirty-one. He settled first in New- 
bury and was admitted a freeman May 18. 
1642. He removed to Andover. He was ser- 
geant of a military company in Andover and 
served on a committee with Henry .Short, of 
Newbury, and Joseph Jewett. of Rowley, to 
decide the boundary line then in dispute be- 
tween Haverhill and Salisbury, appointed by 
the general court in 1654. In 1681 his son 
John was also a proprietor of Andover. He 
was a man of note aitd substance. His name 



appears often in the town and coiirt records. 
He died .April 11. i(:)()2. His gravestone in 
the old yard at .Vndover is quaintly carved 
and ornamented but bears no eulogy or text. 
It bears this inscription ; "Here lyes buried the 
Body of Mr. John Stevens who deceased ye 
II Day of .April 1662 in ye 57 Year of his 
age." It is the only gravestone erected to the 
memory of a first settler. If others were 
erected, the stones have been destroyed or 
buried. His wife Elizabeth was apjiointed ad 
ministratrix June 24, 1(^)62. She testified 
June 16. 1673, that she was s'ixty years old 
in a case, concerning Samuel Parker, son of 
her brother, Joseph Parker, of .Andover, and 
presumably her maiden name was Parker, 
though the word brother was used for broth- 
er-in-law, etc. She died May i, 1694, aged 
eighty-one years. Her will dated October 21, 
1687, with codicil added .September 7. 1691, 
bequeathed to her children John. Timothy, 
Nathan, Ephraim. Joseph. Benjamin. Eliza- 
beth Woodman. .Mary Barker and their chil- 
dren. It was proved September 25, 1694. 
Children: i. John, born June 20, 1639, at 
Newbury ; went to Andover with his father : 
was sergeant there in 1674; took the oath of 
allegiance in i'''74- 2. Timothy, born .Septem- 
ber 23, 1641. The following at .Andover: 3. 
Nathan. 4. Ephraim. 5. Joseph, born May 

15. 1654: mentioned below. 6. Benjamin, 
born June 24, 1656. 7. Elizabeth, married 
Joshua Woodman. 8. Mary, married John 
Barker. 

(II) Joseph Stevens, son of John Stevens 
(i). was born in .Andover. Massachusetts, 
May 15, 1654. He settled in his native town: 
took the oath of allegiance prescribed by the 
king in 1678; was elected deacon in 1694. 
He was a leading citizen of the town for many 
years. He married. May 28. 1679, Mary 
ingalls, daughter of Henry Ingalls. She died 
September 21. 1699, and Deacon Stevens died 
February 25, 1743. aged eighty-eight years. 
Children, born at .Andover: I. Rev. Joseph, 
horn June 20, 1682. graduate of Harvard in 
1703 ; minister at Charlestown. ordained Oc- 
tober 13, 1713: died of small pox, November 

16, 1721 ; father of Rev. Benjamin Stevens, of 
Kittery (H. C. 1740). 2. James, mentioned 
below. 3. Benjarrtin. Savage thinks there 
were other children. 

(III) Captain James Stevens, son of Dea- 
con Joseph Stevens (2). wa-s born at .Andover 
in 1685, died May 25, 1769, aged eighty-four 
years. He was in the French and Indian 
wars 1744 to 1749, and commanded a com- 
pany of Andover men in the Cape Breton Ex- 



8o 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



pedition and took part in the capture of Louis- 
burg. With others of this army he petitioned 
for a grant of land for services November 22, 
1 75 1, and received land in the province of 
Maine. He was a prominent man in his day; 
selectman in 1742, town treasurer from 1721 
to 1729, and from 1733 to 1734. He married 
Dorothy Fry, March. 1712. Children: i. 
James, mentioned below. 2. Joseph. 3. Ben- 
jamin. And probably several daughters. 

(IV) Ensign James Stevens, son of Cap- 
tain James Stevens (3), was born in And- 
over, Massachusetts, in 1720. Married, 1745, 
Sarah Peabody. He raised a company in 
Andover and fought in the French and Indian 
war. He marched to Lake George as Ensign 
at the head of his company, and died there of 
camp fever. November 28, 1755, in his thirty- 
fifth year. He was in Captain Abiel Frye's 
company, the regiment of Colonel Williams. 
His widow petitioned for reimbursement for 
the loss of his personal effects, etc. Children : 
I. Jonathan, mentioned below. 2. James. 3. Ly- 
dia, married Peters. 

(V) Jonathan Stevens, son of James Stev- 
ens (4), was born in 1747 in Andover, died 
April 13, 1834, aged eighty-seven years. He 
was a soldier in the .Andover company and 
took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. On 
the anniversary of that battle he invariably in- 
vited his comrades in the fight and entertained 
them at his home with hearty old-fashioned 
hospitality while the old veterans fought their 
battles over again. He was also at the battle 
of Ticonderoga, and a letter to his sister dated 
at Pawlet, October i, 1777, is published in the 
history of Andover (page 377). He married, 
December 15, 1773, Susanna Bragg. Their 
children: i. Captain Nathaniel, born 1786, 
mentioned below. 

(VI) Captain Nathaniel Stevens, son of 
Jonathan Stevens (5), was born in 1786 and 
died ]\Iarch 7, 1865, aged seventy-eight years. 
He was educated at Franklin .\cademy. Af- 
ter leaving school he took a sea voyage before 
the mast for the sake of his health and the 
experience. He was a lieutenant in the War 
of 1812 and later rose to the command of his 
company. He became the owner of a general 
store at North Andover and became a very 
successful trader. The "example and en- 
couragement of his father-in-law, Moses 
Hill, started him in the manufacturing 
business in which he made a for- 
tune. In 1813 he engaged James Scholfield to 
run a mill, and entering partnership with Dr. 
Joseph Kittridge and Josiah Monroe, he be- 
gan in a mill that he built on the site of the 



first saw mill on Cochichawick. It was of 
wood and has been in use constantly ever 
since, though rebuilt, parts at a time, until the 
walls have gradually become brick instead of 
wood. By perseverance and energy Mr. 
Stevens soon mastered the business, in all its 
details, and was capable of managing it with- 
out assistance. He decided to give up the 
manufacture of broadcloth, in which he ex- 
perimented at first, because of the difficulty of 
making the goods and the uncertainty of 
profit and devoted his attention solely to the 
production of flannels. In 1828 and 1 83 1 he 
bought out his partners and took entire charge 
of the mill and business. He was warned by 
well-meaning friends that he would lose his 
time and money. Abbott Lawrence, the im- 
porter, especially warned him that he could 
not compete with the British manufacturers. 
"Take my advice," said he one day, when Mr. 
Stevens carried a load of flannels to Boston, 
"Sell out your mill and go into some other 
business." "Never," replied Mr. Stevens, "as 
long as I can get water to turn my mill 
wheel." Captain Stevens became one of the 
richest and most respected and influential 
manufacturers of the county, carrying on the 
business for fifty years with the utmost suc- 
cess and prosperity. His son, Moses T. 
Stevens bought the Marland Mills at .Andover 
in 1879 ''"'J connected these and the Haverhill 
.Mills with the mill at North Andover by tele- 
phone. The old Stevens Mill at North An- 
dover employs some eighty-five hands and 
uses some three hundred thousand pounds of 
wool annually. Moses T. Stevens gave 
the town hall to the town of North .An- 
dover in connection with the Johnson 
high school. Nathaniel Stevens was a 
member of the Merrimac Power Association. 
He was a member of various societies. He 
was a man of unusual ability and great force 
of character. He married, November 6. 1815, 
Harriet Hale, daughter of Moses Hale, of 
Chelmsford, a pioneer manufacturer. Chil- 
dren : I. Henry H. 2. Charles A., born 1816, 
mentioned below. 3. Moses T., settled in 
North Andover and became a very prosperous 
manufacturer. 4. George was a manufacturer 
at North .Vndover. 5. Horace N., was a man- 
ufacturer at Haverhill. 6. Katherine. 7. Ma- 
ria. 8. Eliza. 

(VII) Charles A. Stevens, son of Nathaniel 
Stevens (6), was born in Andover, 1816, died 
at W^are, Massachusetts, April 7, 1892, aged 
seventy-six years. He learned the manufac- 
turing business in his father's mill at And- 
over. In 1841 with George H. Gilbert he re- 






i iJy/jln^(3fuAy^2yL4 



Ih't Lf'O'is ruh 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



8i 



moved to Ware, Massachusetts, and began to 
manufacture wocJcns. The firm pnosperetl 
lor ten years, then dissolved and each of the 
partners ctmtinuecl in business alone, both be- 
ing remarkably successful. Mr. Gilbert died 
in 1868. Cliarles A. Stevens married, April 
20, 1842. Maria Tyler, daughter of Jonathan 
Tyler. He was a man of stalwart presence, 
fresh complexion, genial disposition and man- 
ners, and was, as a biographer puts it. "one of 
nature's noblemen. " He was a Republican, 
active in politics ; and represented his district 
in Congress and for many years represented 
his district in the governor's council. Chil- 
dren: I. Jonathan Tyler, born December 20, 
1844, mentioned below. 2, Charles E. 3. 
Julia M- 

(\ HI) Jonathan Tyler Stevens, son of 
Charles A. Stevens (7), was born in Ware, 
December 20, 1844. He was brought up in 
Ware, educated there in the public schools 
and in Mr. Woodbridge's school at Auburn- 
dale, and began his business career with his 
father in the wcwlen mills at Ware. In the 
winter of 1864-65, he and his father made a 
visit to the Army of the Potomac in front of 
Petersburg, and both father and son were ac- 
tive in their support of the Union cause. In 
1875 he removed to Lowell, Massachusetts. 
and assumed charge of the estate of his 
grandfather. Jonathan Tyler, one of the heav- 
iest taxpayers of that city, and in this duty 
and the care of his own property found occu- 
pation for the remainder of his life. He was 
interested in municipal and national affairs. 
He served the city of I^well in the common 
council, and in 1881-82 represented his district 
in the general court, serving efficiently on im- 
portant committees. He was active in the 
Republican party and often served as delegate 
til nominating conventions. He was four 
times elected vice-president of the Massachu- 
setts Republican Club. He was an active 
member and generous supporter of the First 
L^nitarian Church of Lowell. He was a mem- 
ber of the New England Historic Genealogical 
Society elected in 1894. He was interested in 
early American history and especially in the 
genealogy of his fainily. He was a member 
of the Massachusetts Sons of the Revolution. 
"He was a sincere, straightforward, manl\ 
man, cordial and kindly in disposition, frank 
and unaffected in demeanor and commanded 
the respect and friendship of all who knew 
him." "His tastes were simple and refined and 
his chief pleasure was in the pleasure which 
others had. He loved his children, and did 
everything a father could to make it pleasant 

i-8 



for them." He died in Lowell, March 13, 
1902. 

He married, December 3, 1873, Alice Co- 
burn, daughter of Charles B. Coburn, of Low- 
ell, a ilescendant of Edward Coburn, of Con- 
cord, a pioneer in 1636, whose descendants 
have been very numerous in Dracut and vi- 
cinity. His widow lives in the homestead in 
Lowell. She is a member of the local chapter 
of the Daughters of the Revolution, of the 
First I'nitarian Church, and is highly es- 
teemed by many friends. Children: I. Tyler 
.\., married Grace Ihick. 2. Julia W., resides 
at home. 3. Maria, married William H. Fox : 
Children : Lorenzo, Ricliard, Madeline Fox. 
4. Charles A., resides at home. 5. ( )liver, re- 
sides at home. 



William Thompson, immi- 
THOMPSON grant ancestor of this fam- 
ily, was doubtless born in 
England about 1630. He came to America 
before 1656, when he received a grant of land 
at Dover, New Hampshire. He liad land laid 
out to him there March 17, 1658-59, "beyond 
Cocheco," "log swamp." His son. John 
Thompson, of Dover, sold fifty acres of this 
Dover grant November 8, 1715. William 
Thompson himself appears to have settled, 
however, in Kittery, where October 15, 1656, 
he bought a tract of land of John White a 
short way below the mouth of .Sturgeon creek. 
Kittery is now in the state of .Maine. John 
White a])pears to have been his father-in-Hw. 
In 1659 Tliompson was prosecuted in the 
York court for "rebellion against his father 
and mother-in-law" (probably) John W'hite 
and wife) and was bound over in the sum of 
twenty pounds to be "of good behavior to- 
wards all men, especially towards his father 
and mother." Thompson died 1676: his es- 
tate was appraised June 22 of that year. The 
inventory aggregated fifty-two pounds eigh- 
teen shillings. He had twenty-three acres of 
land, a house and orchard at Kittery ; fifty 
acres at Dover, which he gave to his sons 
Robert and William, and to John White. His 
wife died before. Their children: i. John, 
born 1659 : married Sarah Woodman, of Oys- 
ter River. 2. William, born 1661 : lived with 
Richard Otis. 3. Robert, born 1664. 4. 
Janus, born 1666, mentioned below. 5. Alex- 
ander, born 167 1 : married Anna Curtis, 
daughter of Thomas Curtis. 6. Judith, born 
1675. The ages of the children are given in 
the probate papers, 1677. 

(II) James Thompson, son of William 



82 



jniiddlesex county. 



Thompson (i), was born at Kittery, 1666, 
and was eleven years of age when his guardian 
was appointed in 1677. He was married by 
Rev. John Pike in Dover, March 3, 1700, 
to Elizabeth Frye, daughter of Adrian Frye. 
James was a tailor by trade. In 1684 he and 
his brother John Thompson conveyed the 
liomestead to Francis Allen. John was ad- 
ministrator, and in some of his papers refers 
to Jaines as "lame and impotent," doubtless 
meaning that he had lost one leg, or had 
crippled it. James seems to have prospered 
later. He removed to York, Maine, and 
Feburary i, 1709-10, sold land granted to him 
when he was in Kittery in 1694 and 1699. A 
tract of land was sold out to him at York, 
October 13,1717.111 addition to the tract where 
he then lived on both sides of the highway from 
York bridge to Berwick, which land he had 
purchased of his brother Alexander Thompson 
for forty acres, January 4, 17 13. Again 
James removed with his family to New Mead- 
ows, Brunswick, Maine, in 1727. Children: 
I. Judith, married, July i, 1724, John Smith, 
of York. 2. .\lexander, married. May 20, 
1731, Sarah Grover, daughter of Matthew, of 
York; resided in Brunswick. 3. James, born 
at Kittery, February 22, 1707; married thrice; 
died at Topsham, Maine, September 22, 1791 ; 
father of Brigadier General Samuel Thomp- 
son. 4. Cornelius, born at York, October 14, 
1709; married Hannah Smith. 5. Sarah, 
born April 17, 171 1. 6. Mercy, born .'Kpril i, 
1712; married Austin Jenkins. 7. Joseph, 
born March 23. 1713-14: married Mary 
Hinckley, daughter of Deacon Samuel Hinck- 
ley. 8. Dinah, born May 6, 1716; married 
Jonathan Thompson, of York. 9. Benjamin, 
born September 9, 1717, married Abigail Phil- 
brick; resided at \A'est Bath. Maine. 10. Sa- 
rah, born November 8, 1719: married 

Seammon. 11. Mary, born December 10, 
1722. 12. Richard, born June 11, 1724, men- 
tioned below. 13. Elizabeth, born ."Vpril 19, 
1726: died December 2, 1726. 

(HI) Richard Thompson, son of James 
Thompson (2), was born at York, Maine, 
June II, 1724, and married, 1757, Elizabeth 
Haddox. They settled in Kennebunk. Maine; 
lived and died there. He was a soldier in the 
revolution. The children, born at Kennebunk : 
Caleb, mentioned below ; Richard, Jr., Hannah, 
Mary, Hannah, Joseph, David, Abigail. 

(IV) Caleb Thompson, son of Richard 
Thompson (3), was born at Kennebunk, 
Maine, about 1760. He owned a farm in West 
Kennebunk, and followed farming as his occu- 
pation all his life. He married Elizabeth Clark, 



of Wells, Maine. Their children, born at Ken- 
nebunk ; David, Richard, born May 13, 1785; 
mentioned below, Mary or Polly, Elizabeth, 
William, Joshua. 

(V) Richard Thompson, son of Caleb 
Thompson (4), was born at Kennebunk, 
Maine, May 13, 1785. He worked on his 
father's farm from early youth until he 
came of age, getting a common school 
education in his native town. He removed 
to Alfred, Maine, and settled on a farm. 
In 1820 he returned to Kennebunk, buying a 
farm of one hundred and twenty acres on the 
road to Alfred, about four miles west of the 
village of Kennebunk. He was obliged to re- 
tire on account of ill health in 1838, and spent 
his last years with his son, Benjamin F. 
Thompson. He died in Kennebunk, April 17, 
1845. He was a Unitarian in religion, and a 
Whig in politics. He belonged to the state 
militia when a young man. He married Ruth 
Conant, born October 8, 1788, daughter of 
Joshua and Delia (Gile) Conant. Joshua 
Conant was a farmer. Children of Richard 
and Ruth: i. Benjamin Franklin, born at Al- 
fred, Maine, December 27, 1810. 2. Daniel, born 
at Alfred, June 2, 1815; died March 2, 1833. 
3. Caleb, born at Kennebunk, July 12, 1824; 
married Josephine .\delaide Pierce, of Ware, 
Massachusetts ; children : i. Florence Virginia ; 
ii. William Henry Adolph ; iii. Florence Vir- 
ginia, married Timothy Snow, of Lunenburg, 
Massachusetts; iv. .\delaide; v. Ruth. 

(VI) Benjamin Franklin Thompson, son 
of Richard Thompson (5), was born at Al- 
fred, Maine, December 27, 1810. He attend- 
ed the public schools of his native town until 
fourteen years old, when the family removed 
to Kennebunk, where he completed his school- 
ing. He went to Taunton, Massachusetts, and 
worked on a farm when he was about twenty 
years old, returning to Kennebunk where he 
was employed on the farm of Samuel Mit- 
chell, and later on the homestead, taking care 
of his father during the last seven years of his 
life. He had the farm and lived there several 
years, selling it to Theodore Thompson, a 
cousin, and moving to the village of Upper 
Alewive, where he bought the Joshua Wake- 
field farm of forty acres. He carried on this 
place ten years selling it finally to one Little- 
field. About 1884 he removed to South Fram- 
ingham, Massachusetts, living with his 
daughter of Sarah and assisting his son Benja- 
min" on his farm near the Ashland line, in 
Framingham. He died at South Framing- 
ham, January 17, 1886. He was a member of 
the Unitarian church. In early life he was a 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



83 



Whig in politics and later a Republican. He 
was ill the militia when young. He married, 
May 22, 1834, Sarah Mitchell Titconib. born 
September 21, 1809. daughter of Benjamin 
and Mary (Waterhoiise) Titcomb, of Kcnne- 
bunk, Maine. Her father was a farmer. Chil- 
dren : I. Benjamin Titcomb, born November 
27, 1834 : mentioned below. 2. Richard 
Franklin, born July 12, 1837; died Novem- 
ber 28, 1879; married, October 13, 1866, Har- 
riet Ellen Merrill, of Lynn. Massachusetts; 
children: i. Alfred Merrill, born May 27,1868: 
married January 29, 1890, .\nnie R. Tanvin, 
of Providence, Rhode Island, and had Ruth 
Edna, born October 22, 1892; Harold Tit- 
comb, bom February 18, 1895 ; Alfred Cyril, 
born December 22. 1896 : Charles Joseph, 
born January 2, 1905. ii. Eugene Edgar, 
born November 20, 1873; married Oc- 
tober 20, 1897, Bertha Manton Draper, of 
Lincoln, Rhode Island. 3. Sarah, born De- 
cember 30, 1840: living unmarried. South 
Framingham. 4. Samuel Cleaves, born 
March 30, 1842 : died January 25, 1864. in 
hospital at Portsmouth Grove. Rhode Island, 
during the civil war ; served in Thirty-sixth 
Massachusetts regiment. 

(\n) Benjamin Titcomb Thompson, son 
of Benjamin Franklin Thompson (6), was 
born at Kennebunk, Maine, November 27, 
1834. He was educated in the public schools 
of his native town and in the Methodist school 
at Mt. Tilton. New Hampshire. He taught 
scIkxiI for a time in Kennebunk. In the 
spring of 1855 he entered the employ of 
Thomas B. Thayer, grocer, Milford, Massa- 
chusetts, and was employed two years as a de- 
livery clerk. He was a driver for the next 
eight years in the employ of S. N. Cutler & 
Son, grain and hay dealers, Framingham. In 
1865 he was admitted into partnership in this 
firm, the name being changed to S. N. Cutler 
& Company. When the senior partner died in 
1868, the Cutler Company, consisting of Mr. 
Thompson. George E. and C. F. Cutler, was 
formed, and continued the business until 1891, 
when it was incorporated under the laws of 
Massachusetts, with Mr. G<X)rge E. Cutler 
president, Mr. Thompson vice-president : 
Henry Cutler, treasurer. After the death of 
Henry Cutler, Joseph M. Perry became the 
treasurer and H. Willis Cutler secretary of 
the company. The company is known 
through the New England states as wholesale 
dealers in flour and grain, doing a large busi- 
ness, especially between Boston and Pittsfield. 
ATassachusetts. The principal mills of the 
company are at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. 



There are also plants at Norwich, Connecticut, 
and Brattleboro, Vermont, owned by the firm 
and they have an interest in the Narragansett 
Mills at Hast Providence, Rhode Island. The 
company maintains a number of branch 
stores. 

Mr. Thompson lived from 1857 to 1877 in 
Ashland, since when he has made his home 
in South Framingham. He is a member of 
Grace Congregational Church there, and is 
deacon and member of the executive commit- 
tee. He is a total abstainer, and an active 
worker in the temperance movement in a town 
where a constant effort by the temperance ele- 
ment is necessary to secure a vote against li- 
censing salcMjns. In politics he is a Republi- 
can, and has served as delegate to many nom- 
inating conventions. He has served the town 
as a special police (ifificer. and has been a mem- 
ber of the Framingham boardof selectmen. He 
is one of the most successful business men, in- 
fluential in every walk of life, especially in 
public affairs and in business matters. He 
commands the respect and esteem of his towns- 
men to an unusual degree, and is foremost in 
works of charity and public spirit. 

He married. February 20, 1859, .Martha J. 
Cutler, who was born .August i, 1832, and 
died December 28, 1901, daughter of Simeon 
New-ton and Mary (Fitts) Cutler, of Hollis- 
ton, Massachusetts. Simeon Cutler w-as the 
senior member of the firm of S. N. Cutler & 
Company, mentioned above. Children : i. 
Harold Orlando, born July 25, i860; killed by 
accident March 13, 1871. 2. Samuel Cleaves, 
born July 25, 1864; died August 2, 1866. 
3. Newton Cutler, born November 8. 1868 ; 
died March 18, 1880. 4. Benjamin Ernest, 
born May 22, 1873 ; resides with parents. 



Sergeant John Stevens, the 
STEVENS immigrant ancestor of this 

family, w^as born in England 
in 161 1. He settled at Salisbury, Massachu- 
setts, before 1640, drawing land in the earliest 
divisions, 1640 and 1645. He was a common- 
er. He deposed in 1667 that he was aged 
about fifty-six. His wife Katherinc died July 
31, 1682. He was taxed in 1650, 1652. 1654: 
signed petitions in 1658 and 1680; member of 
the Salisbury church in 1687. He died at 
.Salisbury. February, 1688-9; his will was 
made April 12, 1686. and proved November 
26, 1689, bequeathing to his sons John, Ben- 
jamin and Nathaniel ; daughter Mary Os- 
good ; to grandchildren Benoni Tucker a 
"kiverlet of Goodman Buswell's weaving," 



84 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



etc. He mentions a brother Severance. Chil- 
dren : I. John, born November 2, 1639; mar- 
ried, February 17, 1669-70, Joanna Thorn. 2. 
Elizabeth, born March 7, 1641 ; died 1641. 3. 
Elizabeth, born February 4, 1642, at Salis- 
bury; married, October 14, 1661, Moms 
Tucker. 4. Nathaniel, born November 11, 
1644. 5. Mary, born 1647 ! rnarried John Os- 
good, and second Nathaniel Whittier. 6. Ben- 
jamin, born February 2, 1650. 

(II) Lieutenant John Stevens, son of Ser- 
geant John Stevens (i), was born in 1639; 
married, February 17, 1669-70, Joanna Thorn, 
who was probably a member of the Salisbury 
church in 1687: he signed the petition of 1680, 
and died November 26, 1690. His estate was 
administered March 31, 1691 ; widow Joanna 
mentioned. She signed the Bradbury petition 
of 1692. Children, born at Salisbury: i. John, 
born December 28, 1670 ; mentioned below. 
2. EHzabeth, born April 8, 1673 ; died June 19, 
1674. 3. Jeremiah, born October 6, 1675 ; 
married, January 6, 1697-8, Elizabeth Stanyan. 
4.' Judith, born January 18, 1686-7; married, 
November 29, 1705, John Currier. 

(III) John Stevens, son of Lieutenant John 
Stevens (2). was born in Salisbury, Massa- 
chusetts, 1670; married Dorothy Hubbard, 
who was admitted to the church at Salisbury, 
1693 : lived also at Hampton ; he died at Salis- 
bury, July 5, 1 7 16. Both signed the Bradbury 
petition. Children, born at Salisbury, except 
the second: i. Joanna, born October 15, 1692; 
married William Boynton. 2. John, born at 
Hampton, January 5, 1693-4, mentioned be- 
low. 3. Martha, born July 18, 1696, died 
young. 4. Hubbard, born October 20, 1698. 
5. Joshua, born August 22, 1701. 6. Joseph, 
born April 29, 1704. 7. David, born May 23, 
1706. 8. Moses, born August 2, 1708. 9. 
Benjamin, born October, 1713. 10. Dorothy, 
born July i, 17 16; died July 20, 1716. 

(IV) John Stevens, son of John Stevens 
(3), was born in Hampton, now New Hamp- 
shire, January 5, 1693-4. He settled in the 
neighboring town of Kennebunk, Maine, 
where he was living as early as 1720. The 
Kennebunk history mentions four children: i. 
Moses, mentioned below. 2. Benjamin. 3. 
Jeremiah. 4. Daughter, married Joseph 
\\''heelwright. Probably other children. 

(V) Moses Stevens, son of John Stevens 
(4), was born about 1710; married Lucy 

Wheelwright, who was baptized August, 1710, 
daughter of Joseph Wheelwright (3) ; Sam- 
uel (2) ; Rev. John Wheelwright (l), of 
Wells, Maine. Children, born in Kennebunk: 
I. Mary, married Elisha Littlefield. 2. Abi- 



gail, married Jacob Wildes. 3. Moses. 4. 
Lucy. 5. Aaron, unmarried. 6. Wheelwright, 
mentioned below. 7. Reuben. 

(VI) Wheelwright Stevens, son of Moses 
Stevens (5), was born about 1730, in Kenne- 
bunk, Maine. He married Phebe Smith. 
Children: i. Nathaniel, married Betsey Day. 

2. Abigail, married John Perkins. 3. Betsey, 
married Moses Fairfield. 4. Jordan, married 
Jane Day. 5. Mary, married Lewis Craw- 
ford. 6. Tristram. 7. Olive ; married Elihu 
Rhodes. 8. Ivory, born about 1760. 9. 
Thomas ( ?). 

(VII) Lieutenant Thomas Stevens was 
born at Lebanon, Maine, in 1745 ; died May 
10, 1820, aged seventy-five years. He was a 
farmer. In religion he was a Baptist. He 
was a lieutenant in the militia, and served in 
the revolution. He married Mary Stanton, 
who died January, 1832, aged seventy-four 
years. Children: i. Ivory, born at Lebanon, 
April 12, 1799, mentioned below. 2. Molly. 

3. Rebecca. 4. Flavilla. 

(VIII) Ivory Stevens, son of Thomas 
Stevens (7), was born at Lebanon, April 12, 
1799. He was brought up on a farm, and had 
a common school education. His father's 
farm came to him at the death of his parents. 
It is situate in the eastern part of Lebanon, 
and contains an excellent quarry from which 
he used to cut the slate gravestones in fashion 
in his day. The business was finally given up 
when marble was generally adopted for monu- 
ments. He died May 4, 1878. He was an 
active and earnest member of the Freewill 
Baptist Church at Lebanon. In politics he 
was first a Whig, later a Republican. He 
was a member of the state militia. He mar- 
ried, March 17, 1825, Dordana P. Richmond, 
who was born October 14, 1806 ; died Febru- 
ary 12, 1890, daughter of Abiel and Thankful 
(Pierce) Richmond, of Bridgewater, Massa- 
chusetts. Abiel Richmond was a New Bed- 
ford sea captain; bom in Taunton, died at 
Rochester, New Hampshire, son of Stephen 
(4), John (3), John (2), John Richmond 
(i). 'Children: i. Mary A., born March 10, 
1829; died November 14, i860; married a 
Walcott, of Boston, and had son William, 
who died young. 2. Charles Cutler, born 
March 4, 1832 ; mentioned below. 3. George 
Forbush, born October i, 1836; died April 
26, 1888; married Mary Ricker, of Berwick, 
Maine ; no issue. 4. Francis, bom August 27, 
1840. 

(IX) Charles Cutler Stevens, son of Ivory 
Stevens (8), was born at Lebanon, Maine, 
March 4, 1832. He worked on his father's 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



85 



farm, and attended the district school in his 
native town. At the age of seventeen, in 
1849, he left home and found employment at 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, in the sausage 
factory of his cousin, .Vndrew Forbush, re- 
maining two years, subsequently working for 
J. H. .v. and Edward Sumner, in the old 
Quincy Market. In 1852 he bought the team- 
mg business of Charles Gerald, Charlestown, 
and later also the business of John Penniman 
and of O. Boston. He was employed by Rus- 
sell & Harington, ice dealers, who sold out to 
Reed & Bartlett. About 1854 he became su- 
perintendent of routes and teaming for this 
firm, conducting his own business at the same 
time until August i, 1862. He left Charles- 
town on August i, 1862, and settled in Box- 
ford, Massachusetts, on a farm of one hun- 
dred and thirty-seven acres, bought of J. 
Travis, in the east parish. He carried on his 
farm and also an extensive ice business in 
Boxford for fourteen years. During the civil 
war he leased his farm to the government for 
Camp Stanton, and contracted for supplies for 
that camp. In October, 1875, he bought out 
the ice business of Edwin Eames, at South 
FraminghanV. Massachusetts, and on May ist 
following made his home in that village, and 
took possession of the business which he has 
continued successfully to the present time, 
though since 1895, when he was disabled by a 
broken leg. his .son George T. Stevens has 
been in charge of alTairs. In 1900 this son 
and Balcom & Prescott were admitted to part- 
nership in the business. In 1903 Bal- 
com iS; Prescott retired, their term of 
agreement having ex])ired. Mr. Stevens has 
been interested in the growth and development 
of the town of Framingham. and has 
invested largely in real estate there. He 
is a member of Grace Congregational Church. 
He is a Republican, and has often served his 
party as delegate to conventions, and has 
been for two years highway commissioner. 
He is a member of Alpha Lodge of Free .Ma- 
sons, and of Concord Chapter of Royal .Arch 
Ma.sons, of South Framingham. He mar- 
ried. May 7, 1857, Martha C. Tukey, who was 
born November 20. 1832. daughter of lienja- 
min and Sarah (Chick) Tukey, of Portland. 
Maine. The children of Charles C. and 
Martha Stevens: i. Eva Martha, born .\pril 
8, i860: married Dr. Charles H. Burr, of New 
York City : no isuc. 2. George Thomas, born 
November 20, 1867 : mentioned below. 

(X) George Thomas Stevens, son of 
Charles C. .Stevens (9), was born at Haver- 
hill, Massachusetts, November 20. 1867. The 



family went to Boxford when he was an in- 
fant, and he began his education there in the 
public schools, continued after his ninth year 
in South Framingham, where in 1883 he was 
graduated from the high school. Then he 
completed a course in h'rench's Business Col- 
lege. Boston, and entered the employ of his 
father in the ice business. In 1895 he took 
entire charge of the business for a time during 
his father's illness. In 1900 the Framingham 
Ice Company was formed, and he became a 
partner in the company nf his father and the 
firm of Balcoin & Prescott. In 1903 Balcom 
& Prescott withdrew. At present Mr. Stevens 
is general manager of the company, with of- 
fices on Concord street. Between seasons the 
firm does a general teaining and contracting 
business. Mr. Stevens is a member of (Irace 
Congregational Church. He is a Republican 
in politics, and has been delegate to various 
nominating conventions. He was registrar of 
voters for South Framingham for eleven 
years. He is a member of Alpha Lodge of 
Free Masons, at South Framinghatn, and was 
its worshipful master in 1897 and 1898. and a 
member of Concord Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- 
sons, South Framingham, and held office in 
that body also at one time, is a member and 
lias been an officer in Natick Commandery, 
Knights Templar, belongs to Aleppo Temple, 
.Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine; 
was formerly a member <if the Royal .Arcanum, 
and is a member of the South Framingham 
Board of Trade and of the Massachusetts As- 
sociation of Retail Ice Dealers. He married, 
laiuiarv 3, 1900, Eva Porter, daughter of 
David M.and Mary (Mclntire) Porter. Her 
father was a locomotive engineer on the Bos- 
ton & .Albany railroad for many years. Chil- 
dren : I. Frederick Cutler, born April 19, 
1 90 1. 2. George Thomas, Jr.. born March 20. 
1903. 



Henry Benner. the immigrant 
BFNNER ancestor, was of German or- 
igin. He settled about 1750 in 
Waldoboro, Maine, named for General Sam- 
uel Waldo, whose son went to (jermany in 
1752 and induced eighty or ninety families to 
come to the town, which had been first settled 
by the Dutch in 1739 and was devastated by 
the Indians in 1748. The natne was originally 
spelled Bohner, but in Abington, Massachu- 
setts, and Pennsylvania, where other meinbers 
of this family settled, the name was also spelt 
after a time Benner. .Among his children 
were: i. Charles, mentioned below. 2. Hen- 



86 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ry, married Mary Brown, and resided in the 
adjacent town of Rockland. 3. John Martin, 
a soldier in the revolution. Perhaps others. 

(II) Charles Benner, son of Henry Benner 
(i), was born at Waldoboro, Maine, Decem- 
ber 25, 1762, and died there October i, 1851, 
aged sixty-nine years. He owned large tracts 
of land in Waldoboro ; kept the tavern for 
many years and was one of the leading citi- 
zens. He married, December, 1782, Kathrine 
Swartz, daughter of another of the German 
settlers. She died September 23, 1843, aged 
eighty-three years. They had fourteen chil- 
dren at Waldoboro, viz: i. Mary, born Febru- 
ary 10, 1782. 2. Margaret, born November 
I, 1784. 3. Jane, born July 31, 1786. 4. Car- 
oHne, born July 20, 1788. 5. Charles, born 
February 11, 1789, mentioned below. 6. 
Frederick, born October 30, 1790. 7. Anna, 
born October 30, 1792. 8. Christopher, born 
December 7, 1794. 9. Katherine, born July 15, 
1796. 10. Susannah, born June 17, 1798. 11. 
Benjamin, born November 29, 1799. 12. 
James, born January 30, 1801. 13. Lucy, 
born December 27, 1804. 14. Oliver, born 
June 5, 1806. 

(III) Charles Benner, son of Charles Ben- 
ner (2), was born at Waldoboro, Maine, Feb- 
ruary II, 1789. He was educated in the dis- 
trict schools of his native town. He followed 
farming from early youth, first with his father 
on the homestead, and later on a farm of his 
own. He also had a lumber business and con- 
ducted a saw mill, and was very successful in 
breeding horses. In politics he was a Whig. 
He married Catherine Centner, who was born 
at Nobleboro, Maine. Children: i. Otis A., 
born September 23, 1815; married Elizabeth 
Cushman, who was born March 9, 1818. 2. 
Gorham, born 1818; married Louise Benner. 
3. Solomon, married Hannah Cumming. 4. 
S^rah; married Henry Hale, of Nobleboro, 
l\Iaine. 5. Mary, married Ambrose Hale, of 
Nobleboro, Maine. 6. Catherine, married 
Captain Robinson, of Rockland, Maine. 7. 
Betsey A., married John Achorn, of Camden, 
Mnine. 8. Orin Elislia, born December I, 
1840, mentioned below. 

(IV) Orin Elisha Benner, son of Charles 
Benner (3), was born at Waldoboro, Decem- 
ber I, 1840. He was educated in the public 
schools there, and helped his father in the 
work of the farm. At the age of seventeen 
he began to learn the trade of cooper, a trade 
that in connection with farming he followed 
through his active life. He bought a place in 
1858 in Waldolxiro. In the seventies he held 
a position as guard in the Maine state prison. 



but resigned on account of ill health. In 1877 
he sold his farm in Waldoboro to Martha 
Filer, of that town, and came to Millbury, 
Massachusetts, where he entered the employ 
of Pliny W. Emerson as superintendent of his 
farm, remaining two years in that position. 
Then he bought the Newton farm in Millbury, 
and resumed farming and coopering, living 
there until 1898. The house was destroyed 
by fire the year following. He became super- 
intendent of the farm of A. H. Sears, Grover 
street, Worcester, a position he filled the re- 
mainder of his life. He died at Worcester,. 
August 29, 1906. He was a Methodist in re- 
ligion and a Democrat in politics. He mar- 
ried Ellen Maranda Newbert, of Waldoboro, 
daughter of Christopher and Jane (Cunning- 
ham) Newbert, of Waldoboro. Her father 
was a farmer. Children: i. Jennie Welcome, 
born May 17, 1862; married April 27, 1896,. 
Pliny W. Emerson, of Millbury ; children : i. 
Harold Orray, born January 27, 1897; ii. 
Donald George, born December 30, 1902. 
2. Herbert Orray, born November 22, 1865, 
mentioned below. 3. Sadie Dell, born October 
I, 1866; married George S. King, of Spring- 
field, Massachusetts; child, Florence Jennie 
King, born August 27, 1886. 

(IV) Dr. Herbert Orray Benner, son of 
Orin Elisha Benner (3), was born at Waldo- 
boro, Maine, November 22, 1865. He attend- 
ed the public school there until twelve years 
old, when he removed with his parents ta 
Millbury, where he graduated from the high 
school. He was for one year a clerk in the 
department store of Barnard, Sumner & Put- 
nam, in Worcester. From there he went ta 
work for the Hampden Watch Company, of 
Springfield, Massachusetts, and at the end of 
four years had risen to have charge of the 
dial department. He decided to study medi- 
cine, however, and in the fall of 1892 he en- 
tered the medical school of Dartmouth College, 
taking the full course of four years in three 
and graduating in June, 1895, with the de- 
gree of M. D. In his senior year he was 
demonstrator in surgery. He was appointed 
interne of the state hospital at Tewksbury, 
Massachusetts, in 1895. In April, 1896, he 
opened an office at 22 Irving street. South 
Framingham, Massachusetts. A year later he 
took charge of the office of the late Dr. Boyn- 
ton for two years. He then built his present 
residence, in which his office is located, at 
South Framingham, and has built up a large 
practice. Perhaps two-thirds of his cases are 
surgical, having made a specialty of that 
branch. He is on the staff of the Framing- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



87 



ham Hospital. Dr. Pii'mier .stands high pro- 
fessionally and socially. He attends Grace 
Congregational Church. In politics he is a 
Kepublican. He is a member of the .\lplia 
Lodge of Free Alasons; Concord Chapter of 
Royal Arch Masons; Natick Commandery, 
Knights Templar : .\lcppo Temple, Mystic 
Shrine, Boston; Morning Star Lodge. No. 
130, Odd Fellows, of Millbnry; of tlie Mid- 
dlesex CUib ; of the Massachusetts .Medical 
Society, the .American Medical .Association, 
and the I'Vamingham Medical .Society. He 
served in Company H, Si.xtli Regiment, Mas- 
saclnisetts N'olunteer Afilitia, at Millbnry. 

He married. June 10, 1899, Edith Emma 
Hall, who was born April 27, 1876, daughter 
of Thomas H. and Emma (Estabrook) Hall, 
of .St. Johns, New Brunswick. Thomas Hall 
was a merchant, and held a prominent posi- 
tion socially and politically. They have no 
children. 



Richard and Samuel Childs, 
CHILD.S brothers, with their families, 
inclutling Richard Childs, a 
youth of fifteen years, and probably sev- 
eral younger children came to Plymouth 
Colony froin England and took up com- 
mon land on Cape Cod, which land on 
March 5. 1638. soon after their arrival, was 
included in tlie proposed town of Barnstable. 
From these immigrants of the name which 
was infliscriminately spelled Child and Childs 
the famih' of l)oth nan'es in New England 
sprung. Richard Child, born in 1624. was 
presumably the son of Richard, but some 
f;nrilv r'cords n'Mi'e him as the son 
of Sanmel. Naming both as of the first gen- 
eration we take the name of Richard as 
representing the second generation from 
which Edwin Otis Childs of the ninth gener- 
ation descended. 

(H) Ricliard Child, son of Richard or 
Samuel Childs, was born in England in 1624 
and came with his father and uncle to New 
England about 1638. and fettled with them 
at Barnstable where both father and uncle 
were made freemen and took ])art in the gov- 
ernment of the town. On October 13, 1648, 
Richard Child, then twenty-four venrs ol.i. 
married Mary Linnell, daughter of Robert Lin- 
nell. also a resident of I'arnstable. They had 
children including an eldest son who was 
given, as wa-^ the family custom of the time, 
the name of his father. 

(HI) Richard Cliild. son of Richard and 
Mary (Linnell) Child, was born in Barnstable, 



I'lymouih Colony, in .March, 1653, and was 
brought u]) luider the strictest Puritan disci- 
pline and became i)rominent in the affairs of 
the church, and was known as Deacon Rich- 
ard, both to distinguish him from his father 
and to acknowledge his standing in the first 
church of Barnstable. He was married to 
Elizabeth, daugluer nf John Crocker and 
Mary Bodfish. Elizabeth Crocker was born 
( )ctober 7, ifi6(), and died January 15, 1716. 
.After her death Deacon Richard married 

as his second wife Hanna . The eleven 

children of Deacon Richard and Elizabeth 
(Crocker) Child were, named in the order 
of their birth as preserved in the records of 
the church in Barnstable: i. Samuel, 1679. 
2. Elizabeth, 1681. 3. Thomas, 1682. 4. 
Hannah, 1684. 5. Hmothy, 1686. 6. Eben- 
ezer. 1C92. 7. Elizabeth. 1692. 8. James. 
iCig4. (). .Mercy, i6<;7. 10. Joseph. i(v.)i). 11. 
Thankful, 1702. .All born in P>arnstable. 
Deacon Richard Child <lied in Barnstable, 
January 15, 17 16. 

(IV) Samuel Child, eldest son of Deacon 
Ricliard and Elizal^eth (Crocker) Child, was 
Ixirn in Barnstable, November, 1678, re- 
moved from P.arnstable to Deerfield. P'rank- 
lin comity, Massacliusetts, when a young 
man and worked at his trade of blacksmith. 
When the church was formed at Northfield, 
February 22, 1714, he was made a deacon, 
and when the town government was formed 
June 15. 1823. he was by virtue of his office 
in the chuvch made an officer of the town, 
lie was married July 7. i7o«), to Hannali 
Barnard, who was the daughter of Joseph 
r^.arnard and Sarah .Strong. Joseph Barnard 
was a son of Francis Barnard, one of the or- 
iginal settlers of Hartford, and Sarah Strong 
was the <laughter of Elder John Strong, one 
of the i)roniincnt settlers of Northampton. 
The children of Samuel Child and Hannah 
Barnard were; I. Hannah, born 1710. 2. .Sam- 
uel. Jr.. born 1712. 3. .Asa. torn 1715, (q. v.). 
4. David and 5 Jonathan, twins, born 17 18. 
6. Ebenezer, born 1720. 7. Elizabeth, born 
1724. Tlie mother of these children died 
May if). 1727. and Dcncon Samuel Child was 

married. al)Out 1729. to Experience , 

and they had one child. Ex])erience. Iiorn 
June 7, 1730. Exjierience, wife of Deacon 
Child, died May 25. 1744. and he married 
for his third wife. Sarah Philip (.Matloon) 
Field, widow of Zachariah Field, of North- 
field, and she died March 21. 1752. Deacon 
.Samuel Child died March 18. 1756 

(\') .Asa Child, son of Deacon Samuel and 
Hannah (Barnard) Child was born in North- 



B8 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



field, Massachusetts, Januar>' 3, 1715. He 
married Rhoda Wright, who was the daugh- 
ter of Benjamin Wright and Hannah Steb- 
, bins. They had several children both boys 
and girls. 

(VI) Reuben Childs, son of Asa and Han- 
nah (Barnard) Child, was the first man to 
add on the "s" to the name, and in 1780 he 
married Thankful Bliss. They had a son 
Joshua and other children. 

(VH) Joshua Childs, son of Asa Childs, 
married Susan King, the daughter of Lieu- 
tenant Asaph King, of Endfield and Wilbra- 
ham, and Mar\' Robbins, and made his home 
in Wilbraham, which was a part of Spring- 
field, Massachusetts, up to January 15, 1763, 
and their son Otis was born in Wilbraham, 
Massachusetts, March 19, 181 1. Asaph 
King's father was Parmenas King, and his 
mother Hannah Terry. 

(Vni) Otis Childs, son of Joshua and 
Susan (King) Childs, was brought up in Wil- 
braham where he attended the public school, 
married Abigail, daughter of Samuel and 
Mary (Warriner) Holman. and while resi- 
dents of Milledgeville, Baldwin county, 
Georgia, their son Edwin Otis Childs, was 
born September 29, 1847. 

(TX) Edwin Otis Childs was brought up 
in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, 
where he attended the public schools. He 
was prepared for college at Phillips .Aca- 
demy, .^ndover, Massachusetts, and matricu- 
lated at Williams College in 1867. He was 
graduated at Williams, A. B., 1871, and re- 
moved to Newton, Massachusetts, where he 
became prominent in local politics as a Re- 
publican. He was appointed assistant clerk 
of the city and assistant to the city treasurer 
on January 5, 1874, and served in the double 
capacity up to January i. 1876. January 3, 
1876. he was unanimously elected by the city 
council, city clerk, and served in that re- 
sponsible office by continuous re-elections up 
to April I, 1883, when he resigned to accept 
a position in the Harvard Clock Company 
and he served as treasurer of that corpora- 
tion up to 1888, when he resigned. He was a 
member of the board of aldermen of the 
city of Newton, representing the first ward 
of the city in 1888 and 1889. In 1901 he was 
appointed deputy sheriff and court officer for 
Middlesex county, and served the county in 
these offices for six years. On January 4, 
1897, he was appointed by the county com- 
missioners of Middlesex countv, register of 
deeds for the south district of the county 
to fill a vacancy caused bv the death of 



Charles B. Stevens, and at the general elec- 
tion in November, 1897, he was elected to the 
ofiice as his own successor to fill the unex- 
pired term and has been re-elected register 
of deeds at each recurring election from that 
time, still holding the office in 1907. 

He was married June 25, 1874, to Caroline 
A., daughter of Edwin and Caroline A. 
(Gore) Chaffin, of St. Louis, Missouri, and 
their children, the descendants in the tenth 
generation from Richard or Samuel Child, 
the immigrants, were: Mary C, a graduate 
of Smith College, class of 1899. Edwin O., 
Jr., a graduate of Harvard University, class 
of 1899, and a lawyer in Boston, Massachu- 
setts. Carolyn H., a graduate of Smith Col- 
lege, class of 1902. 



James Freese, the immigrant 
FREESE ancestor of the Freese family, 

was born in England, 1641-42. 
He may have been son of James Freese, a 
London merchant, whose family descended 
from the Northampton and Essex families of 
this surname. James Freese settled at Salis- 
bury, Massachusetts, about 1665. He had a 
seat in the meeting house at Amesbury, the 
adjoining village, in 1667, and was a common- 
er there in 1669. He built a ship at Salisbury 
in 1678. He was probably the James Freese 
killed by the Indians in 1689 at Casco, near 
the present site of Portland. He married Eliz- 
abeth . Their children: i. James, born 

March 16, 1666-67 '• rnentioned below. 2. 
John, born October i, 1669, at Amesbury; 
published July 25, 1696, at Salisbury, to 

■ Carr, of Salisbury. 3. Katherine, bom 

January 31, 167 1. 4. Frances, born Septem- 
ber 28, 1674. 5. Jacob Sr., of Hampton, born 
September 29, 1685. Probably other children. 

(II) James Fresse, son of James Freese 
(i), was born in Salisbury, (now Amesbury, 
Massachusetts) March 16, 1666-67 '• rnarried, 
June 2. 1697, Mary Merrill, daughter of Na- 
thaniel Merrill, and granddaughter of the im- 
migrant, Nathaniel Merrill. James Freese 
was a witness in the trial of Susanna Martin 
for witchcraft, and on his testimony she was 
convicted and executed on the scaffold, 1692. 
Among his children were: i. John, born 
about 1700, mentioned below. 2. Jacob Jr., 
resided at Hampton, New Hampshire. 

(III) John Freese, son of James Freese 
(2), was born about 1700, in Salisbury, Mas- 
sachusetts, or vicinity. He settled on what is 
called Freeze Island, off the coast of Maine, 
and was living at Deer Isle, an adjacent isl- 





'J^UJUJ^ 




MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



89 



and, in 1764. lie and his sons, John Jr. and 
George contributed to the support of a min- 
ister at Deer Isle in 1764. Children: i. George, 
born 1730; married Sarah Cromwell, and had 
ten children. 2. John Jr., married, but had no 
children. 3. Abraham, born 1749, mentioned 
below. 4. Isaac, born about 1750. 5. Jacob, 
named for his uncle. 6. Return (twin). 7. 
Retire (twin). 

(IV) Abraham Freese, son of John Freese 
(3), was born at Salisbury or Hampton, 1749, 
and died at Orono, Maine, in 1800. He lived 
at Deer Isle and Bangor, Penobscot c<iunty, 
and had one of the best farms there, building 
the first frame house in that town. He re- 
moved to Orono in 1790. He was succeeded 
on the homestead by his son. Retire W. 
Freese, who lived there more than half a cen- 
tury. The farm is on the right bank of the 
Penobscot river, directly opposite the Uni- 
versity of Maine. Abraham Freese was a sol- 
dier in the revolution, enlisting July 14, 1775. 
as private from Deer Isle ; also corporal in 
Captain Parker's comjxiny. Colonel Little's 
(Twelfth) regiment, enlisting January i, 
1776, and Marcli 2, 1777, in Captain Lane's 
company. Colonel Ni.xon's regiment. He 
married Hannah Whittemore. June 25. 1777. 
She was the daughter of Edmund Whitte- 
more. of Salem, Massachusetts. They were 
married by Rev. Thomas Rarnard. Children : 
I. John, born August, 1778. at Deer Isle, 
mentioned below. 2. .\bigail. bfirn October 8, 
1780: died May i, 183 1 : married Joshua 
Lunt. 3. Isaac. 4. Retire W., born January 
19, 1785; died October 23, i860. 5. Abraham. 
6. Hannah, born May 26. 1788: died Decem- 
ber 6, 1867; married James Lunt. 7. Jona- 
than, born December 11. 1793; died Novem- 
ber 4. 1815. 

(V) Captain John Freese, son of Abraham 
Freese (4), was born at Deer Isle, Maine. 
August, 1778. and died at Orono, Maine, 
January 17, 1855. He had a remarkable car- 
eer. He followed the sea for twelve years. 
On one of his voyages he found himself on 
the coast of .Vfrica in a vessel engaged in the 
slave trade. On another occasion he was taken 
by an Dritish press gang who invited him 
him to accompany them aboard an Enghsh 
man-of-war. His answer was characteristic ; 
"You have crew enough to take me there, but 
if you do, and I get to the magazine, we will 
go to hell together." They did not take him. 
Again, in Cuba he was attacked by an angry 
Spaniard, who thrust at his with a poniard. 
He parried with his left hand, the thuml) of 
which was nearly severed by the weapon, but 



at tlie same time he struck the Spaniard with 
his right fist and knocked him into a dock. In 
consequence of his great strength and cour- 
age he was employed as constable. He was in 
the war of 1812, and stood against the British 
at Castine, where his sword belt was severed 
by the fragment of a shell. He was then an 
ensign, later having the rank of captain. On 
this occasion he stood by the colors longer 
than prudence would warrant. He had the 
the stature and courage of a giant. He was 
called a "Puritan of the Middle Period," for 
his strictness in piety and religious forms. He 
said grace standing at every meal, and insist- 
ed on the most literal observance of Sunday 
as a day of rest and devotion. In 1821 he 
entered upon Lot No. 14, in Hammond, (now 
La (irange) Maine, the corner lot in that 
plantation on the west side of the State road. 
He felled some acres of trees, cleared the 
land, and in the spring of 1822 planted his 
first crop. His title to the farm was found 
defective, and he had to pay for the land 
twice, .\nother piece of bad luck was the loss 
of eighteen acres of wheat in the Miramichi 
fire in 1825. Captain Freese was the first 
p)ermancnt settler of the town. 

He married, December 24, 1800, Rebecca 
Rider, of Providence, Rhode Island. She was 
born .Vugust 31, 1779, and died at Orono, 
Maine, of cancer of the tongue, September 27, 
1853. Their children: i. Angal Bartlett, born 
March 19, 1803: died IMarch 4, 1868: mar- 
ried Sarah Rand. 2. Retire E., born Decem- 
ber 25, 1804, mentioned below. 3. Mary R., 
born March 2, 1807. 4. Allen B.. born March 
13, 1809. 5. John, born April 30, 181 1. 6. 
Hannah, born September 17, 1813. 7. An- 
drew J., born October 13, 1816. 8. Paul D., 
born August i, 1820. 9. EdwaiO F., born 
.'\ugust 26, 1822. 10. Rebekah, born January 
5, 1826, 

(VI) Retire E. Freese, son of Captain John 
Freese (5), was bom at Orono, Maine, De- 
cember 25, 1804. He received his education 
in the common schtx)ls of that town. His 
father being a seafaring man, he was obliged 
to help carry on the farm at an early age. 
\\'hcn he was eighteen years old he moved 
with his parents to La Grange, and assisted 
his father there until he married. Then he 
Ixiught a farm of a hundred acres in the 
northern i)art of the same town. He left his 
farm at the beginning of the civil war to en- 
list in Company K, Eighth Maine Volunteers, 
and served two years imder General Sherman, 
principally in the hospital corps in and near 
\\'ashington. D. C. He returned home at the 



90 



MIDDLESEX- COUNTY. 



expiration of his enlistment and conducted 
his farm until his death, July i, 1893. He 
was a Baptist in religion, and a Republican in 
politics. 

He married. September 20, 1828, Rebecca 
Jones, of Bristol, Maine. Their children: i. 
Margaret D.. born September 12, 1829; died 
February 20. i8fi8; married John Bishop, of 
LaGrange. 2. Matilda, born November 26, 

1830; married Bodwell ; children: 

Mary, Letty, Ola Bodwell. 3. William Lunt, 
born May 13, 1832; married. October 25, 
1855, Clementina Harvey, of Maxfield, 
Maine ; enlisted in Company B, Twentieth 
Maine, and was discharged June 4, 1865, 
serving in Fifth Corps, Army of the Poto- 
mac ; children: i. Fred M.. born December 
20, 1856; ii. Frank H., born April 17. 1861 ; 
iii. William H.. born April 11, 1863; iv. Etta 
E., born June 17. 1875: v. Ik-rtha B., born 
June 10. 1878. 4. Allen, born November 5. 
1833; died June 4, 1905; married, March 12, 
1852, Sarah Drake, of Concord, New Hamp- 
shire, who died July 6, i8g6: children : i. Ellen 
I., born February i, 1854; ii. .'Vnna A., born 
August I, 1858; iii. M}ra E., born June 2, 
1867; iv. Ola May, born February 16. 1871 ; 
died March 7. 1881. 5. Fanny, born March 
12, 1836: married Clarke, of Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania ; children : i. Walter Clark, 
born 1859; ii. Herbert Clark, born i860. 6. 
Retire E. Jr., born May 19, 1839; killed May 
10. 1864. at Spottsylvania, Mrginia. in civil 
war. 7. Olive L., born June 17, 1841 ; died 
July 3. T864. 8. Elizabeth C, born February 
14. 1843; married. November 26, 1879. Henry 
C. Sargent, of Suncook. New Hampshire ; 
child, .\ddie May Sargent, born July 6, 1882. 
9. Edwin Abraham, born January 24, 1845, 
mentioned below. lo. Martha E., born Julv 
22, 1846 ; married, March 5, 1872, Henry R. 
Allen, of Webster. Maine : children : i. Ernest 
H. Allen, born February 13, 1873 : ii. Isora 
E. Allen, born June 3, 1877'; iii. Edith E. Al- 
len, born February 13, 1879: died March 7, 
1899. iv. Alice Maud .Mien, born October 27, 
]88o. II. George B., born January 16. 1851. 
married, 1875, Hester Martin ; children : i. 
Ralph E., born January 24, 1883 ; died July 
22, 1883: ii. Roy E., born .April 5, 1885. 

(\'TT") Edwin .Abraham Freese. son of Re- 
tire E. Freese, (6), was born at La Grange, 
Maine, January 24, 1845. He spent his boy- 
hood on his father's farm, attending the district 
school of his native town. .\t the age of nine- 
teen he enlisted. February 27. 1864. in Com- 
pany F, Thirty-first Maine \nlunteers, and 
was in the Second Brigade. Second Division, 



Ninth Army Corps. His regiment embarked 
for New York, going thence by rail to Wash- 
ington, thence to .\lexandria, X'irginia. He 
took part in the battle of the Wilderness, May 
6, 1864, and was severely wounded, spending' 
many weeks in the hospital. He joined his 
regiment December 2 and served in the 
trenches in front of Petersburg until .\pril 2, 
1865, when the regiment went into battle, en- 
tering Petersburg the next .lay. l-'rom this 
time to the end his regiment was in pursuit 
of Lee's army. After the surrender at .Appo- 
mattox the regiment escorted prisoners to City 
Point and took part in the Grand Review at 
Washington. He was mustered out of service 
in I'angor, Jul\- 15, 1865. He returned to 
the home of his father at La Grange and 
helped him carry on the farm until May, 1873. 
He left home then to take a position on Wash- 
acuni Farm. South Framingham, Massachu- 
setts, owned by Sturtevant Brothers. After- 
two years he entered the employ of Fales & 
Willinms, carpenters and builders, and fol- 
lowed the trade of carpenter until 1880. He 
then became a salesman for Willis M. Ran- 
ney. dealer in lumber at South Framingham, 
and remained in that position for a period of 
fifteen years. In 1895 ^f"". Freese went inta 
business as carpenter and builder on his own 
account and has had gratifying success. Be- 
sides nine dwelling houses that he has built 
for investment, he has had the contracts for 
residences of H. L. Davenport, at .South 
Framingham; H. G. Pride, at Ouincy, Mas- 
sachusetts ; for F. W. Smith, ITnion avenue, 
South Framingham ; for D. Leverone. at 
.South Framingham. and various other build- 
ings. He is a member of Grace Congrega- 
tional (Orthodox) Giurch at South Framing- 
ham. In politics he is a Republican. He 
married, October 22, 1870, Orilla M. Luce, of 
North Dixmont, Maine, born June 24. 1845, 
daughter of George W. Luce. Her father 
was a blacksmith. Their children: i. George 
Retire, born January 29. 1872, mentioned be- 
low. 2. Olive Lunt, born .April 29, 1879; 
married, July 19, 1900, Rexford -A. Nash. 

(\'III) George Retire Freese, son of Ed- 
win .Abraham Freese (7), was born in La 
Grange, Maine. January 29, 1872. He re- 
moved with his parents to South Framing- 
ham, Massachusetts, when one year old, and 
was educated there in the public and high 
schools. .Xt the age of twenty years he en- 
tered the employ of the Atkinson Furniture 
Company of Boston. Starting as the office 
bov he rose to the position of shipping clerk, 
and remained with this firm until ^lay 4, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



91 



1901, when he was killed by a fall in the ele- 
vator shaft while in the discharge of his du- 
ties at the store. He attended Grace Congre- 
gational Church at South Framingham. In 
politics he was a Republican. He was a faith- 
ful and conscientious man, enjoying the con- 
fidence of his townsmen and especially of his 
employers. He was unmarried. 



Peter Staples, immigrant an- 
ST.\PLES cestor of the Staples family of 

northern New England, had 
a grant of land at what is now Kittery, 
Maine, as early as 167 1. He also bought a 
tract of land there on Long Beach, July 4. 
1674, of Tiiomas Turner. He married (prob- 
ably second) Elizabeth Edwards, widow of 
Stephen Edwards, and daughter of Robert 
Beadle. He and his wife deeded their land 
to the son Peter Staples in 1694. His will 
was dated Jtme 6, 17 18, proved April 7, 17 19. 
His wife was living 1720. Children, i. Peter, 
mentioned below. 2. John, married Mary 
Dixon. 3, James, married Mary Tetherly. 

(II) Peter Staples, son of Peter Staples 
(i), was born about 1670, at Kittery, Maine, 
and died December 17, 1721. He was a car- 
penter by trade. His will was dated Decem- 
ber 6, 1720. He provided for his mother, 
who survived him, and mentions brother 
John and his children. The estate was in- 
ventoried at Si, 1 02 pounds fifteen shillings 
sixpence. He married, January 6, 1695-6, 
Mary Long, who was born in 1678. Chil- 
dren, born at Kilter}-: I. Mar\', born Sep- 
tember 20, 1696; married Moses Noble. 2. 
Peter, born i\ugust 20, 1699; married Joanna 
King. 3. Elizabeth, born October 10, 1701; 
married William Ham. 4. Robert, born 
May I. 1704: married Hannah Tobey. 5. 
.^nnie, born March 16, 1705-6: married 
Stephen Tobey. 6. Enoch, born March 12, 
1707-8, mentioned below. 7. Grace, born 

* April 7, 1710-11: married Tobias Lcighton. 
8. Joshua, born September 16, 1712: mar- 
ried Abigail Fernald. 

(III) Enoch Staples, son of Peter Staples 
(2). was born at Kittery, Maine, March 12, 
1707-8: married, September 24, 1728, .Anne 
Hill, born 1711, died .\pril 23, 1742, daugh- 
ter of David and .-Xnne (.^dams) Hill. Their 
children, born at Kittery: I. Enoch, born 
December 3, 1729; died December 31. 1740. 
2. Shuah, born March 2, 1732-3: married 
Joseph Libby. 3. David, born .\ugust 24, 
1734: married .A.nne Libby. 4. Grace, born 
Ocober 15, 1736. 5. Robert, born January 



'4. 1737. mentioned below. 6. Enoch, born 
(Jctober 29, 1740. 

(I\') Robert Staples, son of Enoch Staples 
(3), was born in Kittery, Maine, January 14, 
1737; married, December 4, 1764, Elizabeth 
Kennard, boin January 5, 1746-7, and died 
Jul}- 26, 1832, daughter of Edward and Eliza- 
beth (Marsh) Kennard. He was an early 
settler at Limington, Maine, where he died 
July 2, 1822, aged eighty-five years. He was 
a cordwainer by trade. His will was dated 
September 8. 1743. His farm is in that part 
of Limington set of? to Limerick, Maine. 
Children, born at Kittery: i. Enoch, born 
.August 5, 1765, died young. 2. Enoch, born 
July 4, 1767, 3. Anna, born July I, 1769; 
married Paul .Stone. 4. Betsey, born July I, 
1771 : died July 8, 1793. 5. James, born .May 10, 
1773: died March 12, 1855, 6. Hiram, born 
.April 14, 1775: died June 10, 1846. 7. Na- 
thaniel, born 1777, mentioned below. 8. 
Shuah, born August 11, 1779; married 
Samuel Stone, 9. Lucy, born Novem- 
ber 11, 1781: married Ezekiel Small. 10. 
.^ally. born Xovember 30, 1783: married 
.\le.xander Boothby. 11. William, born 
June 7, 1786: died April 18. 1868. 12. Mary, 
born, July 17. 1791: married .'>anuiel Chad- 
bourne. 

(V) Nathaniel Staples, son of Robert 
Staples (4). was born at Kittery, Maine, 
1777, and died at Temple, Maine, Janu- 
ary 30, 1872. He married Abigail Oakes. 
They settled at Temple, .Maine. Children: I. 
Nathaniel Kinny. 2. Su.=an. 3. Patience. 
4. .'^amuel Baker, born November 26. 1812, 
mentioned below. 5. James, born March 15, 
1815: died September i, 1876; father of Rev. 
L. W. Staples, now pastor of the .\sbury 
Temple (Methodi?t) of Waltham, Massachu- 
setts. 6. Jeremiah. 7. Olive. 8. David 
Copeland, medical student, died November 
28, 1849. 

(YD .Samuel Baker Staples, son of Na- 
thaniel .Staples, (5), was born at Temple, 
Maine, November 26. 1812. He received his 
education in the district schools of his native 
town. He worked at home on his father's 
farm until he married, then bought a hun- 
dred acre farm in the west part of the town 
and conducted it a mmiber of years. In 1849 
he sold it to William I'^armcr. of Temple, and 
bought three adjoining farms at Byron, 
Maine, known as the Thomas, Cutting and 
Dunham farms, comprising about three hun- 
dred acres, and located in the western part of 
the township, .\fter farming there five years 
he sold part of his land to Benjamin Cole, 



92 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



the remainder to a corporation, and in 1854 
removed to Westborough, Massachusetts, 
where he purchased the old Kimball farm of 
one hundred and forty acres, situate on Kim- 
ball Hill. He carried on this farm for fifteen 
years, then sold it and bought a residence on 
Ruggles street, where he died October 22, 
1895. He was a member of the Westborough 
Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he 
was a Republican. He was in the Maine 
militia in his youth, and enlisted for the 
Mexican war, but his company got no fur- 
ther away from home than Portland, Maine. 

He married, November 23, 1837, at Salem, 
Maine, Lucena Richards, who was born at 
Leeds, Maine, July 11. 181 1, and died at 
Westborough, Massachusetts, March 17, 
1885, daughter of John Richards, of Leeds. 
Children: i. Nancy Lucena, born July 24, 
1838; married Lorenzo Wheelock, of Graf- 
ton, Massachusetts; child: Emma, born May 
28, 1876. 2. Samuel Orrington, born May 7, 
1840; died May 8, 1841. 3. Angeline Al- 
phina, born October 4, 1841; married Ed- 
ward I'". Chamberlain, of Grafton, May 9, 
1859. Children: i. William Edward, born 
December 19, i860, ii. Emma Louise, born 
November 28, 1867. iii. Marion E., born 
February 23, 1873. 'v. Norman G., born 
January 28, 1889. 4. Samuel Orrington, born 
April' 16, 1843, mentioned below. 5. Mary 
Augusta, born 1845; died 1846. 6. Henry 
Dearhorn, born September 16; 1848; mar- 
ried Annie E. Fisher, of Westborough. Chil- 
dren : i. Parkman F., born September 10, 
1881. ii. Theron P., born July 16, 1887. iii. 
Ruth P., born December 22, 1889. iv. Annie 
P., born January 13, 1892. 7. John Rich- 
ards, born at Brs'on, July 13, 1851; died at 
Grafton, Massachusetts, February i, 1876. 
8. Holman Cole, born at Westborough, May 
16, 1854; died at Grafton, December 2, 1868. 

(VII) -Sanuiel Orrington Staples, son of 
Samuel B. Staples (6), was born in Temple, 
Maine, April 16, 1843. When he was six 
years old he went to Byron, Maine, with the 
family, and attended the public schools there 
until he was eleven years old, when he came 
with his parents to Westborough, Massachu- 
setts, in 1854. Here he completed his school- 
ing. He worked with his father on the farm 
until he enlisted in the civil war. He entered 
the service August 27, 1862, in Company E, 
Fifty-first Regiment Volunteer Infantry, 
Colonel A. B. R. Sprague, serving in tlie 
campaigns in North Carolina and Virginia in 
the Eighteenth Army Corps. He took pan 
in the engagements at Kinston. Whitehall 



and Goldsboro, North Carolina, after which 
the regiment came to Newberne and re- 
turned to the Army of the Potomac. While 
he enlisted for nine months, his time of ser- 
vice extended to eleven, being discharged 
July 27, 1863. He returned to his home in 
Westborough, but soon afterward went south 
again to become general clerk and salesman 
for G. P. Simonton & Company, wholesale 
conuTiission merchants, Newberne, North 
Carolina. He was employed later in the 
cotnmissary department of the government, 
going thence to Norfolk, Virginia, and to 
the Army of the James as a citizen clerk for 
eight months, and later in Richmond in the 
same capacity. At the close of the war he 
returned to Westborough and entered the 
employ of George N. Smalley, manufacturer 
of straw goods. He worked for this concern 
for twenty-one years, seventeen of which he 
was a designer of hat forms. In 1888 he re- 
moved to Framingham, where he and H. W. 
Smalley bought the straw business of H. O. 
Billings, and under the firm name of Staples 
& Smalley they manufactured ladies, misses 
and children's straw hats for four vears. Then 
he sold his interests to his partner, and was 
during the following year superintendent of 
the straw shop of E. P. Bassett & Sons, 
Franklin, Massachusetts. He subsequently 
bought the assets of Del Shepley & Com- 
pany, at 127 and 129 Kingston street, Bos- 
ton, where he made straw goods three years. 
In 1897 he retired from active business and 
has devoted himself to public affairs and to 
the care of his property. He resides at South 
Framingham, and has invested largely in real 
estate. He is the owner of Staples Block, a 
modern business building in Westborough. 

Mr. Staples is a staunch Republican. His 
first public office was that of water commis- 
siouer of Westborough m 1886. 1887, 1888. 
He was next elected to the office of high- 
way surveyor, a position he held in Fram- 
ingham from 1898 to 1901. He was chair- 
man of the board of selectmen in 1902. In 
IQ04 he reprssented his district in the general 
court, serving on the committee on roads 
and bridges. He was re-elected, and in 1905 
served on the committees on military affairs, 
and chairman of the committees on towns. 
Mr. Staples is a member and ex-president of 
the Framingham' Board of Trade, and a 
member of the Middlesex and Massachusetts 
clubs, of the Framingham Grange, Patrons 
of Husbandry; of the Westborough Lodge, 
Ancient Order of United Workmen; of A. G. 
Biscoe Post. No. 80. Grand .'Krmv. He has 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



93 



been a member of the investment committee 
of the Framingham Co-operative Bank since 
i8y5, and is president of the .Middlesex 
Soutli AgricnUural Society. He is a prom- 
inent Free Mason. He was made a member oi 
Siloam Lodge, of Westborough, August 24, 
1867 ; was master in 1882 and 1883 of Hough- 
ton Chapter of Royal Arch Masons at Marl- 
borough, January 8, 1883; now member of 
Concord Chapter at South Framingiiam, 
of Hiram Council, Royal and Select Masters, 
Worcester; of Worcester County Command- 
ery, of Knights Templar, since June 23, 1892; 
of Worcester Lodge of Perfection, fourteenth 
degree Scottish Rite Masonry, since Febru- 
ary 25, 1892; and of Aleppo Temple, Order 
of the Mystic Shrine, Boston, since March 
30, 1899. 

He married, July 8, 1869, Emily Maria 
Boynton, born at Westborough, September 

22, 1847, daughter of Reuben and Arethusa 
(Buck) Boynton, of Westborough. Her fa- 
ther was a prominent citizen, representative 
to the general court, and w-as engaged in the 
meat and provision business. Children of 
Samuel O. and Emily M. Staples: i. Hattie 
Maria, born July 9, 1870; married. June 7, 
1894, (jeorge H. Eames. of South Framing- 
ham : children : i. Blanche Woodbury Eames, 
born January 26. 1895. ii. Dorothy Boyn- 
ton Eames. born March 15, 1903. (See Fames 
sketch). 2. Mabel Boynton, born November 

23, 1872, resides with parents. 3. George 
Holnian, born September 23. 1874; married, 
November 9. 1904, Amy Louise Whitney, of 
Milford; no issue. 4. Edward .Arthur, born 
March 12. 1876, manufacturer of straw goods 
at Franklin. Massachusetts : unmarried. 



Sower in his Patrony- 
PENDERGAST mica Brittanica says 

that the name of Pren- 
dergast (another spelling of this surname) 
designates a parish of Pembrokeshire. Wales, 
whence went forth with the famous Stronge- 
hrow to the Conquest of Ireland. Maurice de 
I'rendergast. This name is derived from 
l>ren (tree), droe (water), and gwest (inn) ; 
hence, Prendergast, meaning an inn by the 
tree near water. Edmunds gives this deriva- 
tion in his book. Names of Places. The sur- 
name was in use as early as the first half of 
the twelfth century. Later in that centur\' the 
progenitor took part in the Conquest of Ire- 
land and settled in that part now known as 
Wexford county. The family of Maurice de 
Prendergast came over with William the 



Conqueror, and in common with other Nor- 
man-English proprietors they were forbidden 
on penalty of forfeiting their estates to marry 
Irish women, and it is presumed that the Pen- 
ilergast family intermarried only with families 
of Norman descent. 

( I ) Stephen Pendergast, the immigrant an- 
cestor, was born in County Wexford, in 
southern Ireland. He came to America in 
1718, or soon afterward, and settled in the vi- 
cinity of Dover, New tlanipshirc. Peter and 
William Pendergast were in the fifth com- 
pany. Captain John Kinslagh, at the siege of 
Louisburg in 1745, and, living in the same 
neighborhood, are presumed to be near rela- 
tives, perhaps brothers of Stephen. He mar- 
ried, at Greenfield, New Hampshire, March 5„ 
1727. Jane Cotton, descended from John Cot- 
ton, who died January 12, i745-55(?). He 
died September 10, 1753. Their children: i. 
Margaret, born May 22, 1729. 2. Stephen, 
Jr., March 29, 1731, mentioned below. 3. Ed- 
mond, February 22, 1733. 4. Ann, June 13,. 
1735- 5- Solomon, June 19, 1737. 6. Sarah, 
.\ugust 13, 1739. 7. Mary, October 13, 1741. 
8. Bridget, February 24. 1745. 9. John, April 
18, 1749. 

(II) Stephen I'endergast, son of Stephen 
Pendergast (i), was born March 29, 1731, al 
Stratham, New Hampshire, and died at Barn- 
stead, February 27, 1797. He married Betty 
Rivers, who was born April 23, 1737, and died 
.September 16, 1836. Their children, all born 
at Durham, New Hampshire, where they set- 
tled : 1. Jane, born .March i. 1762, died 
March 30, 1785. 2. Dennis, .August 16, 1764 
died March 19, 1840. 3. Anna. March 2 
1767, died November 10, 1851. 4. .Sarah. 
June 2, 1768, died November 19, 1858. 5 
Stephen, August 6, 1770, died September 13, 
1827. 6. Joseph, July 13, 1773, died .A.pril 10, 
i860. 7. Solomon, February 26, 1776, died 
December 3, i860, mentioned below. 8. Betty 
C, May 16, 1778, died April 24, 1871. 9 
John, October 26, 1780, died June 22, 1796 
TO. Thomas, .Xugust 21. 1785, died Mav 4 
1862. 

(HI) Solomon Pendergast, son of Stephen 
Pendergast (2), was born at Durham, New 
Hampshire, February 26, 1776, and died al 
Rarnstead, December 3, i860. He married, 
December 31, 1801, Rebecca .Sherburne, who 
was born in 1777, and died February 5. 1865, 
aged eighty-six years, five months and four- 
teen days. He was deacon of the Barnstead 
church, succeeding Deacon Ebenczer Nutter 
He resided in the north part of the town and 
was prominent in the town and church foi 



94 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



many years. He was a Free Mason, which is a 
remarkable fact for people of those days. The 
history of the town notes that he was fond of 
hunting and fishing and somewhat successful 
in catching bears ; of his death it says : "He 
bade farewell to earth and all the scenes, seek- 
ing a rest in that as yet undiscovered haven 
best known to that God whom he served. He 
left a family of three sons, upon one of whom 
the mantle of holy order fell" (written about 
1863), and three daughters, as follows: Chil- 
dren born at Barnstead, i. Jane, November 
24, 1802, died January 23, 1887. 2. Isaac S., 
September 19, 1804, died August 30, 1892. 3. 
Deacon John, July 24, 1807, died January 4, 
1890 ; resided at Barnstead. 4. Betty C, 
February 12, 181 2, died December 11, 1892. 
5. George Sherburne, November 19, 1815, 
mentioned below. 6. Nancy, June i, 1819. 
She served as army nurse during the war of 
the Rebellion ; she is still living, with her 
nephew, George H. F^endergast and wife. 

(IV) George Sherburne Pendergast, son 
of Solomon Pendergast (3), was born in 
Barnstead, New Hampshire, November 19, 
181 5. He received his early education in the- 
public schools of his native town, and at the 
Stratford and Gilmanton academies. Coming 
to Boston when he was a young man, he 
found employment first as clerk in a grocery 
store, of which in a few years he became the 
proprietor. In 1844 he removed to Charles- 
town, Massachusetts, and engaged in the 
baking business, in which, by diligence, hon- 
esty and a due regard for the interests of his 
patrons, he achieved success. He retired from 
active business in 1862, with the respect and 
confidence of all who knew him. He never 
sought public office, but was induced to serve 
as assessor of Charlestown in 1862-63, but de- 
clined a re-election, preferring to devote near- 
ly his whole time to the cause of the Union 
during the Civil war, assisting in the recruit- 
ing service and attending to the wants and 
needs of the Charlestown soldiers in the army. 
His interest in the soldiers of the Civil war 
and the veterans afterward was unremitting 
and zealous. His wife also took an active part 
in relief and sanitary commission work, 
collecting food and clothing made for 
the volunteers, and forwarding them to 
the front. .A testimonial of the citizens of 
Charlestown for his faithful and valuable ser- 
vices, in the form of a silver service, was pre- 
sented to him at that time, and has always 
been a cherished memento of that self-imposed 
duty and patriotic service. It was inscribed : 



"Presented to George S. Pendergast by the 
enrolled men of Ward Three, Charlestown, as 
a testimonial of their appreciation of his ser- 
vices in aid of recruiting." "January i, 
1865." "G. S. P." 

He was- elected a representative to the gen- 
eral court in 1864, and re-elected in 1865, 
serving on a number of important commit- 
tees. In 1868 he was chosen chairman of the 
board of assessors of Charlestown, and con- 
tinued in that position until Charlestown was 
annexed to the city of Boston. He was a most 
efficient and valuable officer, establishing var- 
ious needed changes and improvements in the 
administration of the tax department. His 
achievements greatly benefited the city, and 
reflected much credit on his management. In 
1874, when Charlestown lost its identity in 
its larger neighbor, he became an assistant as- 
sessor of Boston and continued in that office 
until 1895, when he voluntarily retired after 
an honorable and faithful service of nearly 
thirty years. For thirty-five years he was a 
trustee of the Charlestown Five Cents Savings 
Bank, of which he was one of the vice-presi- 
dents and member of the investment commit- 
tee, and to his ability and fidelity to duty 
much of the growth and development of that 
institution have been ascribed. 

He was a constant attendant of the Har- 
vard Unitarian Church of Charlestown, was 
very active in all things pertaining to the wel- 
fare and advancement of the church. He di- 
vided his time between his home and his bus- 
iness or public duties. He belonged to no so- 
cial organizations. He was an upright, just 
and honorable man, a faithful citizen. He 
gave generously but unostentatiously to the 
poor and needy, and his time and advice were 
at the call of many who relied upon his judg- 
ment in their difficulties and troubles. He 
took especial interest in assisting young men 
on the way to success and honor. He died 
after a short illness at the home of his son, 
George H., with whom he was then residing, 
February 5, 1896, at the advanced age of 
eighty years, two months and seventeen days. 

He married Sarah Nudd Dearborn, a de- 
scendant of an old New Hampshire family. 
She died February 15, 1870. Children: 
George, born July 8, 1846, died June 5, 1848. 
George H., November 25, 1848, mentioned be- 
low. Emma J., December 4, 1850, died June 
18, 1852. Sarah, October 6, 1857, died in 
infancv. Walter Sherburne, February 25, 
1862, died July 25, 1862. 

(V) George H. Pendergast, son of George 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY 



95 



Sherburne I'enJergast (4), was Ixirii Xovem- 
ber 25, 1848, at Charlestown, .Massachusetts. 
Attended the public schools, after which he 
entered a wholesale store in Boston, but ill 
health compelled him to give it up. In 1873 
he entered into his present business, which is 
stated below. He was elected secretary Feb- 
ruary, 1878, and elected president July 19, 
1901. .Mr. I'endcrgast is now the president 
of the Mutual Protection Fire Insurance 
Company of Charlestown, and senior mem- 
ber of the real estate and insurance firm of 
Pendergast & Noyes, Boston. He is a trus- 
tee also one of the vice-presidents of the 
Qiarlestown Five Cents Savings Bank, and 
a member of its committee on investment. He 
is a member of the Mutual Fire Insurance 
Union, and is a member of the Nine Hun- 
dred and Ninety-ninth Artillery Company 
Association : of the Boston Chapter, Sons of 
the American Revolution : of the Universalist 
Club of Boston ; of the Central Club of Som- 
erville ; of the Winter Hill Men's Club: as- 
sociate member of the Abraham Lincoln Post, 
Grand .\rmy of the Republic. In addition to 
his large real estate and insurance business, 
he has been trustee and executor for a num- 
ber of large estates. He is interested in his- 
torical and genealogical matters, and is a 
member of the Somerville Historical Society. 
In religion he is a Universalist, and is an at- 
tendant of the Winter Hill Universalist 
Church. Formerly residing in Charlestown, 
he has been a resident nf .Somerville for five 
years, now owning and occupying the old Ru- 
fus Stickney estate, of the firm of Stickney & 
F'oor. He married, July 8. 1873, Ella Worth, 
daughter of Ira A. and Emily Thompson 
(Jones) Worth. (See sketch of Worth Fam- 
ily). Children of George H. and Flla Pen- 
dergast: I. Florence Worth, born AprU 17, 
1886, educated at the Chauncey Hall school. 
Boston, and is a post-graduate of the private 
school of Miss Marie Ware Laughton : she 
had private classes in physical culture, elocu- 
tion and dancing, at her home for one year : 
then married. June 27, 1906, Charles H. Mor- 
ey, of Bemis, New Hampshire, to whom was 
born March 20, 1907. Charles Henry Morey. 
Jr. He is a son of George H. and Mary 
(Noyes) Morey: was educated in the public 
and high schools of Portland. Maine : has a 
large estate of timber land in the White 
Mountains, and deals in timber and lumber. 2. 
Harold Worth, born February 14, 1892. .stu- 
dent at the Stone School, Beacon street, Bos- 
ton. 



John Worth, progenitor of the 
WORTH .American family of this sur- 
name, was of the Devonshire, 
England, family, the original seat of which 
was at the town of Worth, where the four- 
teenth successive generation is now occupy- 
ing the ancestral home. He was killed, to- 
gether witii his eldest son John, while fight- 
ing in defense of the Plymouth (England) 
fort; his projierty was confiscated and his 
family scattered. The children of John 
Worth: John, killed, as related above. 
EVancis, emigrated to Portugal. Richard, 
settled in New Jersey. Lionel, settled in 
Salisbury. Massachusetts. William, of Nan- 
tucket, mention, d below. 

The first English ancestor came from .\'or- 
mandy with William the Conqueror in 1066. 
The coat-of-arms of the Devonshire family is : 
.An eagle imperial, sable, membered, or. 
Crest: A lion rampant ppr. 

(II) William \\'orth, son of John Worth 
(i), was born in Devonshire, England, about 
1640. He served on the English man-of-war 
in his younger days, and learned the trade of 
blacksmith. He came to .America in 1665, 
and was known in Nantucket where he set- 
tled as an experienced navigator, excellent 
blacksmith, man of education and ability. He 
was clerk of the courts in 1678. and the first 
justice of the island, performing all the mar- 
riages there until 1724. He married (first), 
.\pril II, 1665, .Sarah Macy. born .August i, 
1648, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Hop- 
cott) .Macy. who was of the Macy family re- 
ferred to by Whittier in his "Exiles." He 
married (second). .September 3. 1703, Dama- 
ris Sibley, who died June 2, 1745. He died 
January 10. 1723-4. His only child was by 
the first wife: John, born in Nantucket, May 
19, 1666, mentioned below. 

(III) John Worth, son of Richard Worth 
(2), was born at Nantucket Island, in New 
England, May 19, 1666. He succeeded his 
father on the homestead at Nantucket. He 
married (first), September 22, 1684, Miriam 
Gardner, daughter of Richard and Sarah 
f.Shattuck) Gardner. She died 1701, and he 
married (second), September 5, 1704, Ann 
Sarson, He marrie<l (third), Dircas Smith, 
daughter of Benjamin Smith. She died .Au- 
gust 4, 1730. Children of John and Miriam: 
I. Jonathan, born at Nantucket, October 31, 
1685. 2. Nathaniel. September 8, 1687. 3. 
Judith. December 22, 1689. 4. John. 1690, 
died young. 5. Richard, May 27, 1692, men- 
tioned below. 6. William, November 27. 



96 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



iOy4. 7. Joseph, married Lydia Gorham, 
daughter of Shubael and Puella (Hussey) 
Gorham. 8. Mary. Child of John and Ann: 
y. Sarah, July 15, 1708, died young. Chil- 
dren of John and Dorcas: 10. John, Septem- 
ber 14, 1725. II. Sarah, November 5, 1727. 
12. Dorcas, February 11, 1730 (?). 

(IV) Richard Worth, son of John Worth 
(3), was born at Nantucket, May 27, 1692. 
He also settled in Nantucket, and married, 
July 20, 1729, Sarah Hoeg. Among their 
children was Lionel, mentioned below. 

(V) Lionel Worth, son of Richard Worth 
(4J, was born in Nantucket, in 1737. He 
married, in 1761, Martha Mitchell, a Spanish 
lady and a native of Cuba, but then a resi- 
dent of Kittery, Maine. Thus this marriage 
brought Spanish blood into the family. Lion- 
el settled at Loudon, New Hampshire. His 
children were: William, mentioned below. 
Richard. Joseph, Samuel, James, Marian, 
Sarah, Susanna, Abigail, Elizabeth, .\nnie, 
Joanna. 

(VI) William Worth, son of Lionel Worth 
(5), was born in Loudon, New Hampshire, 
1762. After the Revolution he located at 
Starksboro, Vermont, where he died Decem- 
ber 23, 1849. He married about 1788, Betsey 
Tibbetts, descendant of a well-known and 
highly respected family of Dover, New 
Hampshire. Their eighth child, Samuel, is 
mentioned below. 

(VII) Samuel Worth, son of William 
Worth (6), was born in Loudon, New Hamp- 
shire, May 12, 1795, and removed with his 
father to Starksboro, Vermont. He died at 
Farnham, Canada, March 27, 1830, not long 
after the birth of his son Ira. Samuel mar- 
ried, February, 1822, Mrs. Phebe Husted 
Carpenter, born May i, 1794, died April 12, 
1849, daughter of Ezekiel Husted, and 
granddaughter of Jethro and Rachel 
(Brewer) Husted. Her only Husted ances- 
tors were among the Dutch settlers of Schen- 
ectady, New York. Samuel Worth was a 
carpenter by trade. The children of Samuel 
and Phebe: Annie A., born October 6, 1822. 
Mary E., March 17, 1825. Ira Allen, men- 
tioned below. 

(VIII) Ira Allen Worth, son of Samuel 
Worth (7), was bom October 23, 1828, in 
Farnham. Canada, during the temporary stay 
of his parents in that town, but the registry 
of his birth is at Ferrisburg, Vermont. In 
1852, he removed from Boston where he 
had been living, to Charlestown, Massachu- 
setts. He was educated in the district 
schools of his native town and at Hinesburg 



Academy. At the age of nineteen he left his 
home and came to Boston, where he engaged 
in the restaurant business for himself many 
years. He was afterwards with the firm of 
R. Marsten & Co. for fourteen years, retir- 
ing from business twenty years ago. He was 
a past master of Henry Price Lodge of 
Masons and was a member of Howard Lodge 
of Odd Fellows of Charlestown for many 
years. Up to a year ago he was an active 
member of the Nine Hundred and Ninety- 
ninth Artillery Association. He had also 
served as treasurer of the Massachusetts 
hook and ladder company, whose head- 
quarters were on Winthrop street, Charles- 
town, in the old volunteer days and was one 
of the early members and at the time of his 
death an associate member of Charlestown 
veteran volunteer firemen's association. In 
1889 and 1890 he represented the ward 4 
district, Charlestown, in the legislature. For 
many vears he was a deacon of the Univers- 
alist church in Charlestown and was super- 
intendent of its Sunday school. He was at 
one time a member and president of the 
board of trustees in charge of Charlestown 
poor fund, subscribed by the various 
churches of the Bunker-hill district. He was 
also an associate member of Abraham Lin- 
coln Post, Grand Army Republic. He died 
November 2, 1907. 

Besides his widow, he leaves an only child, 
Mrs. George H. Pendergast, and two grand- 
children, Mrs. Florence Worth Morey, wife 
of Charles H. Morey, of Bemis, New Hamp- 
shire, and Harold W. Pendergast. 

The funeral services were held from the 
home of Mr. and Mrs. Pendergast and were 
attended by many old residents of Charles- 
town, delegations from Henry Price Lodge, 
A. F. and A. M., and Howard Lodge, I. O. O. 
F., together with Winter-hill neighbors and 
friends. Rev. Francis A. Gray read the Scrip- 
tures, and an appropriate poem from William 
Cullen Bryant fittingly emphasized Mr. 
Worth's long and honorable life. 

"His youth was innocent; his riper age 
Marked with some act of goodness every 
day; 
And watched by eyes that loved him, calm 
and sage. ♦ 

Faded his late declining years away; 
]\Ieeklv he gave his being up, and went 
To share the holy rest that waits a life well 
spent." 
Rev. John Evan, pastor of the Universal- 
ist church, Charlestown, in which Mr. Worth 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



97 



was a long-time member and deacon, paid 
a feeling tribute to Mr. Worth as a man of 
industry and usefulness. He also referred 
to his social and friendly nature and regarded 
his as a truly religious man. I'ollowing the 
prayer came the impressive Masonic service 
for the dead, conducted by Robert Loring, 
master of Henry Price Lodge, and the chap- 
lain. Rev. E. C. Herrick, of Charlestown. 
The .\dclphi quartette sang during both por- 
tions of the serv'ice, rendering "Come L'nto 
-Me." "Passing Out of the Shadow." "(J 
Paradise," "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere." 
and other selections. Among the many 
beautiful and elaborate floral tokens from 
friends was a large standing piece from the 
L'niversalist church, Charlestown; square 
and compass from Henry Price Lodge : three 
links from Howard Lodge of Odd Fellow's. 
Tlie interment was in Woodbrook cemetery, 
Woburn. 

He married, December 25, 1841;. Emily 
Thompson Jones, who was born July 14. 
1832. at Charlestown, .Massachusetts, the 
daughter of Joshua and Abigail (Thompson) 
Jones. In 1899 they celebrated their fiftieth 
wedding anniversary. Her father, Joshua 
Jones, was born in 1799, in Burlington, 
Massachusetts, the son of .Aaron and Re- 
becca (Beard) Jones, and grandson of Joshua 
Jones, who was of Woburn in Revolutimiary 
times. Rebecca Beard, wife of .\aron Jones, 
is said to have been of Scotch descent, the 
immigrant being one of the early settlers of 
Billerica, .Andrew Beard. .Abigail, wife of 
Joshua Jones, of Charlestown, was the 
daughter of Captain Jonathan Thompson, 
who was born in \\'oburn, .April 26, 1760, son 
of Sanniel and .Abigail (Tidd) Thompson. 
Samuel was born in Woburn, October 30, 
1 73 1, was of the fifth generation in descent 
from James Thompson, of Woburn, who 
came to this country with Governor Win- 
throp in 1630, who became a member of the 
church in Charlestown in .August, 1633, and 
in 1640 was one of the thirty-two men who 
subscribed to town orders of Woburn, where 
he settled. The Thompson lineage is James 
(\), Jonathan (2), Jonathan (3), Samuel (4), 
Samuel (5), Jonathan (6), .Abigail (7), already 
mentioned, who was born .August 23, 1800, 
and died December 28. 1876. (For fuller de- 
tails of the Thompson family, see "Memorial 
of James Thompson and his Descendants," 
by Rev. Leander Thompson). .Samuel 
Thompson (5) was fitted for college before 
he was seventeen, but on account of his fa- 
ther's sudden death, changed his plans and 
i— 7 



remained at home, the family needing his 
help. The house on Elm street, North Wo- 
burn, in which he lived, and there he died, 
.August 17, 1820, was built by his father 
about 1730, and partly rebuilt by himself in 
1764. He became a surveyor, and engaged 
in important surveys in Woburn and in other 
towns, some of his work being on the Mid- 
dlesex canal. While on the latter survey he 
discovered in Wilmington a wild apple tree, 
the fruit of which he first called the Pecker 
-Apple, from the fact that the tree showed 
that woodpeckers aI)ounded in that region, 
hut subsequently he named the apple "The 
ITiompson," and he and his bnnher .Abijah 
grafted many trees with this stock. They 
gave grafts to a friend and neighbor. Colonel 
Laonmii Baldwin, who cultivated the apple 
with great success, and distributed the fruit 
and trees far and wide. From him the apple 
finally became known as the Baldwin, though 
the credit of discovery and first cultivation 
belongs rightly to Thompson, and a monu- 
ment has been erected at Wilmington, stat- 
ing the facts and marking an important step 
in the advance of horticulture. In 1758, dur- 
ing the French and Indian war, Sanniel 
Thompson had a commission as lieutenant 
of provincials, and was stationed for a time 
near Lake Ceorge. "( )n liie morning of the 
nineteenth of .April. 1775, when the alarm 
was given that the British troops were 
marching toward Concord, he and his two 
brothers were among the first to comi)rehen(l 
tiie grave im|)(jrtance of the t>ccasion. Im- 
mediately seizing his musket, he hurried to 
tile scene of action, where he performed 
iieroic service, and brought lioim.' a musket 
taken by his own hands from a British soldier 
whom he had wounded in the conflict." Lieu- 
tenant Thompson was a deacon of the Con- 
gregational church of Woburn nearly thirty- 
six years. .Among other offices that he held 
was that of parish clerk, selectman, repre- 
sentative to the general court for eight vears, 
and justice of the (leace for more than thirty 
years. "His character for the strictest in- 
tegrity was known and appreciated through- 
out his own and the neighboring comities; 
and although he was a constant witness of 
litigation, he was universally and emphati- 
cally called by those who knew him. a peace- 
maker." He died -August 17. 1820. He 
married (first), .Abigail Tidd, who died in 
1768; (second), Lydia Jones, of Concord, 
who died in 1788:' (third). F.sther Wyman, 
widow of Jesse Wyman, and daughter of Rev. 
Joseph Burbeen, of Woburn. There are 



98 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



records in the Massachusetts state house 
showing that he was promoted by Washing- 
ton for deeds of bravery. 

Jonathan Thompson (6), son of Samuel 
(5), although not quite fifteen years of age 
when the alarm of war was sounded April 19, 
1775, borrowed a musket and followed his 
father and uncle to Concord, taking with him 
the leaden weights of the scales, which he 
moulded into bullets at the shop of a neigh- 
bor. On his arrival at Concord, the more 
direct fighting was past, and the enemy was 
just starting on the retreat toward Boston. 
Noticing that the method of annoyance em- 
ployed by his countrymen was that of gain- 
ing the head of the retreating columns, and 
then from a favorable position previously 
chosen, pouring their shot among the British 
till all had passed, he did likewise. To their 
mutual surprise he met his father. "Why 
Jonathan, are you here? Well, take care of 
yourself. Your I'ncle Daniel has been killed. 
Be prudent, my son, and take care of your- 
self." Father and son then each pursued his 
way. Jonathan followed the British troops 
to Lexingfton. then to West Cambridge and 
Medford, where with others he took refuge 
in a barn, finally reaching home early the fol- 
lowing morning. He subsequently served a 
campaign as a fifer and drummer and several 
more as a private. He was at Ticonderoga 
and in Arnold's flotilla on Lake Champlain, 
the vessel during the action there being run 
ashore to avoid a surrender, and the crew 
escaping into the neighboring forest, where 
for three days they dodged the Indians and 
were without food. They at last escaped 
their pursuers by swimming a river. He was 
subsequently at the battle of Saratoga, at the 
Stillwater, at the surrender of Burgoyne. 
Wliite Plains, etc., serving in the army about 
three years. During part of the time he was 
a drummer, .\fter the Revolution he became 
a captain of militia, and until his death, No- 
vember 20, 1836, was familiarly known as 
Captain John. Late in life he was a Revolu- 
tionary pensioner. He married, August 9, 
1781, Mary Richardson, daughter of Deacon 
Jeduthan Richardson (Thomas (4); Samuel 
(3), (2), (i),) of that part of Woburn, now 
Winchester. Deacon Jeduthan Richardson 
was a lieutenant in the Third Company, Sec- 
-ond Middlesex Regiment in the Revolution. 

Joshua Jones, mentioned above, was a 
soldier from Woburn, in Captain Walker's 
company, Colonel David Greene's regiment, 
and was in the service at the time of the Lex- 
ington alarm, .April 19, 1775; and in the same 



company as Samuel Beard, whose daughter 
married Aaron, the son of Joshua Jones. 
Jones was a descendant of Hugh Jones, who 
came from Wincanton, Somersetshire, Eng- 
land, and settled in Salem. 

The children of Ira .\llen and Emily 
Thompson (Jones) Worth: Ella, born July 
25. 1851, mentioned below. Charles Freder- 
ick, born September 5, 1858, died Septem- 
ber ]-, 1859. 

(IX) Ella Worth, daughter of Ira Allen 
Worth (8), was born in Boston, July 25, 
185 1. The family removed to Charlestown 
when she was a year old, and she received 
her early education in the public schools of 
that town, graduating with, honors from the 
high school in 1868. Immediately after her 
graduation she entered upon the active duties 
of life as teacher of the Bunker Hill Primary 
School (\o. 6), where she demonstrated her 
ability and established a high reputation. She 
received a flattering call to teach in Toledo, 
Ohio, but declined the of¥er, and in 1873 she 
resigned to become the wife of George Henry 
Pendergast, a well known and highly re- 
spected citizen of Charlestown. They now 
live at Somerville. }ilassachusetts. in their 
new house at the corner of Broadwa\' and 
Sycamore street. 

Mrs. Pendergast was ictively identified 
with the First L'niversalist Church of 
Charlestown from early childhood, and was 
before her marriage one of a partv of voung 
amateurs who aided the church treasury by 
giving theatrical entertainments, in which 
she filled the role of leading ladv with con- 
siderable merit and much success. The 
Norumbega Women's Clrb of Charlestown 
welcomed her as a member soon after its 
organization. She accepted an election as 
its first vice-president, but twice declined 
the honor of becoming president. Although 
continuing her interest and membership in 
the club, other duties prevented her from ac- 
cepting its leadership. Mrs. Pendergast is a 
life member of the Hunt Asylum for Desti- 
tute Children; is interested in the Winchester 
Home for Aged Women; has been an early 
and continuous friend of the Boston Float- 
ing Hospital; and is a member of the Hep- ■ 
torean Club, the Somen'ille Woman's Club, 
of which she was vice-president one year, re- 
elected for a second term, but obliged to re- 
sign from the office on account of home cares ; 
associate member of the old "Powder House 
Club;" and is a trustee and director of the 
Somerville Home for the Aged. 

In February, 1898, Mrs. Pendergast and 




THOMAS CHADWKK KNTWISTLE 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



99 



others organzed the Jonathan Thompson So- 
ciey of the Children of the American Kevo- 
hition, and she conducted it successfully for 
more than two years, holding most of the 
meetings in her own home. In April, 1900, 
she gave up its presidency, continuing as a 
contributing nieniher, and as.^uined the duties 
of regent of Bunker Hill Chapter, Daughters 
of the .Vmerican Revolution, of which she is 
a charter member, and was for three years 
vice-regent before accepting the office of re- 
gent. Tlie chapter prospered under her 
guidance. Her progressive ideas, executive 
ability and efficient management met the ap- 
proval of the members. Her term of office 
as regent expired in April. 1902. J_^ter she 
was requested to become the state regent of 
the Massachusetts Daugiiters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution, an honor that she declined 
on account of home cares and duties. For 
the same reason also she declined the posi- 
tion of state director for the Massachusetts 
Children of the American Revolution. She 
is a woman of literary ability, and author of 
several poems. The ode sung at the reunion 
of the Charlestovvn High School .Alumni As- 
sociation in 1884 was written by her for that 
occasion. Her spacious home contains many 
relics, books and antiques of historical value, 
among them being the sword brought home 
by Samuel Thompson from the French and 
Indian war, and the drumsticks used by 
Jonathan Thompson during the Revolution. 
L'pon the wall hang the I'endergast and 
Worth coat-of-arms, painted in colors. 



Ralph Entwistle and his 
ENT\\'ISTLE wife Kathcrine were na- 
tives of Lancashire, Eng- 
land. They settled in L'tica. New York, where 
both died. They were Quakers in religion. 
Child : Ralph. Jr.. mentioned below. 

(H) Ralph Entwistle, son of Ralph Ent- 
wistle (i), was born in Lancashire, England, 
and died there before his father came to 
America. Both he and his father were mill 
managers. He married Ellen Chadwick, who 
was born in England, and died there. Chil- 
dren : Thomas C, Ellen R., Ralph, Jr. 

(HI) Thomas C. Entwistle. son of Ralph 
Entwistle (2), was educated in the schools of 
his native place, supplemented later by study 
in the evening schools. At the early age of 
seven years he began to work in the mill of 
which later his father became the agent, 
spending half his time at work and half at 
school until he was fourteen, when he was 



regularly apprenticed to a machinist and 
served seven years in England and Wales. 
He followed his trade in England until 1869, 
when he came to America to assist in setting 
up one of the first slashers ever used in Man- 
chester, New Hampshire. He decided lo re- 
main in this country and obtained employment 
with the Lewiston Machine Company of Lcw- 
iston, Maine. While with this company he 
constructed the first machine ever made in 
America for making expansion combs for 
warpers and other machines. He aLso made 
the first expansion combs used here and he 
patented an entirely new warping machine, 
the first of its kind in this country. In 1870 
he returned to England and sold there the 
rights to manufacture the slasher warper. He 
then returned to Lewiston, Maine, and took 
out other patents on warpers. In 1875 he 
left Lewiston and entered the employ of the 
Hopedale Machine Company, Hopedale, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he was located until 1880, 
then coming to Lowell to organize the Phenix 
Machine Company, of which he became the 
agent. After a time he acepted a similar pos- 
ition with the Woodraft' Iron Works of Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, but in 1887 returned to 
Lowell and engaged on his own account in the 
manufacture of his own inventions and other 
specialties, consisting of patent warping, bal- 
ing and beaming machines, all kinds of com- 
mon expansion combs for warpers, beamers 
and slashers, and traverse wheel card grinders 
for .American or English cards. He has built up 
a large and profitable business. His inventions 
have proved of great value in the textile in- 
dustries, and he has not only won for himself 
a high position in the world of business biat 
taken high rank among the inventors of his 
generation. He was gifted with business sa- 
gacity as well as inventive genius. He died 
January 7, 1903, in the midst of a promising 
and prosperous career. 

In politics Mr. Entwistle was a Republican. 
He was a member of the First Cnivcrsalist 
Church of Lowell, of the Franklin Literary 
.Association and of the Ix>well Board of Trade. 
He was well known in Masonic circles, a 
member of Montgomery Lodge, of Milford, 
Massachusetts Commandery, Knights Temp- 
lar, and of the Order of the Mystic Shrine; 
he was a member of the Gub of Lowell, the 
Countrv-Vesper, Yorick and Highland Clubs, 
the Martin Luthers, and of the Algonquin 
Gub of Boston. He was also a member of 
the famous Ancient and Honorable .Artillery 
Companv of Boston. He was fond of travel 
and crossed the .Atlantic many times. He was 



lOO 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



open-lianded and generous always to the ex- 
tent of his means, and took pleasure in helping 
those who appealed to his charity or friend- 
ship. 

He married (first) Louise Lovett; (sec- 
ond) Phoebe Burnham and (third), June 5, 
1894, Amanda A.. Stevens, daughter of Mat- 
thew J. and Mary J. (Fowler) Stevens, of 
Maine. She survives him and occupies the 
family homestead in Lowell. He left no 
children. 



Lieutenant John Sanborne, 
SANBORN the immigrant ancestor of 
the Sanborn family of Som- 
erville. Massachusetts, was born in England 
in 1620, and settled in Hampton, now in New 
Hampshire, as early as 1640, when he was 
granted a house, lot and tract of land there 
in that year. Li 1643 he signed a petition 
with other Hampton men, and after that the 
records contain numerous references to him. 
His house in Hampton was next to that of 
Stephen Bachiler across the road from the 
meeting house green and nearly opposite the 
old meeting house. John Sanborne and his 
brothers William and Stephen were sons of 
an English Sanborne (probably William of 
Brimpton). Berkshire, and Anna, daughter of 
Rev. Stephen Bachiler. Their father died 
about 1630. The three brothers are said to 
have come to America in . 1632 with their 
grandfather Bachiler. In 1647 Bachiler 
deeded his property at Hampton to his four 
grandchildren, the three brothers named and 
Nathaniel Bachiler, "all now or lately of 
Hampton." They were the ancestors of 
Daniel Webster. 

February 2, 1657, John Sanborne was 
chosen a selectman, but exempted; March 
30, 1657. he was appointed on a committee to 
see to the building of a house for the minis- 
ter. Rev. Mr. Cotton. His familiarity with 
the town records and boundaries led to his 
being chosen on all committees to examine 
old grants or establish boundary lines. Thus 
in 1651 and again in 1658 he was chosen a 
committee to join with the town clerk to ex- 
amine all the grants and appointments of 
lands, highways, and the like; and to perfect 
the same in the town book. In 1661 San- 
borne was again a selectman and also on the 
committee to hire the school teachers. In 
1664 he was chosen ensign of the Hampton 
militarv company. He was a selectman also 
in 1665-68-71-74-75-78-79; commissioner to 
end small causes in 1666-67-69 for the town 



of Hampton; foreman of the grand jury 1676. 
He was admitted a freeman May, 1666; 
commissioned lieutenant of Hampton forces 
October 15, 1669. In the contest with the 
Masonian proprietors he refused to yield to 
the demands of Mason and was imprisoned, 
October 21, 1684. He was elected to the 
general assembly, 1685. 

He married (first) Mary Tuck, daughter of 
Robert Tuck, of Gorlston, Suffolk. England, 
and Hampton. New Hampshire. She died 
December 30, 1668. He married (second) 
Margaret (Page) Moulton, widow of William 
Moulton, and daughter of Robert Page, of 
Ormsby, Norfolk, England, and Hampton, 
New Hampshire. Children: i. John, men- 
tioned below. 2. Mary, born 165 1, died 
1654. 3. Abigail, born February 23, 1653, 
married Ephraim Alarston ; died January 3, 
1743. 4. Richard, born January 4, 1655. 5. 
Mary, born 1657, died 1660. 6. Joseph, born 
March 13, 1659. 7. Stephen, born 1661, died 
1662. 8. Ann, born November 20, 1662, 
married Stephen Palmer. 9. Dinah, married 
James Marston. 10. Nathaniel, born Janu- 
ary 27, 1666. II. Benjamin, born December 
20. 1668. 12. Captain Jonathan, born May 
25, 1672. 

(II) John Sanborne, son of Lieutenant 
John Sanborne (i), was born in Hampton, 
about 1649; was admitted a freeman April 
25, 1678. He married, November 19, 1674. 
Judith CoiiSn, daughter of Tristram Coffin, of 
Newbury. She was born December 4, 1653, 
and died May 17. 1724. John died Septem- 
ber 23, 1727. Children: i. Judith, born 
August 8. 1675. married Ebenezer Gove. 2. 
Mary, borp July 2, 1677, married Ebenezer 
Stevens. 3. Sarah, born May 8, 1679. 4. 
Deborah, "born 1681, married Samuel Fel- 
lows and (second) Benjamin Shaw. 5. John, 
born 1683. 6. Tristram, born 1684-85. 7. 
Enoch, born 1685, mentioned below. 8. 
Lydia. born February 24, 1687. 9. Peter, 
born 1689. 10. Abner, bom April 27, 1694. 

(HI) Enoch Sanborn, son of John San- 
borne (2), was born in Hampton, 1685, lived 
in Hampton Falls, where he owned a small 
farm, and a mill, in 1750. In 1707 he went 
with Captain Chesley's Expedition to Port 
Royal. He married, March, 1709, Elizabeth 
Dennett, daughter of Alexander Dennett, of 
Portsmouth; (second). April i, 1736, Mehit- 
able Blake Godfrey, daughter of John Blake, 
of Hampton, and widow of Jonathan God- 
frey. Enoch was a saddler by trade. He 
deeded his land in Halestown to his son John 
in 1760. Children: i. Elizabeth, baptized 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



lOI 



1712, died young. 2. Ebeiieztr, bom July 25, 
1712. 3. Judith, born December 8, 1715, 
married John Pliilbrick. 4. Moses, baptized 
March, 1717, mentioned below. 5. John, 
baptized July 19, 1719. 6. Elizabeth, baptized 
June 18, 1 72 1, married Alexander Salter and 
(second) John Damrell. 7. Enoch, baptized 
June 28, 1724. 8. Sarah, baptized May 7, 
1727. 9. Isaac, baptised November 18, 1737. 

(IV) Moses Sanborn, son of Enoch San- 
born (3), was born in Hampton Falls, bap- 
tized there March, 1717; lived there and in 
the neighboring town of Kensington, New 
Hampshire. He married, January 7, 1742, 
Elizabeth :\Iitchell. He died June 8. 1802. 
Children: i. Dorothy, born February 25, 1744, 
married Paine Blake. 2. Henry, born March 
I, 1746, mentioned below. 3. James, born 
December 6, 1748. 4. Moses, born October 
25, 1758, died unmarried 1777. 5. Jesse, born 
December 10, 1764. 

(\') Henry Sanborn, son of ]\Ioses Sanborn 
(4), was born in Kensington, New Hamp- 
shire, March i, 1746; lived and died in Ken- 
sington : signed the association test there. He 
married, November 22, 1769, .-Vnne Blake, 
daughter of Jedediah Blake, of Hampton 
Falls. He died May 3. 1798. Children: i. 
Dorothy, born in Kensington, January 9, 1772. 
married Samuel Dow, of Nortluvood, New 
Hampshire. 2. Ebenezer, born June 14, 1773. 
3. Henry, born June 14, 1775. 4. Moses, born 
.\pril 25, 1777. mentioned below. 5. Newell, 
born July 15, 1779. 6. Polly, born October 29, 
1 78 1, married Ebenezer Sinclair, of Mon- 
mouth. Maine. 7. Betsey, torn June 16. 1784, 
married William Graves, of Hartland. Maine. 
8. \\\w. born April 28, 1786, married. June 23, 
1813. Moses Dow, of Epping. 9. James, born 
June II. 1790. 10. John, born September 14. 
1792. 

(\ I) Moses .Sanborn, son of Henry San- 
born (5), was born in Epping, New Hamp- 
shire, .^pril 25. 1777: moved to Wales. Maine. 
He was a farmer all his active life. He mar- 
ried. March 18, 1801, Nancy I'ogg. daughter 
of Major Josiah Fogg, of Raymond, New 
Hampshire. She was born July 11, 1770. and 
died February 23, 1838. He died .April 12, 
1852. Children: i. Clarissa, born July 18, 
1802. marrie.l Parker Dow, of St. .\lbans, 
Maine. 2. Sarah, born June 9, 1804. 3. 
Henry, born February 18. 1808, mentioned 
below. 4. Dudley F.. born December 5, 1820. 

(\^II) Henry Sanlwrn. .son of Moses San- 
born (6). was born in Epping. New Hamp- 
shire, February 18, 1808. He went to .Maine 
with his father's familv and followed farming 



at Wales and Greene, Maine. He married, 
January 22, 1834, Ann Grossman Daly, who 
was born in Wales, Maine, .\pril 9, 1812. She 
died in Lewiston, Maine. He died July 14, 
1864. Their only child: James Solomon, men- 
tioned below. 

(VIIl) James Solomon Sanborn, son of 
Henry Sanborn (7), was born in Wales, 
Maine, March 29, 1835. His youth was spent 
in Wales and Monmouth, Maine, and in 
Nashua, New Hampshire, and he received the 
education of the district schools of that time. 
He began his business career astravelingsales- 
man for the seed house of A. H. Dunlap, of 
Nashua, New Hampshire, and for a number 
of years he proved his ability as a commercial 
traveler to the satisfaction of his employers 
and to his own advantage. His first venture 
on his own account was in Lewiston. Maine, 
where he went into the colYee and spice busi- 
ness. In 1868 he became connected with the 
firm of Dwinell, Hayward & Company, of Bos- 
ton, dealers in coffee and spices. The firm of 
Chase & Sanborn w-as formed in 1878 and the 
greatest success has attended the firm from the 
outset. The coffees and teas prepared for the 
market by this concern have a world wide 
reputation. .\t the World's Fair in 1893, the 
firm supplied the coffee for all the restaurants 
upon the grounds. 

Mr. Sanborn made his home in Somerville, 
Massachusetts, in 1872, and except for the 
])eriod of five years from 1884 to 1889 in Bos- 
ton, lived the remainder of his life in Somer- 
ville, and in Poland, Maine, where he had a 
summer home. His stables at Elmwood were 
famous. He paid special attention to breeding 
French coach horses. In 1897 he became part 
owner and manager of the Maine Fanner, a 
weekly newspajier that has been well known 
in New England for half a century. Mr. San- 
born loved nature and traveled extensively in 
.\merica and Europe. He visited the coun- 
tries that produced coffee and spices, the West 
Indies. Mexico, and Central .\merica. He was 
a S])lendid type of the .\merican business man 
whose success was won by his own native abil- 
itv, resourcefulness and endeavor. He was 
energetic and persevering, of high character 
and broad mind. He died May 10, 1903. 

.'\t the time of his death the Somerville Jour- 
nal said : "The firm of Chase & SanI)orn was 
formed in 1878 and the successful history of 
that firm is too well known to require any 
comment. .\ partnership is a phase of active 
life, which not only tests the business ability 
of men, but also their temperaments, and no 
man was ever happier in his relations with 



I02 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



those associated with him than was the late 
Mr. Sanborn. He was a great, big-hearted, 
big-brained man, and not only believed that 
honesty was the best policy, but made it a 
cardinal principle of his life, because he be- 
lieved that it was right. Any suggestion of 
fraud or deceit in business in a direct or indi- 
rect manner was always promptly condemned. 
He would succeed only along honest and legiti- 
mate lines, and never by precept or example 
did he ever depart from this rule. He never 
envied the success of others, and only desired 
to secure success such as his brains and his 
industry and his honesty entitled him. His 
temperament was one of those happy combina- 
tions of good cheer and sunshine which made 
association with him always a pleasure, and 
gave those who came in contact with him 
in his daily life that comfort and encourage- 
ment which makes men better fitted to cope 
with their daily trials. 

"He was a helpful, kindly nature, and he 
seemed to realize always that the best deeds of 
a man's life, and those which give him the 
most satisfaction are those occasions where he 
has helped those that are poorer and weaker 
than he is. His whole career was lightened 
and brightened all the way along by constant 
deeds of kindness, with substantial aid wher- 
ever it was required. Those who knew him 
intimately were always inspired by his exam- 
ple, and found joy and comfort in following 
his lead. * * * 

"For thirty years he had been a resident of 
Somerville. and among the pleasant associa- 
tions of his later years, none were dearer to 
him than his friendships formed in his early 
acquaintance in Somerville. In his leisure 
moments he was found at the fireside and in 
the library. * * * 

"With a deep love for the New England 
farm and the scenes of his early boyhood, Mr. 
Sanborn purchased several years ago an old 
homestead and estate in Poland, Maine, which 
had been converted into a fine stock farm, 
not to be duplicated in America. His reputa- 
tion for growing high-class road horses, 
French coaches, has attracted many visitors 
to Elmwood through the summer seasons. 
Here Mr. Sanborn has enjoyed recreation from 
business duties, which leisure time he had rich- 
ly earned. Meanwhile the active duties of his 
department in the firm were transferred to his 
two sons, Charles E. and Oren C, who have 
been carefully trained and are thoroughly con- 
versant with the business." 

In his funeral address. Rev. Charles L. 
Noyes, pastor of the Winter-hill Congrega- 



tional church which Mr. Sanb<jrn attended in 
life, said, in part : "Without any endowment 
but his native strength, he rose out of the ob- 
scurity of the humble circumstances and the 
little town where he was born, to enter the 
great movements and encounter the eager 
competition of our times. By his natural mag- 
netism and ascendency he gathered about him 
a notable array of persons with those talents 
he was able to combine his own. In an age 
when a splendid material prosperity has been 
the glory of our country, he took conspicuous 
share in the commercial enterprise which has 
contributed to the wealth and power and com- 
fort of the times in which we live. Emerson 
has said: "It is the privilege or any human 
work which is well done to invest the doer 
with a certain haughtiness." It is his way of 
saying that a man's work raises him into a 
true aristocracy. There is such an aristocracy 
of honorable and useful workers growing up 
in our democratic land, and if there are ranks 
in it of higher and lower, he must stand 
among the foremost, whose work has been 
done on sound and wholesome principles, and 
with results of national importance and extent. 
Strength, that tribute cannot be denied to him: 
of whom we speak. But it has been said, 

"Oh, it is excellent 
To have a giant's strength ; but it is tyrannous 
To use it like a giant." 

We have seen men who have controlled 
great affairs, have built up great enterprises, 
but have done it by overriding other personal- 
ities, crushing other interests, making all 
things bow to their will and minister to their 
emolument. Now, those who have had any 
relations with Mr. Sanborn, even the most 
superficial, most of all those who have had to 
do with him intimately, must be well aware of 
the fine, friendly spirit with which he dealt 
with other men — his respect for others' per- 
sonalities, his sense of their rights and capaci- 
ties. The spirit of co-operation was strong in 
him. He recognized that truth of nature set 
forth in the Scriptures in the figure of the 
body and its members. He knew that his in- 
dividual success lay in union with all the other 
members, in business, or political or social 
body, and his greatest joy was in a success in 
which others contributed and shared, each ac- 
cording to his merit and aptitude. This it is 
which has enabled him, together with other 
social traits of heart and mind, to live and 
work so many years in partnership with his 
equals, only with increasing mutual respect 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



103 



and affection. Those who have been his 
juniors and subordinates had found him all 
the time more desirous to bring out their (xm- 
ers, push them forward to success, make them 
share in tJie prosperity and power of the con- 
cern, than to profit himself by their lalxirs. 
His pride in his business, if I may judge by 
his way of speaking of it in conversation, was 
rather in the men and their character and abil- 
ity, than in the profits and fame it had brought 
him. What was true in the matter of his 
business was true in every other activity of 
his, as neighbor, as patriot of his state and 
countr}-. Everywhere he was like a great 
current of force p(juring in its full charge 
into any channel open for him, finding most 
satisfaction and joy when thus he was able to 
help on others, better mankind, bring new life 
and pleasure to anyone. 

"Yes, the first impression, ever deepened 
by larger acquaintance, was of the rugged 
strength and splendid force of his personality. 
But there is something greater than that, on 
which we all agree : it is our sense of respect 
for iiis moral character. From all sides I hear 
this unanimous acclaim, that it was the strong, 
steadfast purpose of this man to do things 
honestly, truthfully, justly, honorably, square- 
ly. He had a large magnanimous, open spirit. 
'He was honest.' one has recently said, "not 
because he believed honesty was the best pol- 
icy, though he did believe that and proved 
it, but it was his nature, his satisfaction to be 
honest.' He loved things honest, just, pure, 
of good report, as he hated the small, mean, 
low, underlianded, hypocritical wherever he 
met it. His morality was not merely that 
negative kind which avoids evil, but a great 
positive passion for good, which he wanted 
to see prevail in all things. "He was always 
working to make things better.' This was as 
true of his recreation as of his work. He had 
large unselfi'^h interests and ambitions. In his 
bu.siness he had an ideal that it should be as 
honorable as it was successful, that it should 
raise the credit and tone of all business. He 
meant his native state should be better that he 
was born in it and raised stock in it. He 
meant this city of ours should profit by his 
residence here. His presence and support was 
never wanting in any movement that he be- 
lieved for the advantage of the city. If he 
gave liberally, as he always did to any object 
that proved itself worthy to his mind, it was 
in no careless or vain spirit, but he wished 
that church and association and charity, and 
the peo])le through them, might be the better. 



stronger, more useful, for his contribution of 
money. * * * 

"There is love in our hearts for one whose 
heart was large, generous, tender, compassion- 
ate. This gentle side of his nature was not 
always expending itself in words, but it was 
always ready to the call of need or friendship. 
We should have to read the secrets of many 
lives to know of all the persons, who, in their 
hour of misfortune, or even failure or fault, 
had been set back "on their feet, or steadied 
and braced, by some encouraging work, faith- 
ful help, or substantial gift from .Mr. .Sanborn. 
Xo one could ever go to him in behalf of a 
g(X)d cause, or another person in need, that he 
flid not respond to such an appeal with gener- 
Dsity and eagerness as if it were a favor to be 
informed how to put his means to good use. 
With the swiftness which the light flows from 
the sun to things that grow by its power, his 
help would run to the places and persons 
proved worthy of his aid. .\nd all his gener- 
osity, of which there is no full earthly record, 
grew in\\ of his natural kindness, together 
with that feature of his character of which I 
have spoken, a desire, as far as he could 'to 
make things better,' to put an end to distress 
and pain and discomfort, to equalize comfort 
and hap])iness in our human lot. to help the 
distressed and unfortunate, and make the 
world a place where all might share more 
evenly in the common bounty of wealthy Na- 
ture. 

"There are those who have known Mr. San- 
born long and intimately, and been allowed a 
glimpse into his sacred inner motives, who 
could tell something of what he was to his in- 
timate friends and kindred. The best things 
that can be said of any worthy man are too 
personal and sacred ever to be said. Our first 
and holiest duties we owe to our own flesh and 
blood. .\nd in this kind of piety, which binds 
us to be kind and true and loving, to those 
whom (iod has knit to us by the closest bonds, 
which was the beginning of religion for this 
man. .And though we must here pass by with 
veiled faces, yet in our time and day. when 
men are so ambitious to find their sphere and 
their interest in more public spheres and 
neglect the home, or lightly break its tics, it 
is good for us to pause and. at least, by our 
silence to pa\' our respect to this side of the 
nature of this strong successful man of the 
world. 

"I venture as the pastor of this church, the 
minister and friend of Mr. Sanlwrn for so 
manv vcars, to bear testimonv that I believe 



104 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



he was essentially a religious man. He was a 
man of reverencej a man of faith — faith in 
goodness, faith in good men, faith in God. 
* * * We stand in silent reverence over 
powers used to such good purpose, over a life 
spent so helpfully, over a battle fought so 
travely. May God give us strength to follow 
on !" 

Mr. Frank L. Dingley wrote of Mr. San- 
born : "The finest talent is the most rare and 
it commands the highest 'reward. The late 
James S. Sanborn, of the firm of Chase & 
Sanborn, of Boston, rose from the ranks. He 
forged ahead in virtue of what was in him, 
subject to self-development, not in virtue of 
anything done for him by influence, or by pull. 
He was his own architect, his own builder of 
fortune. His executive gift was his genius. 
Integrity of character was the inspiration of 
his gift for organizing and for executing. He 
never betrayed a friend. He was wholesome, 
genial, strong in body and mind. A great 
originating merchant, he leaves behind him a 
legacy of unique values in memories and in 
friendships, as well as in fame and service, as 
an industrial founder. 

"Wherever New England enterprise is 
known — and the world is its open book — there 
the name of James S. Sanborn is a household 
word, there his generosity, his kindliness, his 
many-sided and unostentatious service are 
recognized. Starting at the foot of the ladder 
and climbing, rung by rung, Mr. Sanborn's 
heart went out to all who showed the real 
stuff or moral courage and intellectual power. 
Many's the struggling lad, worker, and stu- 
dent whom he has helped so unobtrusively 
that the secrets between his right hand and his 
left hand were scripturally maintained. The 
merchants of Boston have achieved nobly for 
the city, the state, and the nation, and none 
more worthy has joined the great majority 
than James S. Sanborn. What he has done 
for his native state in its varied interests of 
stock raising and of agriculture is well appre- 
ciated. The places where his first struggles 
begin will miss him : the place where his 
struggles were crowned with victory will miss 
him. Success is indeed successful when built 
on the foundations of intelligence, grit, zeal, 
loyalty, integrity and comradeship. That is 
the tribi'te which those who knew him best 
will unanimously pay this great merchant, this 
noble citizen, this self-made man — James S. 
Sanborn." 

Mr. Sanborn married, November 6, 1856, 
Harriet N. Small, who died February 9, 1901, 
daughter of Captain John and Sarah (Moody) 



Small, of Auburn, Maine. Their children : 1. 
Helen Josephine, born October 6, 1857, living 
in Somerville, unmarried ; author of "A Win- 
ter in Central America." 2. Charles Edgar, 
born April 29, i860, married, August i, 1887, 
Florence Blazo; he died January 27, 1905; he 
was a member of the firm of Chase & Sanborn, 
and buyer for the coffee department. 3. Oren 
Cheney, born October 6, 1865, married, June 
I, 1886, Lorena Armstrong, of Machias, 
Maine, resides in Winchester, Massachusetts ; 
is connected with the firm of Chase & San- 
born ; children : i. James Oren, born in Som- 
erville, March 10, 1891 ; ii. Helen Elizabeth, 
born in Somerville, May 2, 1897 ; iii. Caleb 
Chase, born in Winchester, May 18, 1899; iv. 
John Armstrong, born in Winchester, August, 
1901. 4. Georgie Dunlap, born in Lewiston, 
Maine, December 20, 1867, married, February 
17, 1897, Edward Sands Townsend, of Bos- 
ton, born in Chelsea, in 1869; reside in Brook- 
line, Massachusetts ; children : i. Charles Ed- 
ward Sanborn, born in West Medford, May 
7, 1898; ii. Newell Colby, born in Newton 
Centre, August 27, 1902 ; iii. Clara Gary, born 
in Newton Centre, February 22, 1905. 

(IX) Helen Josephine Sanborn, daughterof 
James Solomon Sanborn (8), was born Oc- 
tober 6, 1857. She attended the public schools 
of Lewiston, Maine, and Somerville, gradu- 
ating from the high school in 1875. She en- 
tered the State Normal school at Salem and 
was valedictorian of the class of 1879. She 
taught school for four terms at Concord, Mas- 
sachusetts, and won the commendation of the 
school committee of the town for the excell- 
ence of her work. The annual report of the 
Concord school committee for 1879-80, refer- 
ring to Miss Sanborn, said: "At Nine Acre 
Corner, the school has had a better attendance. 
.An excellent teacher has here been doing a 
good work. She would, of course, be able to 
do much better work in a graded school." 
Miss Sanborn was offered a position as teach- 
er in the Emerson School at Concord but she 
chose to go to college instead. She entered 
Wellesley in 1880, and was graduated in 1884 
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During 
the winter of 1885 she traveled in Central 
America and Mexico with her father, and 
gathered her material for the book, "A winter 
in Central America," which was published in 
1886 by Lee and Shepard of Boston.. In 1888 
she made the European tour with a Wellesley 
College party, visiting England, Holland, Bel- 
gium, Switzerland. France, Germany, and 
other points of interest abroad. 

In 1893 she made the voyage to the Medi- 



i 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



105 



terranean countries, in company with her 
father. She went abroad in 1904 and again 
in 1905, when she visited Iceland, Norway 
and Northern Europe. She wrote a series of 
articles on "Travel" from her point of view 
and experience. She has written another 
series of articles on "Child Study," a subject 
in which as a trained teacher she takes special 
interest. In 1890 she was elected a member 
of the school board of the city of Sonierville, 
a position she filled faithfully and efficiently 
for three years, declining re-election from 
both the Republican and Democratic parties. 
For seven years, from 1893 t<^ 1900, she was 
president of the Hillside Club, the only woman 
thus honored. She is a charter member of the 
Heptorean Club. She joined the Winter Hill 
Congregational church in 18S4. and has been 
active in the work of that society. She organ- 
ized the Daughters of the Covenant, a mis- 
sionary society, of which she has been presi- 
dent since June, 1893. She was appointed 
treasurer in i(X)3 of the College League in 
the interests of the International Institute for 
Girls in Spain. This is the first and only col- 
lege for women in that country. She is also 
a director of the corporation in charge of the 
college. She is also a member of the Boston 
Authors' Club. In June. 1906, she was elected 
to the board of trustees of her alma mater, 
Wellesley College. 



Henry Tewksbury, the 
TEWKSBURY immigrant ancestor, was 

born in luigland and set- 
tled in Newbury. Massachusetts. He resided 
also in Amesbury where the name has been 
common ever since his coming. There was a 
Thomas Tewksbury of Amesbury in 1673, 
possibly his brother. Henry was admitted a 
freeman in 1680. He married, November 10. 
1659. at Boston. Martha Copp, widow of 
William Harvey. Tewksbury. or Tuxbury. 
as his name was more generally spelled, took 
the oath of fidelity at Newbury in 1669 ; sold 
his farm at Newbury in 1669 and removed 
to Amesbury ; took the oath of allegiance in 
1677 at .\mesbury. He was a tithing man at 
Amesbury in 1693; was living in i''x)7. Oiil- 
dren : i. Elizabeth, born .\ugust 22, 1660, in 
Boston. 2. Hannah, born September i, 1662: 
married, October 20, 1687. James Sanders. 
3. Henry. December 15. 1664. mentioned be- 
low-. 4. Naomi, January 18, 1^166-67, married. 
1685. John Eliot. 5. Ruth. March 10, 1668- 
69. 6. Mary, January 13, 1670-71, baptized 
at Boston : married. December 7. 1693. Philip 
Sargent. 7. Martha. March 3. 1672-73. die.I 



March 9, 1O73-74. 8. John, July z-j, 1674, 
married Hannah Colby; had six children at 
i-Kmesbury. 

(II) Henry Tewksbury, son of Henry 
Tewksbury (i), was born at Newbury, De- 
cember 15, 1664. He married Hannah . 

He lived at Amesbur^'. Children: i. Henry, 
born December 10, 1694, mentioned below. 

2. Jonathan. February 2"/, 1695-96, settled in 
Marblehead ; married there October 30, 1717, 
Mary Prideaux, and had six children baptised 
at Marblehead. 3. Hannah, August 26, 1697, 
married. May, 1721, Nathaniel Hunt. 4. Na- 
omi, August 6, 1702, married Daniel Blais- 
dell. 5. Jane, March 18, 1704. 6. John, March 
26, 1707. 7. Abncr, January 13, 1709. 8. 
James, November 15, 1712. 

(III) Henry Tewksbury, son of Henry 
Tewksbury (2), was born at .\mesbury, De- 
cetnber 10, 1694. Settled in Marblehead with 

his brother Jonathan. Married Grace . 

Children, born at Marblehead; i. Henry, bap- 
tized March 8, 1718-19, married. January i. 
1740, Mary Main. 2. Sarah, baptized Septem- 
ber II, 1720. 3. Grace, baptized November 
26, 1721. 4. Hannah, baptized July 5, 1724. 

5. W'illiam, baptized October 10, 1725. mar- 
ried, December 14, 1749, Elizabeth Graves. 

6. James, born 1727, baptized January 28, 
1727-28. mentioned below. 7. Thomas, bap- 
tized February 15. 1729-30. 

(I\') James Tewksbury, son of Henry 
Tewksbury (3), wms baptized in Marblehead, 
January 28, 1727-28. Married there January 

3. 1750, Sarah Grushee, of one of the French 
Huguenot families. He was a soldier in the 
Revolution. Giildren, born at Marblehead : 
I. Grace, baptized September 16, 1753. 2. 
Grace, baptized June 29, 1755. 3. James, bap- 
tized September 21, 1760. mentioned below. 

4. Jean, baptized December 23, 1764. 5. John 
Crush (as Grushee was spelled later), bap- 
tized November 15. 1767. 6. Hannah, bap- 
tized .August 26, 1770. 

(V) James Tewksbury, son of James 
Tewksbury (4), was baptized at Marblehead, 
September 21, 1760. He married there, De- 
cember 2, 1781, Mary Payne. The children 
by the first marriage were not recorded at 
Marblehead. He married there (second). 
January 11. 1798, Mrs. Nancy Goodwin. Cliil- 
dren : i. James, (by first wife), mentioned be- 
low. Children of second wife : 2. Nancy, bap- 
tized at Marblehead, November 11, 1798. 3. 
Sarah Crush, baptized at Marblehead. Sep- 
tember 14, 1800. 4. Jane Bridges, baptized 
November 6. 1803. Probably others by both 
marriages. 



io6 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(VI) James Tewksbury, son of James 
Tewksbury (5), was born in the vicinity of 
Newbury in 1797. Married, March 2, 1815, 
at Newbury, Mehitable Liartlett, of a' well 
known Marhleheacl family. Children; John, 
Mary, Melinda and James Gardner, mention- 
ed below. 

(VII) James Gardner Tewksbury. son of 
James Tewksbury (6). was born at West 
Newbury. Massachusetts, July 20. 1828. He 
married (first) Sarah J. Whittier ; (second) 
Anna (Magoun) Hughes, widow of Albert E. 
Hughes. (See Magoun sketch.) Mr. Tewks- 
bury was an active and leading member of the 
Franklin Street Congregational Church. Chil- 
dren of James G. and Sarah J. (Whittier) 
Tewksbury: i. George Herbert, born at West 
Newbury, educated there in the public 
schools; came to Son:erville in 1870 and went 
to work for his father's firm. .Spaukling & 
Tewksbury. in the paper and paper board bus- 
iness ; was in business for himself in the gro- 
cery trade with a store at the corner of Pearl 
and Franklin streets, now sold out ; married 
Gertrude .Amerald and have twin daughters — 
Lillian and Florence. 2. Elwood Gardner, 
born at West Newbury, educated in Somer- 
ville high school. Harvard College where he 
was graduated in 18S7, at Harvard (Connec- 
ticut) Theological Seminary, where he was 
graduated in 1890; accepted the chair of 
Physics and Chemistry in the North China 
College, at Tung Chou, North China ; mar- 
ried Grace Holbrook, of Norwich, Connecti- 
cut, a missionary to China ; children : i. Gard- 
ner, born 1892 ; ii. Donald, born 1894. 

(I) John Magoun, the immigrant ancestor, 
was born about 1625 in Scotland and came to 
this country in 1655 with Robert Dunbar and 
Francis McFarland. He settled inHingham 
where he married, November 7. 1662, Re- 

beckah . He removed about 1665 to 

what has since then been called the Two Mile 
District in Pembroke, Plymouth county, Mas- 
sachusetts. .\t that time it was a part oT 
Scituate. He was a farmer. He was admit- 
ted a freeman in 1666. He deeded some of 
his real estate to his son Elias March 25, 
1708-09. There was a tradition that two 
brothers came with John Magoun. Jonathan 
Magoun. resident of Hingham in 1657 was 
probably one of them ; he returned to Eng- 
land. The other was probably Henry Ma- 
goun, who resided in Dover and Exeter. New 
Hampshire, between 1657 and 1665. and has a 
number of descendants in the vicinity of 
Hoston. 

John Magoun's home in .Scituate was on 



land he bought of George Russell in 1693. 
This house he gave during his lifetime to his 
son James who occupied it at the time of the 
father's death. The dwelling house in which 
John Magoun lived at the time of his death 
he probably built about 1666 on land pur- 
chased of Robert and Lucy Barker in 1663. 
and he bequeathed it to his son John. It is 
still standing. It is located in Pembroke on 
the road a little above the Magoun cemetery 
and on the opposite side of the street. It is 
two stories in height in front and originally 
ran down to one story at the rear with a room 
on each side of the front hall and having a 
large central chimney. The front door used 
to have a bar fastening, and the walls were 
hned with brick as a safeguard against Indian 
bullets. It had an excellent well, furnished 
with a fine old well-sweep. His house lot ex- 
tended back to the North river. He also own- 
ed land on Buzzard's bay. John Magoun, 
Jr., left the house to his son John (3), and it 
passed down in the family from father to son 
to John Magoun (4) ; John Magoun (5), 
who was a cabinet maker and had it greatly 
improved, raising the rear to a full story ; dy- 
ing before his father, however, the house pass- 
ed to his brother, Elias Magoun (5), and 
after him to his younger son Luther (6), who 
occupied it with his family until 1868, im 
proving it and in 1837-38 erecting all the 
binldings now in the rear of the house; he 
improved and enlarged the house, making a 
stone cellar under the east half of it and deep- 
ened the well. The place is now owned by 
the heirs of Luther, and was in 1893 in charge 
of his son, John Magoun. His will was dated 
May 20, 1697. and proved June 27, 1709. 
Children of the immigrant ancestor; i. 
Daughter, born April 9, 1665, in Hingham,. 
died April 25, following. 2. James, June 25, 
1666, died about 1705. 3. John, 1668, died 

1739. 4. Hannah, 167 1. married 

Lovell. 5. Elias, 1673, mentioned below. 6. 
Isaac, August. 1675 ; removed to Connecticut. 
( TI) Elias ]\Tagoun. son of John Magoun 
(I), was born in 1673. Married, January 19, 
1702, Hannah MacFarland, who was baptized 
May 25, 1679, the daughter of Purdy and Pa- 
tience (Russell) MacFarland. She died Oc- 
tober 26, 1707. He married (second) Ruth 

. He was a farmer residing in the 

north part of the present town of Pembroke. 
His will was dated .August 30. 1727. and in 
it he bequeaths to his wife a young negro 
slave. He died in 1727. Children of Elias 
and Hannah Magoun: i. David, born No- 
vember I, 1703, died April 7, 1787. 2. Mary, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



107 



March 24, 1705, married John Clarke. 3. 
Elias, October 9, 1707, died August 7, 1795. 
Children of Elias and Ruth Magoun : 4. Na- 
thaniel, 1713, baptized June 21, 1713. 5. Ruth, 
May I, 1714, married James Randall. 6. 
Recompense, .May 19, 1716, mentioned below. 

(III) Recompense Magoun, son of Elias 
Magoun (2), was born at Pembroke, May 19, 
1716, and resided in that town. Married 
there, July 20, 1742, Ruth Crooker, daughter 
of Jonathan and Sarah (Allen) Crooker. of 
Pembroke. In 1739 he bought land in the 
eastern part of Pembroke and built a house 
there which is still standing, or was lately. 
His will was dated June 15, 1799, and he died 
February 10. 1802. His widow died March 
25, 1803. Children: I. Elias, born Febru- 
ary 23, 1743, died before 1799. 2. Ruth, 
March 22, 1744, inarried James Cox. 3. Na- 
thaniel, February 23, 1746, died about 1789. 4. 
Sylvina, May 13, 1749, married Caleb Bars- 
tow. 5. Sarah, .April 4. 1751, married Joseph 
Magoun. 6. Isaac. 7. Lydia, married Chris- 
topher Peirce. 8. Elisha. 1757, died 1801. 9. 
.Abigail, married Comfort Bates. Jr. 10. 
Joshua. October 24, 1761. mentioned below. 
II. Seth, baptized tune 26, 1768, died before 
1810. 

(IV) Joshua Magoun, son of Recompense 
Magoun (3), was born October 24, 1761. 
Married, October 25, 1781, Sylvina Stet- 
son, daughter of Nathaniel Stetson. She 
died February 11, 1787, and he married 
(second), 1788, Lucy Crooker. daughter of 
Abner Crooker. She died November 4, 1803, 
and he married (third) Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Peterson) Peirce. .\t the age of sixteen he 
w^as a drummer in the Continental army. He 
w^as called somewhat peculiar and eccentric, 
but was an excellent business man, carrying 
on ship-building in addition to farming. He 
died .\pril 26. 1841. His widow then removed 
to Plymouth where she lived to the great age 
of ninety-four. Children of Joshua and Syl- 
vina Magoun: i. Sylvina (twin), born .April 
5. 1782. died aged seventeen days. 2. .Sarah 
(twin), bom .Vpril 5. 1782. married, .March 
■3' i^^3- Joel Peterson; she died April 2. 
1835. 3. Isaac, May i, 1786, married. Octo- 
ber 8. 1812, Margaret .Sylvester, only child of 
Matthew S. and Margaret (Josselyn) Sylves- 
ter : removed to Worcester where his .sons 
Isaac and Charles entered business ; died there 
.March 18. 1834. (Hiildren of Joshua and Lucy 
Magoim : 4. Sylvina, born .April 15, 1789, died 
at Plymouth. February 14, 1837. 3. Jerusha, 
October 12. 1791, married. December 25, 1814, 
W'liilteniore Peterson, of Duxburv; she died 



May 16, 1863, Mrs. William Holmes; resided 
in Duxburv. 6. Enoch, January 22. 1794, 
married Betsey London, of Pembroke ; he died 
.\lay 2, 1840. 7. Joshua, August 7, 1796, 
mentioned below. 8. Lucy, l''ebruar\- 16, 
1799. married .\aron Simmons, of Duxbury. 

(\ ) Joshua .Magoun, Jr., son of Joshua 
-Magoun (4), was born in Pembroke, August 
7, 1796; settled in Charlestown, .Massachu- 
setts, when a young man. He married Sally 
Waterman, born at Marshfield, ?klassachusetts, 
in 1796. He was a ship-builder. Children: 
James Winchell, Isabella, Israel Phillips, 
Francis Henry. Sarah Waterman, .\inia 
Alaria. mentioned belnw: Joshua Francis. 

(\I) .\nna Maria .Magoun, daughter of 
Joshua .Magoun (5), was born at Brookline, 
Alassachusetts, .April 29, 1835. She married 
(first) .Albert Eaton Hughes, mentioned be- 
low; (second) James Gardner Tewksbury 
(See Tewksbury sketch.) 

.Albert Eaton Hughes was born at North 
Truro, .Massachusetts, December 22, 1831, 
died November 18, 1897, at his home in 
Somerville, Massachusetts. He came to Bos- 
ton at the age of seventeen ; engaged eventu- 
ally in the manufacture of show cases in Bos- 
ton in ])artnership with his brother, John 
.Avery Hughes, and was very successful in 
business. At the time of his death a personal 
friend who knew .Mr. Hughes well wrote the 
following obituary notice; "In the death of 
Mr. .Albert E. Hughes Boston loses an upright 
business man, Somerville a loyal citizen and a 
large number of friends lose from their circle 
a valued member. The men are few who in all 
the relations of life leave a record more spot- 
less and beautiful than the one just closed. 
Sagacious, untiring and successful in business, 
yet Mr. Hughes b\- no means allowed business 
to absorb all his thought. His ear was ever 
open and his hand ever extended to help the 
needy and the struggling. Scores, no doubt 
hundreds, have Ix'eu helped by his substantial 
aid and his cheering word of sympathy. To 
unnumbered hearts the sad news of his death 
will bring a sense of personal bereavement. 
He was no resixxtcr of persons. The rough 
laborer doing honest work, the young man 
trying to find a situation, the school girl striv- 
ing for an education, the widow in her grief 
and loss, the business man in trouble; in short, 
any human being in any sense of need could 
always be sure of kindly words and generous 
assistance from Mr. Hughes. Having no 
children of their own Mr. Hughes and his 
wife have taken into their family at different 
times eight young people whom he assisted to 



io8 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



an education. Some of these have since be- 
come well known in educational and profes- 
sional life. Many clergymen of different de- 
nominations were his personal friends. He 
was a generous contributor to religious work, 
and for thirty-nine years was a faithful at- 
tendant and financial supporter of the Franklin 
Street Congregational Church. He also had a 
deep interest in the little church of his native 
town of North Truro, and his heart was knit 
with its welfare to the verj' last. His bereaved 
wife has the warm sympathy of uncounted 
friends." A. A. F. 



Anna \'inal, the immigrant an- 
\TNAL cestor of the Vinal family of 
Somerville, Massachusetts, was in 
Scituate as early as 1636, and was designated 
as Widow Anna Vinal. Whether her husband 
died on the voyage over or soon after reach- 
ing .\merica is not known. Judging from a 
journal of her son Stephen, however, she came 
to New England in 1636 with three young 
children, after the death of husband in Eng- 
land. His name is not known. She probably 
had friends, perhaps relatives, in Scituate, 
Massachusetts, where she located soon after 
landing, and in 1637 built a house in that town 
on the brook north of the Stockbridge mill 
pond. She was one of the partners in the 
Conihasset company. She died October 6, 
1664, and the administration of her estate was 
granted to her two sons, Stephen and John 
Vinal. Children: I. Martha, born about 1625, 
married, .\pril, 1646, Israel Chittenden. 2. 
Stephen, born December, 1630, according to 
his own statement ; had his mother's home- 
stead : married. February 26, 1662, Mary 
Baker. 3. John, born about 1635, mentioned 
below. 

(II) John Vinal, son of Anna Vinal (i), 
was born in England about 1635. He settled 
in Scituate. His home was at what is now the 
corner of Kent street and Meeting House lane. 
According to his gravestone he died August 
21, i6g8, aged sixty-two years. He married 
Elizabeth Baker, daughter of Rev. Nicholas 
Baker. Children, born at Scituate: i. John, 
born 1665. 2. Elizabeth, 1667. 3. Hannah, 
1669. 4. Jacob, 1670, mentioned below. 5. 
Grace, 1672, married Ebenezer Mott, 1700. 

(III) Jacob Vinal, son of John Vinal (2), 
was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1670. 
He settled there and married, 1695, Mary 
Cudworth, granddaughter of James Cud- 
worth, a leading citizen and pioneer of Scitu- 
ate. Cudworth was in the salt business, and 



was admitted a freeman in 1634; removed 
from Scituate to Barnstable but returned in a 
few years ; stood for fair dealing toward the 
Quakers and was much opposed for this by 
the other magistrates ; was deputy, assistant, 
major-general, commissioner of United Colo- 
nies ; agent for the Plymouth Colony in Eng- 
land ; deputy governor in 1681 ; wrote letters 
of historical importance, one to Dr. Stoughton, 
of Aldermanbury, in 1634, describing the state 
of affairs here ; calls Rev. Zechariah Symmes 
cousin and refers to his uncles, one of whom 
Uncle Thomas, is about to be married to a 
widow. Cudworth died in 1682. This mar- 
riage indicates the high social position of the 
Vinal family as well. The children of Jacob 
and Mary Vinal, born at Scituate: i. Mary, 
1696. 2. Israel, named for his grandfather 
Cudworth, i6g8>. 3. Jacob, named for his 
father, 1700, died February 6, 1788, at Scitu- 
ate. 4. Nicholas, 1703. 5. Job, 1705. 6. 
Jonathan, 1711. 7. Job, 1713. 8. Elizabeth, 
1715. 9. Ignatius, 1717. 10. Seth, 1719. 11. 
Joshua, born about 1722. (Note the preference 
of parents for the letter "J" as initial for chris- 
tian names.) 

(I\') Israel Mnal, son of Jacob Vinal (3), 
was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1698, 
and settled there. He married, 1723, Eliza- 
beth Booth, Their children: i. Israel, men- 
tioned below. 2. Jonathan, born about 1730, 

(V) Israel Vinal, Esq., son of Israel Mnal 
(4), was born in Scituate, ^lassachusetts, 
about 1725, He was a prominent citizen, 
for many years the magistrate at Scituate. 
He married a daughter of Deacon Joseph 
Cushing, about 1750. Their children, 
born in Scituate : i. Captain Israel, promin- 
ent in Revolution : daughter Sophia married 
CaptTin John Whitney, of Quincy. 2. Robert. 
3. Nathaniel, mentioned' below. 4. Major 
William, prominent in Revolution. 5. Lem- 
uel, influential citizen of Scituate, 

(VI) Nathaniel Vinal, son of Israel Vinal 
(5), was born in Scituate, about 1750. He 
settled in Scituate and mnrried Priscilla 

. Their children: I. Captain Howard, 

a prominent citizen of Scituate. 2. Nathaniel, 
Jr. 3. Robert, mentioned below. 

(VII) Robert Vinal, son of Nathaniel 
Vinal (6), was born in Scituate, March 11, 
1702. He removed to Charlestown, Massa- 
chusetts, and May 21, 1820, married Lydia 
Stone, daughter of John and Mary (Tufts) 
.Stone. (See sketches of Stone and Tufts fam- 
ilies in this work.) Robert Vinal died in 1867 
in Somerville. His widow died February, 
1875. Their children: i. Robert .'Mdersey, 



1^ 1^ 



^ 

1 




-^_:_^^.^^^^^-*-^ 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



109 



born .March 16, 1821, mentioned below. 2. 
Lydia M., born November 15, 1822, married 
John Runey. 3. Alary Fdizabeth, born De- 
cember 3, 1824. 4. Quincy A., born Septem- 
ber 23, 1826, mentioned below. 5. Lucy A., 
born December 11. 1828. 6. Martha .\., born 
November 13, 1830, married General W. L. 
Burt. 7. .A.lfred E., born August 7, 1833. 8. 
Edward E., born August 7, 1833. 9. 
Margaret F., married (jeneral W. L. Burt, 
aforementioned. 10. John \\'., Ixjrn February 
2, 1837. II. Fmmeline .\.. born .November 
13, 1S38, married 1-1 .\. Wilder. 

(VIII) Robert Aldersey Vinal, son of 
Robert Vinal (7), was born in Boston, March 
16, 1821. In 1824, when he was three years 
old, his father moved to Somerville, then 
Charlestown. Massachusetts. The house in 
which the family lived for many years was in- 
herited by his mother ; it was situated on the 
present location of Hotel Warren. Robert A. 
\'inal was educated in the common schools 
and in the academies at Lexington and 
Charlestown Neck. His first responsible posi- 
tion was in charge of a grain mill at North 
Chelsea owned by his father. His business abil- 
ity was demonstrated in this position. He be- 
gan business for himself in partnership with 
Edwin Munroe, of Somerville, on Commer- 
cial Wharf, Boston, continuing until 1848 
when he went into business with his brother, 
Ouincy A. \'inal, taking the old store of their 
father on Lewis Wharf. Aiter fifteen years 
Robert A. retired. In 1849 he bought the lot 
at the corner of Walnut and Aldersey streets, 
Somerville, and built the house which he oc- 
cupied the remainder of his life. He was 
actively interested in the developn^ent an 1 
improvement of the town. co-o])erating in 
every movement for the public welfare. He 
was the first chief engineer of the fire depart- 
ment and treasurer of the Firemen's Charit- 
abl^ .\ss(Kiation. He had many friends and 
was well known in the various lodges and 
orders to which he belonged. He joined the 
old Winnisimet Lodge of Odd I'ellows in 
Chelsea, was a member of Oasis Lodge of 
Odd Fellows of Somerville, and of John Ab- 
bot Lodge of Free Masons. He was an active 
member and was a deacon of the First Con- 
gregational (Unitarian) Church of .Somer- 
ville ; he was also treasurer of the church and 
superintendent of the Sunday School. He 
was an original member of the old Boston 
Commercial Exchange. In politics he was a 
Republican, and represented Somerville in 
the general court one term during the Civil 
war. He was one of the incorporators of the 



Somerville .Savings Bank and a member of 
its investment committee. He was for many 
years selectman, town treasurer, member of 
the water board and held various other posi- 
tions of trust and honor. He died April 12, 
1887. 

lie marrietl .\lmira Louise I'ierce, of 
North Chelsea (now Revere), daughter of 
Captain John and Sarah (Tewksbury) 
Pierce, the former of whom served in the 
War of 1812. Their children: I. Louise .\., 
born February 6, 1846. 2. Aldersey, Septem- 
ber 12, 1847, died October 12, 1875. 3. .Marie 
.\ugusta, November 8, 1849, married .\rthur 
T. Kidder, of Somerville, October 15, 1874, 
and they have two children : i. Bertha .Alder- 
sey, born October 14, 1875; ii. .\rthur Alder- 
sey, born August 11, 1880, married, Septem- 
ber 28, 1905. -Mary .\. Williams, daughter of 
Charles and .Adelaide (Cole) Williams; they 
have one child .Adelaide C. He resides in 
Winchester, Massachusetts. 4. Arthur, June 
14, 1854, unmarried. 5. .Mice, October 29, 
1856. married Isaac Rich, of Boston, Septem- 
ber 30, 1889. 6. Charles, August 8, 1861^ 
died June 25, 1894: he was unmarried. 

(Vni) Quincy .A. Vinal, son of Robert 
X'inal (7), was born in Charlestown (now 
.Somerville), Massachusetts, September 23,. 
1826. The homestead was in L'nion Square 
on the present location of the Union .Square 
Hotel. He attended the old Milk Row pri- 
mary school which first stood in a corner of 
the Somerville avenue cemetery. This building 
was afterward burnt, and he then attended 
the school located near the corner of Medford 
and .Shawmut streets, now occupied by the 
X'eteran Firemen's .Association, and is situ- 
ated at the corner of Prospect street and 
.Somerville avenue. Mr. \'inal afterward 
attended the Hopkins Classical School, Cam- 
bridge. He began work in his father's grain 
store in Boston. .After several business 
changes, being at one time employed by Joiin 
.S. Edgerly. he entered partnership, in 1848, 
with his brother, Robert A. \inal, mentioned 
above. The brothers were in business until 
1863, when Ouincy .A. entered upon the grain 
commission business, continuing until 1876, 
when he retired. Both he and his brother 
were charter members of the Boston Corn 
Exchange, now the Boston Chamber of Com- 
merce. 

.After his retirement Mr. A'inal held many 
positions of trust and responsibility in public 
and private life. He was trustee of a num- 
ber of large estates in .Somerville. Recog- 
nizing his ability and integrity, a signal honor 



no 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



was bestowed uix>n him by the courts in his 
appointment as trustee of the estate of 
Charles Tufts, the bond being reduced so that 
he might accept the trust. Charles Tufts 
was the principal benefactor of Tufts College, 
giving the land on which the college is lo- 
cated. Mr. Vinal always took an interest in 
municipal affairs. When a young man he 
was elected to the office of field driver, whose 
duty it was to inspect stray cattle. He was 
assessor under the town government. In 
1873 he was elected representative from the 
Fourth Middlesex District to fill the unex- 
pired term of General Charles H. Taylor, 
publisher of the Boston Globe. He served 
again in 1881-82, representing the Fifth Mid- 
dlesex District. In 1875-76 he served in the 
Somerville common council, and in 1883 in 
the board of .Aldermen. Among the import- 
ant public works with which he was connect- 
ed while in the city government was Broad- 
way I'ark. During the laying out of this 
ground, Mr. Vinal, as a member of the com- 
mittee in charge, devoted much of his time to 
supervision of the work. When the public 
library was established, he was one of the 
committee associated with Samuel C. Hunt 
and George T. Littlefield in drawing up the 
rules and regulations. Mr. \'inal was the 
first president of the Somerville National 
Rank. During the two years in which lie held 
this office he was influential in establishing 
the reputation an.l financial standing of the 
new bank. For eighteen years he was a direc- 
tor of the Cambridge Gas Comi>any, being 
also president during the last seven years. 
He was one of the trustees of the Somerville 
Hospital. He was active in the work of the 
First Unitarian Church, of which he was for 
many years a deacon. 

He married .\ugusta .Smith Peirce, daugh- 
ter of John and .Sarah Peirce. Her great- 
grandfather on her father's side was the fam- 
ous Captain Parker, of the battle of Lexing- 
ton. Her grandfather on her mother's side 
was Captain Samuel Sprague, who was in 
command of a Chelsea company during the 
siege of Boston and took part in the battle of 
Chelsea Creek. Mrs. Vina! was born in Chel- 
sea (now Revere), September 26, 1830. Her 
early years were passed in Chelsea where she 
attended school. Later she was a pupil of 
Peirce .Academy at Middleboro. Mr. and 
Mrs. Vinal celebrated their Golden Wedding 
at their home on Prospect Hill, 9 .Aldersey 
street, Somerville. Mr. Vinal died July 14, 
1904. Their children were : .Anna Parker, 
Mary Lowell. Martha Adams. Quincy Peirce, 



Josephine, Sarah .Augusta, Edward Lincoln, 
Leonora, Isabelle Whitney, deceased ; Bertha 
Runey, deceased; Eva Xeilson, deceased; 
John Henry, deceased ; Leslie Thorning. 
Josephine married Heber Bishop Churchill, 
October 21, 1904. Sarah Augusta married 
Jarvis Brewster Keene, October 23, 1890; 
Children: Alden Vinal Keene, born Novem- 
ber 3, 1892; Joephine Parker Keene, born 
June 13, 1894. The others are unmarried. 



John Condit, immigrant ances- 
CONDIT tor of this family, is said to be 

of English birth and ancient 
Norman descent. He came to America in 
1678 with his son Peter and settled in New- 
ark, New Jersey, where he married (second) 

Deborah , by whom he had a son John 

who died unmarried. There is also reason to 
believe that Deborah had a daughter by a 
former husband, named Mary, who mar- 
ried Captain John Morris, who died Oc- 
tober 22, 1749, aged eighty-three years. She 
died December 10, 1761, aged eighty- four 
years, and her grave is in the Orange burying 
ground. John Condit (Cunditt or Cundit, as 
it was spelt also) died in 1713. His will is on 
file at the office of the secretary of state, 
Trenton, New Jersey. It is dated March 15, 
1709-10, and proved May 20, 1713. The seal 
had a coat of arms, having a "fowl with spread 
wings," as the family historian describes it. 
He bequeathed to wife Deborah and to sons 
Peter and John, also to grandchildren Sam- 
uel Condit, Peter Condit, John Condit, Na- 
thaniel Condit, Mary Condit and Philip Con- 
dit each a Bible. John Condit was a weaver 
bv trade. He bought his homestead in New- 
ark, Essex county. New Jersey, in 1689 and 
1691. The first deed was dated February 27, 
16S9, and was from Richard Hore (Hoat) ; 
the second March 24, 1691, from Richard 
Laurence. The second lot was on Mill Brook 
Plain on the north side of mill brook bounded 
by the Passaic river on the east, the highway 
on the west, by John Bruen's land on the 
south and the first mentioned lot on the north. 
The children: i. Peter, mentioned below. 2. 
John, nuntioned above, no issue. 

(II) Peter Condit, son of John Condit (i), 
married, 1695, Mary Harrison, daughter of 
Samuel Harrison, who married Mary Ward, 
daughter of Sergeant John Ward, of New- 
ark. Samuel was the grandson of Richard 
Harrison, the immigrant, who came from 
Cheshire, England, and died October 25, 
1653, at Branford, Connecticut. The father 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Ill 



of Richartl was Sergeant Samuel Harrison, 
who came from Connecticut to Newark with 
the colony that settled there, and was there- 
fore a founder of that town in 1667-68. Peter 
died in 1714 leaving a widow and family of 
young children. She probably lived with the 
widow of John Condit (i), as the records 
mention "two widows Cundits." Three of 
the sons, Nathaniel, John, »and Isaac, set- 
tled at the foot of Orange Mountain on the 
east : Samuel, the eldest, between the first and 
second mountains, then in Newark township, 
now in West Orange, New Jersey. The other 
sons, Peter and Philip, settled in Morristown, 
New Jersey. Peter Condit's will is dated 
February 7, 1713-14, and proved May 19, 
1714. He spelt his name Condict and used 
the same seal as that mentioned above. He 
bequeathed to his six sons and his wife Mary ; 
to his daughter Mary ; and to his "Loveing 
Son Samuel by name a Weavers Loom Com- 
monly Called Samuel's Loom with all ye 
tackling belonging to it." The importance 
attached by the testator to this article may in- 
dicate that it was a family heirloom, and it is 
quite likely that the name Samuel attached to 
the l(X)m belonged to the father of some an- 
cestor of the immigrant John, who was a 
weaver by trade. Children of Peter and Mary 
Condit: I. Samuel, born December 6, 1696. 
2. Peter, born 1698-99. 3. John, born 1701. 
4. Nathaniel, born 1703. 5. Mary, probably 
married W. Gould. 6. Philip, born April, 
1709. 7. Isaac, born 1711 or 1712, mentioned 
below. 

(III) Isaac Condit, son of Peter Condit 
(2), was born in Newark. New Jersey, 171 1 
or 171 2. He married and lived on the west 
side of Main street, east of Centre street, now 
Orange, New Jersey. There is no record of 
the marriage on the town records and the 
name of his wife is unknown. His name ap- 
pears among those who 1754 assisted in tak- 
ing down the first meeting house. Children : 
I. Hannah. b<->rn about 1740, married, 1762. 
Captain Amos Dodd, born September 15, 
1737, died October 7, 181 1, captain in the 
Revolution ; she died at Bloomfield, New 
Jersey, June 23, 1826, in her eighty-seventh 
year; had seven children. 2. Abigail, born 
about 1743, married Joshua Dodd, son of 
Steplien : lived in Bloomfield and had four 
children. 3. Nathaniel, born September 3, 
1746, mentioned below. 

(IV) Nathaniel Condit, son of Isaac Con- 
dit (3), was born at Newark, New Jersey, 

Sepember 3, 1746. Married Rhoda , 

who was bom October 17, 1743. He 



resided un w h;il is now Main street, C)range, 
on the farm formerly owned by his father, and 
now in the business district of the city of 
(Jrange, between Centre street and Parrow 
brook, on the south side of ^lain street. He 
died October 22. 1805, aged fifty years; his 
wife died June 30, 1815, aged seventy-two 
years. Children; i. Hannah, bom June 9, 

1767, died March 6, 181 1 ; married 

Williams. 2. Lida, born Jtme 20, 1770, died 
unmarried. 3. Abby, born February 15, 
1772, married Sylvanus Hedden. 4. jared, 
born May 17, 1774, married Charlotte Tich- 
enor. 5. Susan, born August 10, 1776, died 
unmarried. 6. Peter, born August 15, 1778, 
mentioned below. 7. Matilda, born October 
7, 1781, died unmarried. 8. Phebe, born 

September [5, 1784, married Strait. 

a soldier in the Revolution, pensioner in his 
last years ; she died in 1876, aged ninety-two 
year. 9. Rhoda, born about 1786, died young. 

(V) Peter Condit, son of Nathaniel Condit 
(4), was born in C)range, Nev^' Jersey, Au- 
gust 15, 1778. Married Susanna Williams, 
daughter of Joseph Williams; she was born 
March 28, 1781, and died at the residence of 
her granddaughter, Eliza P. Lindsley, at 
East Orange, January 17. 1875, in her nine- 
ty-fourth year. He died Alarch 19, 18 13. 
Children; i. Moses W., born February 25, 
1799. mentioned below. 2. Aaron B., born 
December 12, 1802, died young. 3. Sarah, 
born April 8, 1805, died young. 4. Na- 
thaniel, born September 17, 1807, died un- 
married. 5. William D., born April 14, 181 1, 
married, April 25, 1831, Margaret C. Hagar; 
removed to Pierce county, Wisconsin, where 
he became a successful farmer at Elm Cen- 
tre, Wisconsin; had fifteen children. 

(VI) Moses W. Condit, son of Peter Con- 
dit (5), was born at Orange, New Jersey, 
February 25, 1799. Married. February 9, 
1819, Rachel Pollison, who was born Janu- 
ary 7, 1798, died June 13, 1863. He was a 
shoemaker by trade, and after his marriage 
in Orange moved to Bloomfield, New Jersey, 
where he resided at the time of his death. 
Children; i. Sarah, married Henry Yates, 
born November 17, 1819, was a hat manu- 
facturer of Newark and was mayor of that 
city; had five children. 2. Eliza P., bom 
June 5, 1822, married Ogden W. Lindsley, 
son of Ebenezer, born January 12, 1822; he 
was. a blacksmith and they resided at East* 
Orange; children; i. John S., born Septem- 
ber 26, 1846; ii. Carrie V., born April 10, 
1848, married Ira Cooper, of Steward, Illi- 
nois; iii. Emma J., born February 12, 1850, 



112 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



died July 25, 1853; i^- Edward V., born 
November 29, 1852; v. Ella, born November 
4, 1854; vi. Sarah J., born September 21, 
1856, died unmarried 1879; vii. William E. 
(twin), born November 23, 1858; viii. Abby 
L. (twin), born November 23, 1858, married, 
December 6, 1881, B. D. Norwood; ix. Fred- 
erick, born January 26, 1861 ; x. Laura, born 
August 29, 1863 ; xi, Anna, born September 
21, 1865. 3. Peter, born May 31, 1825, mar- 
ried, August 20, 1848, Catherine Brundage, 
born April 4, 1824; married (second), Eliza 
Edwards, widow of Abner H. Edwards; she 
was born 1845; h^ is a carpenter and builder 
at Bloomfield, New Jersey; children: i. Rox- 
ana, born December 23, 1850; ii. Georgiette, 
born November 20, 1853; iii. Charles S., 
born November 18, 1856, died unmarried 
March 5, 1880; iv. Susan B., born August 
21, 1858, died February 5, 1883; married, 
1882, J. A. Bruett; v. Jane, born July 18, 
1861, married W. E. Gilbert, of New York 
City; by the second wife: vi. Fred M., born 
July 12, 1874. 4. Susan, born March 11, 
1828, married at Bloomfield, William Stimus, 
of Newark; children: i. Mary, married 
Abram Baxter; ii. Eliza, married Norman 
Link; iii. William, married Sarah Johnson; 
iv. Catherine; v. Frederick. 5. Sears B., 
born August 15, 1831, mentioned below. 6. 
George W., born January 19, 1834, married, 
July 17, 1859, Emma Armstrong, born May 
10, 1836; he is a hatter at Newark; children: 
i. George M., born June 23, i860, deceased ; 
ii. Nelly L., born April 15, 1862; iii. Eliza- 
beth L. (twin), born December 22. 1865; iv. 
Lewis W. (twin), born December 22. 1865. 
7. Emily, born 1836, married Isaac Crawford, 
of Newark ; children : Rachel C. and Harvey 
Crawford. 

(VII) Sears B. Condit, son of Moses W. 
Condit (6), was born in Bloomfield, New 
Jersey, August 15, 1831. He was educated 
in the public schools of his native town. He 
then learned the trade of hatter, serving a 
full apprenticeship with the firm of Rankin & 
Duree. In 1855 he went to Boston as a jour- 
neyman in his trade, and two years later start- 
ed in business on his own account under the 
firm name of Condit & Company, at 9 Devon- 
shire street. He established a successful busi- 
ness which grew to large proportions. His 
firm manufactured silk hats especially, and 
^their goods are well and favorably known to 
the trade throughout the country. The place 
of business on Devonshire street was out- 
grown and the firm located on Change ave- 
nue. In 1898 Mr. Condit retired from busi- 



ness and since then has devoted his time to the 
care of his real estate and other investments. 
He has built many apartment houses in Som- 
erville for investment. He and his sons are 
interested in Condit's Summer Ball Room, a 
spacious building containing the ball room 
for which it is named, at Revere Beach, and 
they are the principal owners of the Condit 
Amusement Coitipany, incorporated in 1903, 
owning attractions at Revere. Mr. Condit 
has made his home in Somerville since 1865 
and is one of the best known citizens. He is 
independent in politics, and a Universalist in 
religion. He is a member of John Abbot 
Lodge of Free Masons and of Somerville 
Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. 

Mr. Condit married, June 14, i860, Mary 
Hagley, who was born in Newark, January 
25, 1831. Children: i. Mary G., born March 
30, 1861, is of pronounced musical ability, 
both vocal and instrumental, and has shown 
unusual talent in china painting; married 
William S. Miller, October 18, 1882; he was 
born at Sanford, Elaine, September 22, i860; 
is assistant treasurer of a company in New 
York City, dealers in material for green 
houses, etc. ; their children : i. Howard, born 
.\ugust 9, 1884; ii. Alice, born July 8, 1891, 
student in the liigh school, class of 19 10. 2. 
Harry. M., born October 25, 1862, at Charles- 
town, Massachusetts, now Boston; is with the 
Hall and Hancock Company, Boston ; mar- 
ried (first) Allice Hobbs ; (second) Zula E. 
Vaughn. .Allice Hobbs was the mother of 
two children : Hellen R., deceased ; Harry M., 
born March 5, 1896. 3. Fred H., born at 
Somerville. December 3, 1868, educated in the 
public schools of his native city ; gifted musi- 
cally ; leader of Condit's Orchestra, office Tre- 
mont street, Boston, one of the leading organ- 
izations of its kind in the city; he is the first 
violinist. 4. Sears B., Jr., born February 7, 
1872, at Somerville, received his education in 
the public schools of Somerville ; learned the 
electrical business of Stone & Webster, New 
York City, beginning at the age of fourteen ; 
had charge of their Boston business for sev- 
eral years and finally started in business for 
himself in Boston in 1890; married Mary 
Hoyt ; resides in Brookline, Massachusetts ; 
children: Louise, bom July, 1894; Philip, 
Eleanor. 



Deacon John Wright, immi- 
WRIGHT grant ancestor of this family, 

was born in England in 1601. 
He was one of the earliest settlers in Woburn, 
Massachusetts, being in Charlestown as early 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



113 



as 1640 and subscribing to the Town Orders 
of \\ obinn, wliich were agreed upon Decem- 
ber 18, 1640. He was a selectman of Woburn 
in 1045-46-47, 1649 to 1658, 1660 to 1664, 
1670-80-81. He was deputy to the general 
court, was commissioner of the rate in 1046- 
71 ; ci)mmissioner of the general court 1668 
for dividing the common lands into prt)prie- 
ties. He was chosen deacon of the church, 
November 10, 1664, and served until his 
death, June 21, 1688. His wife Priscilla, 
whom he married in England, died April 10, 
1687. Children: i. John, born 1630, men- 
tioned below. 2. Joseph, born 163 1-2, mar- 
ried Elizabeth Hassall ; (second) Ruth Cut- 
ler ; had twelve children. 3. Ruth, born April 
2^, 1646, married, March 31, 1663, Jonathan 
Knight; she died April 13, 1714. 4. Deborah, 
born January 21. 1O48-49. 5. Sarah, post- 
humous, born Eebri'ary 16, 1652-53, married 
Joshua Sawyer. 

{II) John Wright, son of John Wright 
(i), was born in 1630, died April 30, 1714, 
aged eighty-three years, according to his 
gravestone at Woburn. His wife Abigail 
died April 6, 1726, aged eighty-four years, 
according to her gravestone. He was select- 
man of Woburn in 1690, tithingman of Boggy 
Meadow district in 1692. His will was dated 
May 24, 1 70 1, proved November 10, 1714: 
bequeathing to wife Abigail, sons John, Jo- 
seph and Ebenezer, of Chelmsford, Josiah, of 
Woburn, and four daughters. Children: i. 
John, living in Chelmsford, 1701. 2. Joseph, 
of Chelmsford in 1701. 3. Ebenezer, of 
Chelmsford in 1701. 4. Josiah, mentioned 
below. 5. Ruth, married Jonathan Butter- 
field; she died January 11, 1751. aged 
eighty. 6. Priscilla, married, May 7, 1707, 
Samuel Damon. 7. Deborah, born 1678. died 
March 9, 1716, aged thirty-eight years, ten 
months; married, February 17, 1701-02 Na- 
thaniel Potter. 8. Lydia, married, November 
II, 1724. Giles Roberts. 

(HI) Deacon Josiah Wright, son of John 
Wright (2), was born March 14. 1667 (or 
1675, if the age given on the gravestone is 
correct), and died January 22, 1746-47, aged 
seventy-three years. He marfied at Woburn. 
Considering the date of marriage and tiie date 
of death given on the gravestone, it is most 
probable that the child named Josiah, born in 
1667, died young, and this Josiah was Ix>rn 
about 1675. He was chosen deacon of the 
Woburn church in 1736 and held the office 
until his death. His widow Ruth died Janu- 
ary 31, 1774, aged ninety-two years or more. 
His will was dated May 21, 1745, and proved 



.Vpril 0, 1747, mentioning wife and children 
named below. Children: i. Josiah, born De- 
cember 2, 1701, soldier in the army at Lake 
George July 15, 1758. 2. Samuel, born Feb- 
ruary 28, 1704, of Westford, Massachusetts. 
3. RutlT, born April 4, 1706, married Samuel 
Thompson. 4. John, born July 4, 1708, men- 
tioned below. 5. Mary, born January 29, 
171 1, married Ebenezer Wyman. 6. Abijah, 
born .May 17, 1713, tailor at Pepperell and 
P>oston, Massachusetts. 7. Joshua, born May 
9, 1716, settled at HoUis, New Hampshire. 
8. .Vbigail, born December 7, 1718, married 
Stephen Parker. 9. Phebe, born July 13, 
1 72 1, died December 7, 1724. 10. Benjamin, 
horn about 1725, married Mary Wright, about 
June, 1750; settled in I'epperell. 

(IV) Deacon John Wright, .son of Deacon 
Josiah Wright (3), was born July 4, 1708. 
Fie committed suicide in a "delirium" .\pril 
29, 1763, aged fifty-five years. He was elect- 
ed deacon August 9, 1758, and served until 
his death. He married, January 4, 1737, Mary 
L<Kke, wh(3 died May 26, 1795, aged eight) - 
two years. Their children, all born at 
Woburn: I. John, born .\pril 10, 1739, mar- 
ried, June 18, 1761, Phebe Tidd. 2. Mary, 
born January 2, 1740-1, married, .March 24. 
1761, Jeduthan Richardson. 3. Judah. liorn 
-May 9, 1743, married Tabitha Ilartwell, .May 

14, 17(17, 'It Bedford. 4. James, born Decem- 
ber 15, 1745, mentif)ned below. 5. Hannali. 
born March 9. 1747, died young. 6. Rutii, 
born June 23, 1750, married Leonard Richard- 
Non. 7. Josiah, born June 23, 1750 (twin of 
preceding), married Lydia Buckman. of Cam- 
bridge, February 2, 1773. 8. Jesse, torn .Au- 
gust II, 1753, married, .\ugust 4, 1772, Lydia 
Parker ; he was a soldier in the Revolution. 

(\^) Sergeant James Wright, son of John 
Wright (4), was lx)rn at ^\'oburn, December 

15, 1745. died December 24, 1818. He was a 
soldier in the Revolution, sergeant in Captain 
John .Moore's company. Seventh Middlesex 
Regiment. lie was deacon of the Bedford 
church from 1785 to 1817. Childen, born at 
Bedford: i. Ruth, born August 9, 1769, died 
September 16, 1775. 2. Sally, lx)rn December 
12, 1772, died September 2, 1775. 3. James, 
born November 2, 1774. mentioned below. 4. 
[ohn Tidd, born December 16, 1777. 5. Bet- 
sey, born .\ugust 6, 1779, married. June 30. 
181 8. Josei)h Brown. 

fVI) James Wright, son of James Wright 
(5), was born in Bedford, .Massachusetts, No- 
vember 2, 1774, died March 27, 1826. He 
married, March 16, 1797, Dorcas Page, who 
died November 22, 1846. Children, born at 



"4 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Bedford: i. Timothy Page, born about 1799, 
died young. 2. Joseph Bixb}-, born Septem- 
ber 13, 1804, mentioned below. 3. Dorcas 
Emily, born July 12, 1806, married Seth 
Sweetser, of Woburn. 4. Sally, born Septem- 
ber 22, 1808, married Abel S. iMonroe. 5. 
Betsey, born March 28, 18 10, married Ed- 
mund Hoar. 6. Margaret S., died young. 7. 
Caroline, born September 28, 1814. 

(\TI) Joseph Bixby Wright, son of James 
Wright (6), was born at Bedford, September 
13, 1804, died July 18, 1879. He was a man- 
ufacturer in Lexington. He married Mary 
G. Smith, of Charlestown, Massachusetts. She 
died October 5, 1857, at Lexington. Their 
two children were: i. James Edward, born at 
Bedford, August 16, 1833, died August 16, 
1899, just sixty-six years old; he was a suc- 
cessful manufacturer of vinegar, etc., at Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts. 2. Henry Everett, born 
at Lexington, l<"ebruary 8. 1836, mentioned be- 
low. 

(VHI) Henry Everett Wright, son of Jo- 
seph Bixby \A'right (7), was born in Lexing- 
ton, Massachusetts, February 8, 1836. He 
was educated in the public schools. He learn- 
ed the trade of tinsmith and followed it when a 
young man. He started in business for him- 
self in partnership with Benjamin Hadley on 
Sixth street, Charlestown, removing later to 
333 Main street. The firm name was Hadley 
& \\'right and a srxcessful business was de- 
veloped. The firm was dissolved in 1878, and 
Mr. Wright continued alone until he took his 
son Walter into the firm in 1892. Some five 
years later the business was incorporated and 
his other two sons, Frank B. Wright and Her- 
bert E. Wright, became stockholders and di- 
rectors. 

Mr. Wright enlisted at Waltham, Massa- 
chusetts, in the Civil war in Company H, Six- 
teenth Regiment. Massachusetts Volunteer In- 
fantry : was mustered into service June 29, 
1861, and mustered out December 4, 1862; 
was at the Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk 
when the "Merrimack" was blown up ; at Fair 
Oaks (2nd battle) or Seven Pines, Oak 
Grove, Savage Station, Glen Dale, Malvern 
Hill, Harrison Landing (the seven days' bat- 
tle), Malvern Hill (second), Bristoe Station, 
and Groveton, second Bull Run or INlanassas. 
He was wounded at the second Bull Run, was 
in the hospital about three months, when 
he received a furlough, came home and 
was discharged. He is a member of Abraham 
Lincoln Post, No. 11, department of Massa- 
chusetts, Grand Army Republic, in which he 
has filled the offices of quartermaster sergeant, 



junior and senior vice commander; also a 
member of the following Masonic orders — 
Faith Lodge, Cygnet Royal Arch Chapter, 
Boston Council, Cour de Leon Commandery, 
Knights Templar. 

He married (first) Sarah J. Hall, who was 
born at Nobleboro, Maine, March 23, 1840, 
and died February 23, 1897. He married 
(second), June 12, 1899, Clara Edna Gardner, 
born l\lay 17, 1864, daughter of Henry Albee 
and Sarah G. (Brown) Gardner, of East 
Machias, Maine. The children of Henry E. 
and Sarah J. Wright: i. Alice, born at Wal- 4 
tham, January 10, 1861, died February 5, 
1861. 2. Walter, born at Waltham, January 
19, 1864, graduate of the Charlestown high 
school, associated in business with his father ; 
married (first) Nellie Burbeck, of Charles- 
town, and had one child, Henry E. Wright 
2d; married (second) Carrie L. Nash, of 
Lawrence, Massachusetts. 3. Fred C, born at 
Charlestown, August, 1866, died September 
17, 1867. 4. Frank B., born at Charlestown, 
December 8, 187 1, graduate of Charlestown 
public and high schools ; moved to Somerville 
and is associated with his father in business. 
He married Adaline A. P. Mann, who died 
February 17, 1902. He married (second) 
Mrs. Maud Curtis. 5. Herbert E., born at 
Charlestown, February 3, 1873, graduate of 
the Charlestown public and high schools ; mar- 
ried Grace A. Pearson ; children : i. Alice L., 
born December 7, 1897; ii. Edith L., born 
April I, 1899; iii. Grace E., born March 25, 
1903. 6. Bertha L., born in Charlestown, 
January 19, 1878, graduate of the Somerville 
high school and of Tufts College ; proficient in 
vocal and instrumental music ; married Harry 
C. Turner ; children : Dorothy Turner and 
Chester Wright. 7. Edwin A., born at Charles- 
town, June I, 1883, graduate of Somerville 
high school and for two years was a student in 
Amherst College. 



Samuel Cole, the immigrant ances- 
COLE tor, came in Winthrop's fleet to 

Boston, where he followed his 
trade of comfit-maker, confectioner, etc., and 
innholder. He and his wife Anne were mem- 
bers of the Boston church in 1630. He set up 
tlie first house for common entertainment 
(tavern) in Boston, March 4, 1633-34. He 
was admitted a freeman May 18, 1663, and 
was one of the charter members of the Ancient 
and Honorable Artillery Company in 1637. 
His wife died early and he married (second) 
Margaret Greene, daughter of Isaac Greene, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



"5 



of .Mersey, county Essex, England, before 
September 30, 1647. He conveyed land in 
Irioston, March 18, 1665-66, to Samuel Royall, 
son of William Royall, of Casco Bay, who had 
married I'hebe Greene, daughter of said Mar- 
garet Greene. He made deed of gift Uctober 
26, 1653. to Edmund Jackson and his daugh- 
ter Mary and to their children Elisha and 
Elizabeth, October 6, 1666. He mentioneil liis 
grandson Isaac Grose. Mr. Cole married 
(third), October 16, 1660, Anne Keayne, 
widow of Robert Keayne. His will was dated 
December 21, 1666, and proved February 13, 
1666-67. He bequeathed to his daughter 
Elizabeth, wife of Edward Weeden ; to his 
daughter Mary's children by Edmund Jack- 
son, Elisha and Elizabeth ; to grandchild, 
Sarah Scenter, and her husband John Scenter ; 
to his son John's children, the eldest of whom 
is Samuel ; to grandchild, Samuel Royall, and 
to his old servant, Elizabeth Ward. Children : 
1. John, mentioned below. 2. Elizabeth, mar- 
ried Edward Weeden. 3. Mary, married Ed- 
mund Jackson. 

(H) John Cole, son of Samuel Cole (i), 
married, December 30, 165 1, Susannah Hutch- 
inson, youngest daughter of William Hutchin- 
son. She had been a captive among the Indians 
who carried her away when they killed her 
widowed mother in 1643. He died in Con- 
necticut, in 1707, whither he went to care for 
the Hutchinson lands in Narragansett. Chil- 
dren : I. John, died January 22, 1660-61. 2. 
Samuel, born March 24, 1656. 3. Mary, October 
6, 1658. 4. Ann, March 7, 1660-61. 5. Eliza- 
beth. March 4, 1664. 6. John. January 17, 
1666. mentioned below. 7. Hannah, Decem- 
ber 17, 1668. 8. William, July 13, 167 1. 9. 
Elisha. All but the first and last are recorded 
among the Boston births. 

(III) John Cole, son of John Cole (2), was 
bom in Boston. January 17, 1666. He settled 

in Boston and married Mary ; had 

three children in Boston ; removed to Reading 
— Lynn Village — and had four more : prob- 
ably then removed to Marblehead. Children : 
I. Thomas, born April 23, 1686, mentioned 
below. 2. Mary, March 4, 1690. 3. John, 
died September 25, 1691. Born at Reading. 
4. Mary, 1693. 5. Martha, 1695. 6. Jonathan, 
1698, died young. 7. Jonathan, 1699. 

(IV) Thomas Cole, son of John Cole (3), 
was born in Boston, .April 23, 1686. He mar- 
ried (first), at Marblehead, November 4, 
1706, Susannah Sikes, of Beverly. He mar- 
ried (second), at Marblehead, January 5, 
1718-19, Elizabeth Mathews. Children of 
Thomas and Elizabeth, born at Marblehead : 



I. EHzabeth, baptized November 29, 1719, at 
-Marblehead, married, June 5, 1753, John Rim- 
shire. 2. Captain William, born about 1730. 
Perhaps other children. 

(V) Captain William Cole, son of Thomas 
Cole (4), was born in Marblehead or some 
adjacent town about 1730. Married, Decem- 
ber 1, 1757, Ruth Lee, who died July 23, 1798. 
Qiildren, baptized at Marblehead: i. William, 
January 14, 1759, mcniimicd below. 2. Rich- 
ard, February 15, 1761. 3. John. September 
^5. '765- 4- Elizabeth, December 13, 1767. 

(VI) William Cole, son of Captain William 
Cole (5), was baptized in Marblehead, Janu- 
ary 14, 1759, died there .August 12. 1808, aged 
forty-eight years, according to the records. 
He married, February 12, 1788, Elizabeth 
Tutt. Children, born at Marblehead: I. Wil- 
liam, baptized December 7, 1788. 2. Richard, 
baptized June 19, 1791. 3. Elizabeth, baptized 
June 19, 1791. 4. John, baptized June 28, 
baptized December 13, 1801. 

1795, mentioned below. 5. Samuel Ilorton, 
(VII) John Cole, son of William Cole (6), 
was baptized June 28, 1795, in the Marble- 
head church. He settled in .Salem and mar- 
ried there Mary Ann Gowan. Children: i. 
Caroline. 2. Man,- FJizaheth, married George 
Noah. 3. John F., born May 16, 1835, men- 
tioned below. 

(VIII) John F. Cole, son of John Cole (7), 
was born at Salem, Massachusetts, May 16, 
1835, 3nd died at Somerville, January i, 1903. 
He was educated in the public schools of his 
native city, and when quite young entered the 
freight office of the Boston & Maine Railroad. 
He was promoted to the position of cashier in 
the treasurer's office and afterward becaine 
general ticket agent. He was in the service of 
the road, in all. about fifteen years. He came 
to Somerville to make his home in 1862. He 
became general ticket agent of the Narragan- 
sett Steamship Company when it was formed. 
The offices were first in the Old State House 
Building, Boston, but were afterwards trans- 
ferred to New York City. While in New York 
he became also the treasurer of the United 
.States Tow- Boat Company. He resigned his 
position as agent of the steamship company to 
take charge of the private interests of two 
wealthy citizens of New York. He was elect- 
ed president of the New Jersey Southern Rail- 
road, a position that he afterwards relinquish- 
ed to take the more active position of. general 
passenger and freight agent of the same com- 
pany. In 1875 he returned to Somerville. He 
was prominent in the municipal life of the city. 
He served in the board of aldermen in 1876- 



ii6 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



77-78-79, and during his term was chosen the 
first president of the board. He was a mem- 
ber of the water board in 1880-81, and was 
elected city treasurer in 1882 and held his po- 
sition by successive re-elections until he de- 
clined further election in 1900, and he filled 
this office with conspicuous ability and credit. 

He was a thirty-second degree Mason and 
well known in the fraternity. He was a char- 
ter member of Soley Lodge of Somerville and 
held first the office of treasurer and afterwards 
secretary of the lodge for two years. He took 
the Consistory degrees in New York City. He 
was a member of Somerville Royal Arch 
Chapter ; of De Molay Commandery ; of Bea- 
con Lodge, Ancient Order of United Work- 
men ; Excelsior Council, Royal Arcanum ; 
Mount Benedict Lodge, Knights of Honor ; 
the Central and Webconit Clubs : the Middle- 
sex Club of Boston ; the Corinthian Yacht 
Qub ; Massachusetts City Treasurers' Asso- 
ciation ; the Mystic Valley Club and was treas- 
urer and a trustee of the Somerville Hospital. 
His residence was on Perkins street. He was 
one of the most attractive and delightful men 
in social life. He was peculiarly able and suc- 
cessful in his business career, and in public life 
which he followed more for the sake of the 
public welfare and good than for any personal 
satisfaction and gain. He gave a fine example 
of citizenship. 

He married Anna F. Pulsifer, daughter of 
Joseph and Susan (Felt) Pulsifer, of Salem, 
and granddaughter of David Pulsifer. of Ips- 
wich. David Pulsifer, Jr., was a soldier in the 
Revolution from Ipswich in Captain Charles 
Smith's regiment in 1775, serving at Glouces- 
ter and other points on the coast. He was 
matross in Captain William Ellery's company, 
First Artillery, in 1776. David Pulsifer, per- 
haps the father of David, Jr., also of Ipswich, 
was in Captain Jabez Hatch's company guard- 
ing military stores at Boston in 1777. Susan 
Felt was born at Salem, January 6, 1797, of 
the well known Felt family of that town ; she 
married, November 2, 1823, Joseph Pulsifer, 
son of David and Elizabeth (Dutch) Pulsifer, 
of Ipswich. Mr. Pulsifer was bom July 16, 
1798, and died at Salem, October 19, 1886. 
He was a painter. Children of Joseph and 
Susan Pulsifer: i. Mary Eliza, resided at 24 
Lydne street, Salem. 2. Susan Augusta, re- 
sided at East Somerville. 3. Charles Henry, 
married, July 5, 1853, Hannah Jane Noah, 
daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Gold- 
thwait) Noah, of Salem ; she was born at Dan- 
vers, Massachusetts. 4. Joseph Warren, born at 
Salem, married at Boston Annie Kurtz ; was a 



painter of Boston ; served in a Rhode Island 
regiment in the Civil war. 5. Ann Felt, married, 
September 18, 1862, John Francis Cole, son of 
John and Mary Ann (Gowan) Cole, of Bos- 
ton; he was born in Salem, May 16, 1835; 
mentioned above. The grandfather of Susan 
Felt was also a soldier in the Revolution. 

Children of John F. and Anna F. Cole : i. 
Ada Augusta, born February 2, 1876, gradu- 
ate of the Somerville high school in 1895 ; 
took the degree of Ph. B. at Boston University, 
in 1899; member of the Phi Beta Kappa So- 
ciety, of the Delta Delta Delta Fraternity. 2. 
John Felt, born November i.i, 1877, graduate 
of the Somerville high school in 1896, gradu- 
ated at Harvard University in 1900, A. B. 
Magna Cum Laude, receiving an appointment 
as assistant in astronomy for the year 1900; 
after four years as instructor in astronomy 
has been engaged in research ; went to Ber- 
muda in 1905 on a Harvard expedition. 



The family of Breck or Brick, 
BRECK as this surname is spelt inter- 
changeably, has an ancient his- 
tory in Lancashire, England. The American 
families are practically all from one ancestor 
who lived there in 1600 and died about 1630. 
The six sons of this father, whose given name 
is unknown, came to New England. John, 
who settled and died in Medfield, left no de- 
scendants. Henry, born in Lancashire, 1605, 
joined the church at Dorchester, Massachu- 
setts, but soon after probably returned to his 
native land. Robert, born in England, 1607, 
came to America but soon returned. Samuel, 
born about 1610, came over with his brother 
Edward, but soon returned. The descendants 
are all from Edward and Thomas. Edward 
was proprietor of Dorchester in 1636; was ad- 
mitted freeman May 22, 1639, and died No- 
vember 2, 1662, leaving a widow Isabel and a 
number of children : he had land at Lan- 
caster ; his widow married Anthony Fisher, a 
pioneer of Dedham. The coat of arms of the 
Brecks of Lancashire : Gules, a chief parted 
per bend sinister, indented, or and argent and 
on a second and on the third four Torteuxes 
of the first. Crest, A dexter arm issuing out 
of a wreath erect holding a sword proper. 

(I) Thomas Breck, ancestor of the Sher- 
bom branch of the Breck and Brick families, 
was born probably in Lancashire, England, 
1600. He emigrated about 1650, settling first 
in Dorchester, Massachusetts, where he died 
August 3, 1659. Presumably his wife died in 
England, as no record of her is found in this 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



117 



country, and it is likely that he left children 
also in England. His only child known to 
have emigrated was : Thomas, mentioned be- 
low. 

(11) Thomas Breck, son of Thomas Breck 
(i), was born in England about 1625, and 
came with his father to Dorchester, Massachu- 
setts, about 1650. He died at Sherborn, Mas- 
sachusetts, April 3, 1723. He married, at 
Dorchester, December 12, 1650, Hilary Hill, 
daughter of John Hill, of Dorchester. In 1658, 
after the death of his father, Breck removed 
with his wife's brother, John Hill, to what is 
now Sherborn, and settled on the west bank of 
the Charles river about a quarter of a mile to 
the north of Bogistow pond in South Sher- 
born. They bought some five hundred acres 
of the grant of Robert Kaine from the admin- 
istrator of his estate and divided the tract. Hill 
taking the northern half and two acres for his 
house lot south of Thomas Brick's lane, 
bounded by the present road to Afillis on the 
east, and by Breck's land on the other sides. 
On this lot taken to be nearer his neighbors 
he built his second house. Breck died April 

3. 1723; his widow died .\ugust 15, 1726. 
Children : Mary, born at Dnrcliester, ( )ctobcr. 
17, 1657, died there December, 1657. 2. Su- 
sanna, born at Sherborn, September, 1663, 
died August 25, 1664 (Medfield records). 3. 
Susanna, born May 10, 1667. 4. John, born 
March 4, 1671, mentioned below. 5. Bcthiah, 
born December 20, 1673. recorded in Medfield. 
6. Nathaniel, born March I, 1682 (twin). 7. 
Samuel (twin), born March i, 1682. 

(HI) John Breck, son of Thomas Breck (2), 
was born in Sherborn, March 4, 167 1. He in- 
herited the homestead of his father and lived 
in Sherborn. He married, March 9. 1697, 
Mcbitable Morse, daughter of Captain Joseph 
and .Mehitable (Wood) Morse, daughter of 
Nicholas \\'ood. Their children: i. Mehitable, 
born at .Sherborn, October 10, 1698, married 
William Leland. 2. Jonas, born March 9, 
1700, died June 13, 1775. 3. Abigail, born 
April 19, 1705, married Jonathan Holbrook. 

4. Keziah, born December 14. 1715. 5. Elijah, 
born Tune 22, 1718. mentioned below. 

(IV) Elijah Breck, son of John Breck (3), 
was born June 22, 1718, settled on the east 
side of the Breck farm where John \\'arc late- 
ly resided. He married Sarah Hill at Med- 
way. October 2. 1751. She was born May 27, 
172S. and died November 19, 1806. Pie died 
February 11. 1791. Their children : i. Elijah. 
Jr., born July 20, 1753, killed by a plow Feb- 
ruary II. 1795: was the last of the race to 
own the east part of the Breck farm. 2. 



Jotham, resided on the homestead, but died 
December i, 1854, in Medfield. 3. Keziah, 
born January 14, 1757, married Jesse Hill. 4. 
Daniel, born May 12, 1758, (twin) married 
Patty Learned. 5. Jonas (twin), born May 
12, 1758, mentioned below. 6. Abigail, born 
April 23, 1761, married Reuben Crimpus, of 
Croyden, New Hampshire. 7. Luther, born 
March 27, 1763. 8. Calvin, born December 
13' 1765- 9- Jonathan, born December 13, 
1767. 10. Enoch (twin), born February 6, 
1770. II. Benoni (twin), born February 6, 
1770. 

(V) Jonas Breck, twin son of Elijah Breck 
(4), was born at Sherborn, Alay 12, 1758, 
baptized May 13, 1759, died 1822. He mar- 
ried, December 18, 1782, Judith Richardson, 
of Medway. She died aged eighty-seven. In 
1789 he removed from Sherborn to that part 
of Westminster set of? to Gardner, where he 
was a farmer until late in life. He then went 
to Franklin with his son Silas and daughter 
Judith and lived about half a mile from Med- 
way village. He was a soldier in the Revolu- 
tion, private in Captain Thomas Wellington's 
company. Colonel .Asa Whitcomb's regiment, 
1776; also Captain Sabin Mann's company, 
Colonel Wheelock's regiment, in 1777; also 
Captain Joseph Winch's company. Colonel 
■Samuel Bullard's regiment, 1777, and Captain 
Amos Ellis's company. Colonel Benjamin 
Hawes's regiment, in 1778. Children, first 
inur born at Sherborn, the others at Cardner: 
I. Silas, baptized October 24, 1784, died at 
Franklin about 1875 ; married .\nn;i Pike, 
March 12, 181 1. 2. .\sahel. born February 
20. 1785, mentioned below. 3. Charlotte, born 
at Sherborn, October 22, 1786, married Jona- 
than Wells: died in Michigan. 4. Sally, born 
Sherborn, 1788, baptized July 13, 1788, died 
unmarried at Gardner. 5. Enoch, born June 
24. 1790. died unmarried at Gardner, 1855. 6. 
Elijah, born .April 26, 1792, died June 27, 
1866. 7. Jonas (twin), horn July 31, 1794. 
died -April 19, 1795. 8. Judith (twin), born 
Tuly 31. 1794. died at Franklin. 9. Jonas, 
iKirn (October 10, 1796. 

(\T) Asahel Breck, son of Jonas Breck 
(5), was born at Sherborn. February 20, 
1785. Married Betsey Snow: married 
(second) Mrs. Betsey Carpenter. He died 
suddenly at Gardner about 1830. Children of 
Asahel and Betsey (Snow) Breck: i. (.Asa- 
hel) .Augustus, born July 14, 1812, mentioned 
below. 2. Ephraim Sumner, born June 25, 
1814. changed liis name to Sumner Snow: re- 
sided at Levant. Maine. 3. Susan Sawyer, 
born Mav 8, 1816. died October i. 1826.' 4. 



ii8 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Jonas R., born July 4, 1818, died August 11, 
1821. 5. Jerome Snow, born November 3, 
1820, died at Gardner about 1880. Child of 
second marriage : 6. Betsey Jane, born March 

10, 1822, married Dr. Paul West Allen ; wrote 
name "Jane E. ;" had William, Charles and 
Mary Allen. 

(VII) (Asahel) Augustus Breck, son of 
Asahel Breck (6), was born at Gardner, Mas- 
sachusetts, July 14, 1812. He dropped his first 
name and was known simply as Augustus 
Breck. He lived and died at Augusta, Maine. 
He married Eliza Prescott, of Norridgewock, 
Maine, Rlarch 17, 1836. Children, born in 
Augusta: i. Frank A., born October 23, 1837, 
mentioned below. 2. Mary E., born May 18, 
1839. 3. Ann M., born January i, 1842, died 
August 17, 1844. 4- Charles H., born January 

11, 1844, died May 15, 1887. 5. .\lbert P., 
born December 21, 1845, died November 17, 
1846. 

(VIII) Frank A. Breck, son of Augustus 
Breck (7), wa.s born at Augusta, Maine, Oc- 
tober 2^, 1837. He was educated there in the 
public schools and began his business career as 
clerk for Wolf Joseph. After one year he en- 
tered the employ of the dry goods concern of 
Potter & Bartlett, Augusta, and advanced 
steadily in the business until in 1862 he was 
admitted to partnership and the firm name 
became George F. Potter & Co. Three years 
later Mr. Breck and his brother, Charles H. 
Breck, bought the business and conducted it 
afterward under the firm name of F. .\. & C. 
H. Breck. When the junior partner died the 
business was sold to the firm of Buzzell & 
Weston, and Mr. Breck left Augusta in 1889 
and made his home in Somerville, Massachu- 
setts. He was connected with the drv goods 
establishment of R. H. White & Co. of Boston 
for three years ; with the dry goods store of 
Houston & Henderson, Boston, three years, 
and then retired from active labor. In religion 
Mr. Breck was an active member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church in Augusta, holding 
the offices of steward and trustee and other 
positions of responsibility. Since living in 
Somerville he has been a member of the Con- 
gregational church, which for ten years he 
served as treasurer. He married. May 25, 
1862, Augusta W. Williams, of .\ugusta, 
Maine. Their children, all born at .\ugusta : 
I. Charles Albert, born April 27, 1863, men- 
tioned below. 2. Jennie A., born May 19, 
1865, mentioned sfeelow. 3. Mabel Prescott, 
born June 14, 1868, died December 16, 1868. 
4. ilartha Hunt, born December 31, 1869, 
graduate of Augusta high school, married, 



1901, Haskell M. Gleason, wholesale fruit 
dealer, 206 School street, Somerville. 5. Wal- 
ter Williams, born February 27, 1873, men- 
tioned below. 

(IX) Charles Albert Breck, son of Frank 
A. Breck (8), was born in Augusta, ilaine, 
April 2y, 1863. He attended the Augusta 
public schools, the high school, and entered 
Amherst College, where he graduated. He 
taught one year in the Augusta high school, 
and after spending two years in California re- 
turned to this position. Deciding to enter the 
ministry he prepared at the Andover Theo- 
logical Setninary and was ordained at Strong, 
Maine, as pastor of the Congregational church. 
He was pastor of the Congregational Church 
at Cotuit, Massachusetts, for six years, re- 
signing to take a graduate course in pedagogy 
at Harvard University. In 1904 he was elect- 
ed superintendent of schools at Methuen, 
Massachusetts, a position he now occupies. 
He resides at Methuen. He married, 1895, 
Mary McAllister. 

(IX) Jennie A. Breck, daughter of Frank 
A. Breck (8), was born in Augusta, May 19,. 
1865. She was educated in the public and 
high schools of her native city and after her 
graduation taught in the grammar school sev- 
eral years. She spent two years in California 
with her elder brother, Charles A. Upon re- 
turning home she entered the employ of Drey- 
fus & Co., as stenographer and bookkeeper. 
Later she returned to California, where she 
married, 1895, Seymour J. Milliken. .After 
living there about five years they came east 
and are now living in Somerville. They have 
one child, Gertrude Pitman .Milliken, born 
September, 1896. 

(IX) Walter Williams Breck, son of Frank 
.\. Breck (8), was born in .Augusta, Februar}^ 
-7- ^^73- He attended the public and high 
schools of .Augusta, graduating from the high 
school in 1891, and entered .Amherst College, 
from which he graduated in 1895. He is at 
present the head bookkeeper of the American 
Bell Telephone Company. 



Robert Rand, the immigrant an- 
RAND cestor, came from England prob- 
ably in 1635 and settled in Charles- 
lown, Massachusetts, where his wife .Alice was 
admitted to the church in that year and where 
in the year following their son Nathaniel was 
horn. In the town Book of Possessions, dated 
1638, mention is made of the property owned 
by Robert Rand, including one house on the 
west sifle of ^^'indmill hill, sixty-six acres and 






^^ 



^\ 




U ^o 



a^^yk CL i^^cM^ 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



119 



"three coiiinions." He died in 1639 o"" 1640, 
perhaps at Lynn wliere he Hved for a lime. 
He receivet! a bequest in the will of Robert 
Keayne. a former employer. In 1658 his 
widow, Alice Rand, and her son Thomas, 
jointly, had a grant of thirty-four acres of 
w<X)dland and nine commons. She was a sis- 
ter of Mary, wife of Captain Richard Sprague, 
and said to be a tlaughter of Nicholas Sliarpe. 
Both Captain Richard and his wife left in their 
wills legacies to various members of the Rand 
family. She died August 5, 1691, at the age 
of ninety-eight years, according to the town 
record, although given as ninety-seven on the 
gravestone. The will of Alice Rand was made 
August 22. 1663, but not proved until .August 
17, 1691. She bequeathed to her sons Xa- 
tlianiel and Thomas; grandchildren John. Ed- 
mund, Samuel. Thomas and the four daugh- 
ters of her son Thomas. Cliildren, probably 
of a first wife: i. Robert, settled in Lynn as 
early as 1649 and died there November 8, 
iC)g4: wife Elizabeth died .\ugust 29. 1693, 
leaving seven children. 2. Margery, born 
about 1624. died April 12, 1714. aged ninety; 
married Lawrence Dowse and had nine chil- 
dren. Children of Robert (and Alice prob- 
ably) : 3- Thomas, born about 1627, sergeant ; 
married, March 25, 1656, Sarah Edenden. 4. 
Susanna, born about 1630, inarried, February 
8, 1652, .Abraham Newell, of Roxbury. 5. 
Alice, born 1633, died August 11, 1721 ; mar- 
ried, June 26, if)6o, Thomas Lord. 6. Na- 
thaniel. ba|)tized November 3, 1636, sergeant, 

selectman; married .Mary an.l 

( second ) Abigail Carter. 7. Elizabeth, Iwrn 
1639, baptized December 29, if)39; died May 
I, 1702: married, December 6. 1661, Na- 
thaniel Hrewer, in Roxbury. 

(11) Robert Rand, son of Robert Rand (t). 
was liorn in England and doubtless came over 
\vith his father. As he was not mentioned in 
the will of .Alice Rand, his father's widow, it 
is presumed that he was a son by a former 
marriage. He was a farmer at Woodend in 
the northerly part of Lynn; was living there 
in 1649 and died there November 8. 1^194. 
His wife. Eliza1>eth, died August 29. 1693. 
Children.: i. Robert, born about i'i33. 2. 
Zechariah. mentioned below. 3. Hannah, born 
August, i<^S7- niarried, September 18, 1682, 
Jacob Knight or King, and died .August 29. 
1683. 4. Elizabeth, married Joseph Hall. 5. 
Mary, married Nathaniel Kirtland. 6. Sarah, 
married, July t, 1674, Ephraim Hall. 

(HI) Zcciiariah Rand, son of Robert Rand 
(2). was born at Lynn, Massachusetts, about 
1655; niarried, .April 2, 1684, .Ann Ivory. He 



dietl in 1705-06, and his estate was adminis- 
tered by his widow who married (second), 
September 15, 171 1, Samuel Baxter. Chil- 
dren, perhaps not in correct order: i. Daniel, 
born about 1686, mentioned below. 2. Thomas, 
drowned in j\lystic river, October 31, 1695; 
cordwainer by trade at Charlestown. 3. Eliz- 
abeth, married, (published December 11) 
1726, David Rice, of Weymouth. 4. Mary, 
lx)rn at Lynn, married, July 13, 1735, Ebe- 
nezer Tarliox. 5. Anna, married, May 21, 
1730, Benjamin Eaton, of Lynn. 6. John, 
died June 4, 1730, in thirty-third year; mar- 
ried. October 24, 1723, Sarah Dudley. 

( 1\ ) Daniel Rand, son of Zechariah Rand 
13). was born in L\nn about 1686. He was 
in .'Shrewsbury in 1718 when house lot No. 11 
was granted to him, and he was one of tiie 
founders of the church there. His son Solo- 
mon was the first person baptized after the 
church was organized and Rev. Job Cushing 
ordained the minister. Daniel Rand married, 
January 18, 1720, Mary Keyes, daughter of 
-Major John and Alary (Eames) Keyes. .She 
was Iwrn in 1700 and died March 5, 1757. 
John Keyes was the son of Elias and grand- 
son of Robert, the immigrant. Children of 
Daniel and Mary Rand, born at Sudbury: i. 
Mary, born October 12, 1721, died young. 2. 
Solomon, born March 13, 1723, baptized De- 
cember 15. 1723, probably named for the eld- 
est of her mother's brothers who perished in 
the burning of their home in .August, 1723. 3. 
Mary, born January 25, 1725. 4. Thankful, 
born December f). 1727. 5. Sarah, baptized 
.August 23, 17.30. n arried Timothy W'heelock. 
6. Pheb?, born January I. 1733, married, July 
I. 1755. Simuel P)igelo\v. 7. Rezinah, born 
1735, baptized .August 10, 1735: married Joel 
\Vhittemore in i/Gi and died December 29, 
176S. 8, Daniel, born November 10, 1738, 
died in 1742. 9. Levinah, baptized October 11, 
1741. (Hm] 1742. ID. Levinah. born July 14. 
1743. n-arried John Keyes W'itherbee. Child 
of Dnni-l and his second wife, Martha Bruce, 
married Novemljer i, 1759: 11. Daniel, born 
July 12, 1760. 

(A) Solomon Rand, son of Daniel Rand 
(4). was born March 13. 1723, died July, 
1807. Alarried, September 15, 1741. Dclvirah 
Dodge, daughter of Jab'?z Dodge, of Ipswich. 
She was admitted to the Shrewsbury church 
in 1742, and died Tulv, t8io. aged eighty-four 
years. Her brother. Rev. Ezekiel Dodge, was 
the minister at .Abington, Massachusetts. Her 
father. Jabez Dodge, was born in Ipswich, 
March 22, 1686, removed from Ipswich to 
A\Vjrcester, thence to Shrewsbury. He was 



120 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



son of Richard Dodge, the immigram, of Sa- 
lem and Beverly, and grandson of John 
Dodge, of East Coker, Somersetshire, Eng- 
land. Children: i. Colonel Daniel, born Oc- 
tober 15, 1742, settled in Rindge ; captain in 
Revolutionary war, colonel of militia later, 
representative to general court ten years. 2. 
Anna, born October 2, 1744, married, 1765, 
Colonel Jonathan Wheeler, of Grafton. 3. 
Ezekiel, born March 24, 1747, mentioned be- 
low. 4. Solomon, born March 5, 1750. 5. 
Wareham, born February 3, 1752. 6. Jasper, 
born July 2, 1754, died 1756. 7. Deborah, 
born December 9, 1756, married Daniel Baker. 
8. Jasper, born March 10, 1760. 9. Artemas, 
born July 5,. 1763. 

(V'l) Ezekiel Rand, son of Solomon Rand 
(5), was born at Shrewsbury, March 24, 
1747: settled with his brothers Daniel and 
Solomon in Rindge, New Hampshire. He 
was ensign in his company at the battle of 
Bunker Hill and remained with his company 
until the end of the siege of Boston. He was 
a lieutenant in Colonel Enoch Hale's regiment 
in 1778. He was a man of exemplary charac- 
ter and good abilities. He died May 17, 1826; 
his widow September 23, 1833. He married 
Anna Demary, daughter of John Demary. 
Children: I. Ezekiel, born November 26, 1780, 
at Rindge. 2. Asaph, born November 24, 
1782. 3. Absalom, born September 3, 1784. 
4. Jasper, born August 11, 1791. 

(VH) Absalom Rand, son of Ezekiel Rand 
(6), was born at Rindge, New Hampshire, 
September 3, 1784, died April 5, 1855. Mar- 
ried (first), September 28, 1806, Mary Win- 
ship, of Charlestow"!, who died May 21, 1818; 
married (second), November 25, 1821, Sarah 
Gill, of Concord, who died June 23, 1857. Qiil- 
dren, all born in Charlestown. Massachusetts : 
I. Charles W., born March 28, 1807, died No- 
vember 7, 1847. -■ John W., born November 
I. 1808, died April, 1833 at sea. 3. Nathan 
born May 22, 1810, died August 25, 1830. 4 
Mary, bnrn December 5, 1812, died March 12 
1840: marrie^l, 1840, Orange Harvey. 5 
Ezekiel, born August 9, 18 14, died March 20 
1816. 6. Anna D.. born October 9, 1816, died 
April 27, 1877. 7. Sarah, born January 5, 1818, 
died san-e year. Children of Absalom and 
.Sarah (Gill) Rand: 8. Edward Turner born 
December 19, 1823, mentioned below. 9. 
Sarah, horn January 6, 1826. died September 
15, 1S61. ID. Benjamin S., born May 9, 1828, 
died May 18, 1875. n. Hannah G., born July 
23. 1830. died October 3. 1887. 12. Caroline, 
born .^iiril 26. 1833, died February 11. 1872. 



13. John F., born March 29, 1838, died May 
27, 1905. 

(Vni) Edward Turner Rand, son of Ab- 
salom Rand (7), was born December 19, 1823, 
in the old family residence, Cordis street, 
Charlestown, where his father settled in 1803. 
At the age of nineteen he began to learn the 
trade of soap making, and in 1816 started in 
the business of soap manufacture on his own 
account and became very successful. His first 
factory was on the present site of St. Mary's 
Church. In 1835 he removed his business to 
Charlestown Neck to a new factory that he 
built for his own use. In January, 1856, he 
entered partnership with William A. Byam, 
another successful manufacturer, and they 
continued in business together with the utmost 
harmony and good profits for a period of forty 
years. Mr. Rand retired from business in 
1895, a year before his death. Mr. Rand used 
to relate with some satisfaction and pride that 
although very young he was present at the 
Lafayette reception with his father and 
mother, and he was also in early childhood a 
witness of the laying of the cornerstone of the 
Bunker Hill Monument and was just one min- 
ute too late to see the capstone adjusted, 
twenty-seven years later, when the monument 
was completed. He took part in the upbuild- 
ing and development of the town and was in- 
tensely interested in its affairs. He attended 
the formal opening of the dry dock at the 
United States navy yard at Charlestown and 
saw the historic "Constitution" docked there 
with Commodore Hull himself on the deck, 
June, 1833. With other boys of Charlestown 
he saw the burning of the LTrsuline Convent, 
August II, 1834. For more than ten years he 
was an active member of the Bunker Hill En- 
gine Company, and a member of the board of 
engineers in 1851-52. He was in the board of 
aldermen in 1873, the last year, in which 
Charlestown had its own municipal govern- 
ment. He was a member of the Massachusetts 
Society of the American Revolution, the Mas- 
sachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association. 
He was interested in the Training Field 
School Association ; his own early education 
was received in the Training Field and Bunk- 
er Hill Schools in Charlestown. He was a 
member of the 999 Artillery Club of Charles- 
town. He died January 27, 1896, and was 
buried in Mount Auburn cemetery. He was 
a citizen of many substantial qualities, upright 
and honorable in every walk of life, and en- 
joyed the respect and confidence of his asso- 
ciates in business and, indeed, of all who knew 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



121 



him. He married, April 25, 1850, Frances E. 
Blodgett, daughter of Nathan Blodgett; she 
■was born in Somerville, June 25, 1827, died 
January 7, 1898. Children: i. Alfred, born 
August 27, 185 1, died May 9, 1877: educated 
at tlie public and high schools, graduating in 
1868 from the high school and in 1872 from 
Harvard College, A. B., cum laitde. 2. Eliza- 
beth Frances, born May 15, 1857, married 
Frank W. Goodrich ; resides in Somerville ; no 
issue. 



John Pelton, the immigrant an- 
PELTON cestor, was born in England 
about 1616. and is thought to 
have belonged to the Pelton family of Essex 
whose history extends to the time of William 
the Conqueror. The ancestor of this family 
was granted the estate known later as Pelden 
Manor after the battle of Hastings, and his 
descendants held it imtil about 1358. John 
Pelton came to Boston, Massachusetts, about 
1630. He had land in Boston before 1634 
on the south side of Essex street, from Wash- 
ington street easterly. He removed to Dor- 
chester in 1635 and was a proprietor there. 
He also was one of the forty-seven owners of 

the Great Lots. He married Susanna 

about 1643. Fie died in Dorchester, January 
23, 1681. His will dated January 3, 1681, 
twenty days before his death, and proved 
March 16 following, mentions his wife Susan- 
na : his sons John. Samuel and Robert, and his 
daughter Mary. His widow died May 7, 1706. 
Children: i. John, born early in 1645, bap- 
tized March 2, 1645. 2. Samuel, mentioned 
below. 3. Robert, born about 1650, mariner, 
lost at sea July. 1685. 4. Mary, born about 
1653, baptized February 18, 1654. 

(II) Samuel Pelton, son of John Pelton 
(i), was born in Dorchester in 1646, baptized 
January 25, 1646-47. He married, July 16, 
1673. Mary Smith, daughter of John Smith, 
quartermaster of Dorchester, mariner. Mr. 
Pelton lived in Dorchester until about 1687, 
when he went to Bristol, Rhode Island, where 
he lived on Mount Hope farm. .After several 
years he removed to Seekonk. Massachusetts, 
where he probably died about 1713. His wife 
owned the covenant at Dorchester. October 
22, 1682. Of their children the first five were 
born in Dorchester, the remaining three in 
Bristol. Rhode Island: i. Samuel, born Janu- 
ary 26. 1675. 2. Mary, born May 29, 1678. 
married. December 12, 171 2. Nathaniel Col- 
burn. 3. Deliverance, born July 31, 1680. 4. 
John, born January 9. 1682. 5. Ithamar. born 



May, 1686. 6. Henry, born December 10, 
1690, mentioned below. 7. Sarah, born March 
23. 1693. 8. Benjamin, born September 3, 
1698, died at Hopewell, New Jersey, in 1775. 

(III) Henry Pelton, son of Samuel Pelton 
(2), was born at Bristol, Massachusetts, now 
Rhode Island, December 10, 1690, on the 
Mount Hope farm on which his father then 
lived. He removed to Groton, Connecticut, 
where he married, .April 29, 1712, Mary Rose. 
He died at Groton in 1763. He was a farmer 
and a man of high standing- in the community. 
He gave farms to his sons Paul, b^ebruary 14, 
1745, and July 15, ijCxi, and to Reuben and 
Thomas. His son Paul agreed to care for his 
parents for the remainder of their lives. Chil- 
dren, all born at Groton: i. Samuel, born De- 
cember 16, 1714, married, Jtme 17, 1736, Sybil 
Yeomans. 2. Thomas, born July 22, 1717, 
married, July 9, 1740, Hannah Avery. 3. Paul, 
born May 14, 1720, married, .August 20, 1743, 
Mary Avery. 4. Preserved, born January 24, 
1722. 5. Lemuel, born February 22, 1724, 
married. April 8, 1747, Mary Coruwell. 6. 
Reuben, born January 24, 1726. 7. Robert, 
born June 9, 1728, married, August 19, 1751, 
died June 21, 1789. 8. Moses, born 1728, 
mentioned below. 9. Ephraim, born June 12, 
1732. married Mary Spelman. 

(IV) Moses Pelton, son of Henrv Pelton 
(3), was born at Groton, Connecticut, about 
1728. married, about 1750, Mary Whipple. 
They lived in Somers, Connecticut, and his 
house was standing in 1880 and may be at 
present. He died .April 16, 1778. On the 
Lexington alarm Pelton marched with the 
Groton company. Captain Solomon Wills, Col- 
onel Spencer, and served at Roxbury from 
May until December i. 1775. He was killed 
by a cannon ball from the British shipping 
while retreating from New York. Fle was 
one of the early settlers of Somers. Qiildren : 
I. Moses, born June 27, 1751, died June 19, 
1809; married Dorothy IBenton. 2. Joel, born 
November 5, 1753, mentioned below. 3. Han- 
nah, born at Somers, died May 10, 1754. 4. 
Mary, born February 26, 1754. 5. Hannah, 
born .August 30, 1755, died in Somers unmar- 
ried February 16, 1817. 6. Lenmel, born 1757. 
7. Elizabeth, born November, 176,^. 

(V) Joel Pelton, son of Moses Pelton (4), 
was born at Somers, Connecticut. November 
5- I7,S3- He served in the Revolution: then 
went east and settled in Maine, first at Wool- 
wich, afterwards in Washington. Jefferson 
and finally Madrid, where he died Alarch 7, 
1856, aged one hundred and three years. He 
went to Madrid in 1810 and staved there six 



122 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



years, then to Washington for twelve years 
and back to Madrid. He was a tanner and 
farmer. He was an industrious man, vigorous 
in mind and body and of good health and great 
strength. He was in Captain Brigham's com- 
pany. Colonel Obadiah Johnson's regiment, in 
1778; later of Captain Paul Brigham's com- 
pany of the Fifth Connecticut Line, organizefl 
m 1781 from the former First and Eighth 
Regiments. He drew a pension for his ser- 
vice and when over eighty years of age used 
to walk to Augusta to receive it. Children: i. 
Sarah, born probably at Woolwich about 1781, 
married Ebenezer Runlet, of Wiscasset. 2. 
Thomas, born August, 1783, married, about 
1804, Betsey Gray. 3. Joel, Jr., born March 
10, 1785, married, July 4, 1810, Jerusha 
Thomas: died September 29, 1865. 4. Bridget 
(always called Mary), born at Woolwich, 
Maine, in 1786, married Richard Parks, men- 
tioned below. 5. Simon, born about 1788, 
went to sea and never returned. 6. Alexander, 
born September 24, 1791, married, July 31, 
1820, Ann Mayberry ; (second), June 4, 1835, 
Louisa Leman ; (third), June 23, 1839, Sarah 
A. Young; he died May 4, 1879. 7. Timothy, 
born January 26, 1792, married, December 28, 
1812, Mercy Hinckley. 8. Mary or Polly, 
born at Jefferson. Maine, in 1793, married, 
1810, at Phillips, Maine, Aaron Huntoon, son 
of Jonathan Huntoon, of Wiscasset; died at 
Madrid, Cktober 11, 1852. 9. Moses, born 
January 9, 1794, married, Januan,- 17. 1827, 
Jane Stinson. 10. Miriam, born at Jefiferson, 
Maine, April 20, 1799, married, December 25, 
1818. Franklin Perry. 11. Eliza, born at 
Washington, April 17, 1800, married, October 
21. 1822, Isaac Benson, son of Seth. 12. Abi- 
gail, born at Jefiferson, May 20, 1803, married 
(first) Hutchins ; (second) 



Leman : ( third) 



Trask ; ( fourth ) 



Franklin Perry, who married first her sister 
IMiriam. 13. Hannah, born October 28, 1804, 
married in Lincoln county, July, 1826, Job 
Perry, son of David Perry, of Wayne, Maine. 
14. Nancy, born about 1806, married William 
Pinkham ; resided at North LTnion, Knox 
countv, Maine. 15. Almira, born at Washing- 
ton. May 13. 1809, married at Madrid, Sep- 
tember 28, "1830, Aaron Wells ; died there Feb- 
ruary 26, 1868. 

(A'T) Mary Pelton, daughter of Joel Pelton 
(5), was born in Woolwich, Maine, married 
Richard Parks, who was born in 1787 and died 
February 3, 1871, son of Frederick Parks, of 
\\''innegance, (Bath) Maine. She died Janu- 
ary I. 1833. They lived in Richmond, INIaine. 
Frederick Parks was one of the pioneer set- 



tlers after the Revolution in the town of Rich- 
mond, Maine. He married a Miss De Con- 
stant, of a French family ; children : John, 
settled in Bath, Maine ; Harriet, married 

— Lewis ; James, Richard, Daniel, 

Thomas, Chetham. Richard Parks was a 
farmer. Children of Richard and Mary (Pel- 
ton) Parks: i. Alargaret Frith, married James 
( j. Briry ; children : i. Alva Richard ; ii. Edgar 
Snow Briry. 2. Frederick Jennings, born in 
Richmond, Maine. 3. Elwell, born in Rich- 
mond, resides in Brookline, Massachusetts; 
no children. 4. Solomon Davis, born in Rich- 
mond. 5. Delia A., born in Richmond, mar- 
ried a Mr. Jones, of Hope, Maine. 6. Alfred 
Lewis, born in Richmond. 7. Chetham, born 
January 31, 1831, mentioned below. 

(\TI) Chetham Parks, son of Richard (6) 
and Mary ( Pelton) Parks, was born in Rich- 
n:ond, Maine, January 31, 1831. He received 
his early education in the public schools of his 
native place, the school at Kent's hill and at 
Litchfield corner. He spent his youth on the 
farm of his father. He learned the trade of 
carpenter. He fell from a building March 25, 
1851, and broke his leg. After recovering he 
became clerk in the general store of D. & A. 
Allen, who were also ship builders. He be- 
came bookkeeper for the firm and took advan- 
tage of everv opportunity to gain more educa- 
tion, going to school at Kent's hill during the 
hours he could be spared from business in 
T 853-54. He was employed as salesman in 
Spear's store one year. In 1856 he went to 
work for Alfred Perry of Winnegance as clerk 
and bookkeeper. He finally engaged in busi- 
ness on his own account in Richmond in com- 
pany with his brother-in-law, James G. Briry, 
under the firm name of Briry & Parks, dealers 
in n;eats and provisions. Fie left Richmond 
.April 7, 1857, and spent two years in Lake 
City, in the southern part of Minnesota, but 
concluded to return east. On his return De- 
cember 21, 1858, he went to work at the car- 
penter's trade in Boston. Then he bought 
out the business of Richard P. Roe, provision 
dealer, 84 Cambridge street, and continued 
this business from 1864 to 1877 in Boston 
under his own name without a partner. He 
sold out to Melvin Toothaker and removed to 
Somerville. Since then he has been in the real 
estate business and largely occupied with the 
care of his own property in Somerville. 

He married, February i, 1864, Augusta A. 
Lee, daughter of Parks and Eliza (Morse) 
Lee, of Bath, Maine. She was born in Maine, 
died December 27, 1877. Their five children 
all died in infancv. He married (second) 



MIDDLESEX COrXTV. 



123 



Lavinia Wilbur, daughter of IScnjamin and 
Ruth Wilbur, of Pembroke, Maine. They have 
one child, Chethain, Jr., Ixirn at Somerville, 
SepteinlxT 23, 1889, now a student at 
Miicheir.s school, Billerica. 



Jean Rivoire, the ininiij.jrant 
RE\'ERE ancestor of the Revere family 

of Massachusetts, belonged to 
the ancient and distinguished family of 
Rivoires or De Rivoires of Romagnien, 
France. They were Huguenots and some of 
the family fled from France during the Catho- 
lic Inquisition. He mari-ied Magdelaine 
Malaperge. Children: I. Simon, eldest son. 
was a refugee from France ; went first to Hol- 
land and afterwards settled in the Isle of 
Guernsey, (ireat Britain: took with him the 
coat of arms of the family, on a silver seal ; 
and these arms were afterwards registered in 
the French Heraldry Book, in London, at the 
Heralds' Office. 2. Apollos. 3. Isaac, men- 
tioned below. 

(II) Isaac Rivoire, son of Jean Rivoire 
(i), was born about 1670 in France; married 
in 1694 Serenne Lambert. They had several 
children, one of whom was named Apollos. 
The following account of his birth was written 
in the family Bible by the father and a copy of 
it sent to Colonel Paul Revere, Boston, by 
Matthias Rivoire, a second cousin, of Martel, 
near St. Foy, France. "Apollos Rivoire, or 
son, was born the thirtieth of November, 1702, 
about ten o'clock at Night and was baptised 
at Riancaud, France, Apollos Rivoire, my 
brother, was his Godfather and .-\nne Maul- 
mon my sister-in-law his Godmother. Fie set 
out for Guern.sey the 21st of November 1715." 
According to the late General Joseph Warren 
Revere, .Apollos, the father of the famous 
Paul Revere, became the true heir and lineal 
representative of his brother, .Simon de 
Rivoire, and the American branch of the 
family, consequently, is the legal heir at the 
present day. All the other heirs having be- 
come extinct, the American family would in- 
herit the titles and estates if any now remained 
to inherit. 

(III) .Apollos Rivoire, son of Isaac Rivoire 
(2), was born in Riancaud, France, November 
30, 1702. As stated above he set out for the 
Isle of Guernsey, November 21, 1715, and 
must have reached the home of his uncle by 
the time his birthday arrived. He was then 
thirteen and was apprenticed to his Uncle 
Simrind who soon afterward sent the boy to 
Boston. Massachusetts, with instructions to 



his correspondents to have him learn the gold- 
smith's trade, agreeing to defray all expenses. 
He learned his trade of John Cony, of Boston,, 
who died .August 20, 1722. Revere's "time." 
valued at forty pounds, was paid for, as shown 
by the settlement of Cony's estate. During 
the year 1723 he returned to Guernsey on a 
visit to his relatives, but determined to make 
his home in lioston and soon came back. He 
established himself in the business of a gold 
and silversmith, and modified his name to suit 
the demands of English tongues, to Paul 
Revere. But for many years the surname was 
variously spelled in the public records, 
"Reverie" and "Revear" being conunon. 
-About May, 1730, he "removed from Ca])tain 
Pitt's at the Town Dock to the north end over 
against Colonel Flutchinson's." This house 
was on North street, now Hanover, opposite 
Clark street, near the corner of Love lane, now 
Tileston street. He was a member of the New 
Brick or "Cockerel " Church, so called from 
the cockerel weather vane which is still in ser- 
vice on the Shepherd Memorial Church, Cam- 
bridge. Samples of his handiwork have been 
preserved. A silver tankard owned now or 
lately by Mrs. William H. Emery, of Newton, 
Massachusetts, was made about 1747 for Re- 
becca Goodwill, whose name and the date are 
engraved on it. 

.After he had been in bi-siness a few years 
he married. June 19, 1729, Deborah Hitch- 
born, who was born in Boston, January 29, 
1704. .She died in May. 1777: he died July 
22, 1754. Children: i. Deborah, baptized 
February 27, 1731-32. 2. Paul, born December 
21, 1734, mentioned below. 3. Frances, born 
July, 1736, baptized July 18. 4. Thomas, bap- 
tized August 27, 1738, died young. 5. Thomas, 
baptized January 13. 1739-40. 6. John, bap- 
tized October 11, 1741. 7. Mary, ba])tized 
July 13, 1743. 8. Elizabeth (twin), baptized 
July 13, 1743, died young. 9. Elizabeth, bap- 
tized January 20, 1744-45. There were twelve 
in all. 

(]V) Colonel Paul Revere, son of Paul 
Revere (.Apollos Rivoire) (3), was born in 
Boston, December 21, 1734, and was baptized 
December 22, 1734, the following day. He 
received his education from the famous Mas- 
ter Tileston at the North grammar school, and 
then entered his father's shop to learn the 
trade of goldsmith and silversmith. He had 
nuich natural ability in designing and drawing 
and became a prominent engraver. He taught 
himself the art' of engraving on copper. His 
early plates, of- course, were crude in detail, 
but they were forceful and expressive, and his 



124 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



later work was characterized by a considerable 
degree of artistic merit and elegance. His 
unique abilities show to the best advantage in 
his craft of which he was a master. His ser- 
vices to the colonies in the struggle for inde- 
pendence and afterward by his skill as an en- 
graver and artisan were as important, perhaps, 
as his military achievements, to the cause of 
liberty. One of his triumphs for the Ameri- 
can cause was the manufacture of gunpowder 
at Canton, Massachusetts, when the only 
source of supply was in the vicinity of Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania, the proprietor of which 
was hostile tO' the establishment of Revere's 
plant. He succeeded, however, and thus 
greatly strengthened the resources of the 
Northern army. He was also employed by 
the government to oversee the casting and 
manufacture of cannon, to engrave and print 
the notes issued in the place of money by Con- 
gress and by the state of Massachusetts. In 
addition to his shop, he established an impor- 
tant hardware store on Essex street, opposite 
the site of the famous Liberty Tree that was 
the center of much of the patriotic demonstra- 
tion of pre-RevoIutionary times. There was 
apparently no limit to the variety of work suc- 
cessfully essayed by Revere, for it is shown 
on abundant testimony that in his younger 
days he practiced with much skill the making 
and inserting of artificial teeth, an art that he 
learned of an English dentist temporarily lo- 
cated in Boston, and he also designed many of 
the frames that surround the paintings of his 
friend, Copley. These were, hov^'ever, but in- 
cidents in comparison with the bolder under- 
takings of later years. In 1789 he established 
an iron foundry of considerable capacity and 
in 1792 began to cast church bells, the first of 
which, still in existence, was for the Second 
Church of Boston. He cast many bells, of 
which some are still in use in the old parish 
churches of Massachusetts. He took his son, 
Joseph .Warren Revere, into business with 
him. Brass cannon and many kinds of metal 
work needed for the building and equipment 
of the ships of the navy were manufactured 
for the government. He invented a process of 
treating copper that enabled him to hammer 
and roll it while heated, thus greatly facili- 
tating the manufacture of the bolts and spikes 
used in his work. In manv respects the most 
important of all his enterprises was that of 
rolling copper into large sheets, established in 
1800. aided by the United States government 
to the extent of ten thousand dollars, to be 
repaid in sheet copper. It was the first copper 
rolling mill in the covmtry. The plates were 



made in this mill for the boilers of Robert 
Fulton's steamboat and for the sheathing of 
many men-of-war. In 1828 the business was 
incorporated as the Revere Copper Company 
and under this name still continues and pros- 
pers. 

He is best known perhaps for his part in the 
events preceding the battle of Lexington and 
Concord. The martial spirit that stirred him 
to such a degree in later life asserted itself first 
on the occasion of the campaign against the 
French in Canada in 1756, and he was at that 
time commissioned second lieutenant of ar- 
tillery by Governor Shirley ■ and attached to 
the expedition against Crown Point under the 
command of General John Winslow. His ser- 
vice in this campaign, however, proved un- 
eventful, and he returned some six months 
later to his business. From this time his al- 
legiance to royal authority steadily waned. He 
became a prominent Whig leader in Boston. 
He was popular among his fellow patriots in 
the secret organization known as the Sons of 
Liberty. The meetings were conducted with 
great secrecy, chiefly at the Green Dragon 
tavern, and measures of importance taken to 
resist the encroachments of the British author- 
ity on the rights that the colonies had enjoyed 
for a century or more. Revere was intrusted 
with the execution of many important affairs, 
often bearing dispatches of importance be- 
tween the committees of safety and corres- 
pondence that virtually organized and carried 
on the Revolution itself. He was prominent 
at the time of the Stamp Act troubles, and he 
designed and published a number of famous 
cartoons and caricatures. His views of the 
landing of British troops in Boston and of the 
Boston massacre had a large influence on the 
public mind. In pursuance of the non-impor- 
tation agreement the citizens of Boston took 
steps' to prevent the landing of the cargo of 
the ship "Dartmouth," November 29, 1773; 
Revere himself was one of the guard of twen- 
ty-five appointed to carry out the vote of a 
public meeting providing that "the tea should 
not be landed," and he was one of the leaders 
of the Tea Party, December 16, 1773. That 
was the first act of open rebellion against the 
government ; the port of Boston was closed 
and Revere proceeded to New York and Phil- 
adelphia to secure the co-operation of the 
other colonies, and he took an important part 
in organizing the first confederacy of the 
provinces, effected in 1774. He made two 
more trips to the city of Philadelphia bearing 
messages from the Provincial congress of 
Massachusetts, as the re-organized general 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



12S 



court was known. In Boston the situation was 
becoming critical. Dr. Joseph Warren sent 
for Revere, April i8, 1775, to tell him that the 
British troops were gathering on the Boston 
Common and, that he feared for the safety of 
Hancock and Adams who were at Lexington, 
whither he beheved the British were preparing 
to go in quest of military stores. Revere un- 
dertook to warn the country ; received his sig- 
nal that the expedition was making a start ; 
rode through iledford to Lexington. The 
other messenger, William Dawes, arrived half 
an hour later and the two messengers proceed- 
ed together to Concord and were soon joined 
by Dr. Prescott. They were surprised by 
British officers who had been patrolling the 
road : Dawes and Revere were captured, while 
the more fortunate Prescott, who knew the 
country belter, made his escape and warned 
Concord : the alarm spreading thence in every 
direction through all the colonies. The pris- 
oners were closely questioned and threatened. 
but suffered no actual violence and, during the 
excitement following a volley from the Lex- 
ington militia as they drew near Lexington, 
the prisoners were abandondl. He helped 
rescue the papers of Mr. Hancock from the 
Clark house, and while they were getting the 
trunk out of the house encountered the enemy 
but got away safely. Longfellow's poem has 
made Revere's ride one of the classic adven- 
tures of .\merican history. Revere made his 
home in Charlestown and after some weeks 
his wife and family joined him there. He 
made other perilous trips for the Whigs to 
New York and Philadelphia. .After the Evac- 
uation in 1776. \\'asliington employed Revere 
to repair the abandoned guns at Castle Wil- 
liam, now Fort Independence, and he suc- 
ceeded by inventing a new kind of carriage, 
rendered necessary by the fact that the British 
had broken the trunnions from the guns. In 
July he was commissioned major of a regi- 
ment raised for the defence of town and har- 
bor; in November lieutenant-colonel in a regi- 
ment of state artillery, performing many im- 
portant duties, including the transfer from 
Boston to Worcester. August, 1777. of a body 
of several hundred prisoners captured at Ben- 
nington by Stark. He took part with his regi- 
ment in the first campaign in Rhode Island, 
and was several times in command of Castle 
William, incidentally presiding at many courts 
martial. His service in defence of Boston har- 
bor were onerous and, despite adverse condi- 
tions, he steadfastly fulfillecl his duties and en- 
deavored to make the best of the situation. 
On June 26, 1779, Colonel Revere was order- 



ed to prepare one hundred men of his com- 
mand to go with the expedition known as the 
Penobscot Expedition to attack the British at 
Alaja-Bagaduce, now Castine, Maine. The 
expedition ended in disaster to the American 
forces, and one unfortunate result of it was a 
quarrel between Colonel Revere and a captain 
of marines, resulting in Revere's removal 
from the service, until he obtained a hearing at 
a court-martial in 1781 when he was complete- 
ly vindicated and acquitted of blame. It was 
a matter of great regret to Revere that liis 
service was restricted to the state; he hoped 
and endeavored to obtain a place in the Con- 
tinental army. He exerted his ni.luence in 
favor of the adoption of the Federal constitu- 
tion when its fate seemed doubtful in Massa- 
chusetts. 

The varied interests of his business and 
military career did not prevent him from cul- 
tivating the social side of life. He was the 
first entered apprentice received into Saint 
Andrew's Lodge of Free Masons in Boston, 
and ten years later, in 1770, he was elected its 
master. He was one of the organizers of the 
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, and was its 
grand master from 1794 to 1797. In this ca- 
pacity he assisted Governor Samuel Adams at 
the laying of the cornerstone of the Massa- 
chusetts State House, July 4, 1795, and deliv- 
ered an address on that occasion. In 1783. 
Saint Andrew's Lodge was divided upon the 
question of remaining under the jurisdiction 
of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, which had 
chartered it and also the Grand Lodge, or of 
affiliating with the latter. Twenty-nine mem- 
bers favored the old arrangement, while twen- 
ty-three, including Revere, desired to change. 
The minority withdrew and formed the Rising 
States Lodge, September, 1784, with Paul 
Revere its first master. He made jewels for 
these lodges and made and engraved elaborate 
certificates of membership and notification 
cards. At the death of General Washington 
he was made one of a committee of three to 
write a letter of condolence to the widow and 
a-sk her for a lock of Washington's hair. This 
request was granted and Revere made a gold- 
en urn about four inches in height for the relic. 
Through correspondence he cultivated the ac- 
quaintance of his relatives in Guernsey and 
France and many of the letters have been 
preserved. He was the chief founder of the 
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic .Associa- 
tion in 1795, and was its first president from 
1795 to 1799, when he declined re-election, al- 
though his interest in its affairs was undimin- 
ished. 



126 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Forty years old when he rode on the mid- 
night alarm, Paul Revere gave the best years 
of his life to his country. After the Revolu- 
tion and the period of struggle to organize a 
government, Revere received the unqualified 
respect and honor that he deserved, while his 
own industry and skill provided him with a 
competency that enabled him to live well, to 
educate a large family of children and finally 
to leave them in comfortable circumstances. 
He died May lo, 1818, and was buried in the 
Granary Burial Ground, Boston, where are 
also the graves of his friends, John Hancock 
and Samuel Adams. 

He married, August 17, 1757, Sarah Orne, 
who died May, 1773. He married (second), 
October 10, 1773, Rachel Walker, born in 
Boston, December 27, 1745, died June 19, 
1815. The children of Paul and Sarah Revere: 
I. Deborah, born April 3, 1758, died January 

3, 1797 ; maTried Amos Lincoln. 2. Paul, born 
January 6, 1760, mentioned below. 3. Sarah, 
born January 3, 1762, married, March 20, 
1788, John Bradford; she died July 5, 1791. 

4. Mary, born March 31, 1764, died April 30, 
1765- 5- Frances, born February 19, 1766, 

died June 9, 1799; married Stevens. 

6. Mary, born March 19, 1768, died August, 
1853; married Jedediah Lincoln. 7. Elizabeth, 
born December 5, 1770, married Amos Lin- 
coln, whose first wife was her sister. 8. Han- 
nah, born December 15, 1772, died September 
19- 1773- Children of Paul and Rachel 
Revere: 9. Joshua, born December 7, 1774, 
died about 1792. 10. John, born June 10, 
1776, died June 27, 1776. 11. Joseph Warren, 
born April 30, 1777, died October 12, 1868; 
succeeded his father in business, a prominent 
citizen of Boston. 12. Lucy, born May 15, 
1780, died July 9, 1780. 13. Harriet, born 
July 24, 1783, died June 27, i860. 14. John, 
born December 25, 1784, died March, 1786. 
15. Maria, born July 4, 1785, died August 22, 
1847; married Joseph Balestier. 16. John, 
born March 27, 1787, died April 30, 1847. 

(V) Paul Revere, son of Colonel Paul 
Revere (4), was born in Boston, January 6, 
1760. He was educated in Boston schools and 
associated with his father in business. He re- 
sided in Boston and Canton, where his father 
lived during his latter years in the summer 
months. He died January 16, 1813, before his 
father, aged fifty-three years. He married 

. Children : Sarah, nientioned below ; 

Paul, George, Rachel, Mary, Deborah, Har- 
riet. 

(VI) Sally or Sarah Revere, daughter of 
Paul Revere (5), was born in Boston about 



1785. Married, February 13, 1806, David 
Curtis ; settled in Boston. Children : David 
Revere, Maria Revere, Caroline Revere, 
George Revere, Charles Revere, Henry 
Revere, Edward Alexander Revere, mention- 
ed below. 

(VTI) Edward Alexander Revere Curtis, 
son of David and Sallie (Revere) (6) Curtis, 
was born in Boston, February 22, 1822, the 
year that Boston was incorporated as a city. 
Like his brothers and sisters, he carried the 
name of Revere to remind him of his mother's 
family. He was educated in the public 
schools of his native city. He started a type 
foundry, when a young man, and founded a 
large and prosperous business. His foundry 
was located on Congress street, Boston, until 
it was destroyed during the Great Fire of 
1872. His was the last building burned. He 
resumed business afterwards on Federal street 
and continued until his death in 1889. He 
made his home for 'many years in Somerville, 
and was universally respected and esteemed 
by his townsmen there. He served in the com- 
mon council of Somerville and also in the 
board of aldermen. He was a Republican in 
politics. He belonged to the Soley Lodge of 
Free Masons and to the Webcowit Club. He 
married Caroline Pruden, daughter of Israel 
R. and Caroline (Gulliver) Pruden. Chil- 
dren: I. Flora. 2. Emma, married Frank W. 
Cole, 3. Paul Revere, died aged three years. 
4. Mabel, died aged three months. 5. Grace, 
died aged eleven months. 6. Frederick 
Revere, unmarried. 



Samuel Freeman, immigrant 
FREEMAN ancestor of this family, came 

from Mawlyn, county Kent, 
England, and was probably born there. He 
was rated as a "gentleman" meaning that he 
was of gentle birth and undoubtedly of an 
ancient and distinguished English lineage. He 
had a deed of English property July 22, 1640. 
His mother's name was Priscilla, as shown by 
a power of attorney dated December 12, 1646, 
for the collection of a legacy from her. She 
was late of Blackfriars, London. Samuel 
Freeman came to America in 1630, and he was 
settled in Watertown in that year. His house 
in Watertown was burnt February 11, 1630- 
31. He returned to England on business and 
died there about 1639-40, and little appears 
about him in the imperfect records of Water- 
town during his brief residence there. He 

married in England Apphia . Their 

children: i. Henry, admitted freeman of 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



127 



Watertown, May, 1645; married, Ueceniber 

25, 1O50, Hannah Stearns; (second), Novem- 
ber 27, 1O56, .Mary Sherman. 2. Apphia. 3. 
Samuel, born .May 11, 1638. in Watertown, 
mentioned below. 

(II) Samuel Freeman, Jr.. son of .Samuel 
Freeman (i), was born in Watertown, May 
II, 1638. Married Mercy Southworth, of 
Plymouth, Mas.saclnisetts, May 12, 1658. He 
had relatives in Plymouth colony, and in a 
deed dated January 20, 1671, Governor Prence 
calls him his "Ix'loved son-in-law." Just what 
that relationship was puzzles the family his- 
torians. Samuel Freeman became a leading 
citizen of the town of Eastham. He was 
chosen deacon of the church there in 1676. He 
was deputy to the general court in 1697. A man 
of means and businessability,he served the town 
in times of peculiar straits. He bought a large 
part of the estate of Governor Prence. He 
died November 25, 1712, aged seventy-five 
years. His wife Mercy was a daughter of 
Constant Southworth, who was some time as- 
sistant in the Plymouth Colony. Constant 
Southworth came over with his brother and 
mother, .Mice, in 1622. His father, Constant, 
died in England, and his mother came over to 
become the wife of Governor William Brad- 
ford : she had been his sweetheart in youth but 
the match had been opposed by her family on 
the ground of Bradford's inferior social posi- 
tion ; she was the daughter of Alexander Car- 
penter, of Wrentham. England. Constant 
Southworth married, November 2, 1637, 
Elizabeth Collier, daughter of William Collier. 
one of the ".Adventurers" to New Plymouth in 
1626, a prominent citizen. Collier's daughter 
Rebecca married Job Cole ; his daughter Sarah 
married Love Brewster, son of Elder Brew- 
ster; his daughter Mary married, April i, 
1636, Governor Thomas Prence. Hence the 
wife of Governor Prence was sister to .Samuel 
Freeman's wife's mother. One of Mrs. Free- 
inan's sisters, .'Mice, married Benjamin 
Church; another, Mary, married John Alden. 
Constant Southworth, her father, died 1697 in 
Duxbury ; he was deputy from Duxbury 1649 ; 
treasurer of the colony many years; assistant 
1670 to 1675, also commissary general ; he was 
admitted a freeman in 1637, and was a soldier 
in the Pequot war in 1636-37. Qiildren of 
Deacon Samuel and Mercv Freeman: i. .Ap- 
phia, born December 11, 1659, died February 
19, 1660, in Eastham. 2. .Samuel, born March 

26, 1662. 3. .Apphia, born January i, 
1666. married Isaac Pepper, of Eastham, 
October 17, 1685. 4. Constant, born March 
31, 1669, mentioned below. 5. Eliza- 



beth, b(M-n June 20, 1071, married -Vbraham 
Remick, (second) Merrick. 6. Ed- 
ward, died }oung. 7. .Mary, married, about 
1693, John Cole. 8. .Mice, married Nathaniel 
Merrick, y. Mercy. 

(Ill) Constant Freeman, son of Samuel 
Freeman (2), was born .March 31, 1669, mar- 
ried, October 11, 1O94, Jane Treat. He settled 
in Truro on Cape Cod, and died there June 8, 
^745. aged seventy-six years. His will dated 
^larch 17, 1744-45, mentions daughters Jane, 
Alercy Hopkins, Hannah (Iross. Eunice 
Crocker, Elizabeth Lombard, .\pphia Bick- 
ford, and sons Robert, Jonathan, Joshua and 
Constant. The will was proved July y, 1745, 
but it was found necessary to appoint an ad- 
ministrator September 19, 1758. His widow- 
Jane died September i, 1729, and Isaac Free- 
man, of Truro, completed her administration 
of Constant's estate. She was a daughter of 
Rev. Samuel Treat, the faithful and distin- 
guished minister of Truro. She was born 
December 6, 1675. Mr. Treat was a talented, 
laborious and faithful minister of Christ, a son 
of Governor Robert Treat, of Connecticut; a 
graduate of Harvard College, 1669. That 
the Truro pastor was not remarkable for cap- 
tivating oratorical powers, may be inferred 
from the story of his preaching in the pulpit 
of his father-in-law. Dr. Willard, minister of 
Old South Church, Boston. The congregation 
was not informed of the relationship and the 
sermon was not received with favor. Some 
of the parishioners did not hesitate to hint 
that they hoped the visiting preacher might 
not be invited again. They doubted not that 
he was a pious and worthy man, but — "such 
horrid preaching." .\ few weeks later Dr. 
Willard, without replying to the critics in any 
way, delivered his .son-in-law's sermon from 
the same pulpit and the congregation was 
charmed. Some said that Dr. Willard never 
preached so "excellent" a sermon before. "You 
preached" some of his hearers raid "from the 
same text that stranger had ; but what a differ- 
ence !" When told that "it was the identical 
discourse preached by the stranger, my son- 
in-law, Mr. Treat" his critics were mightily 
confused. The effect of his delivery may 
have been due to his very loud voice which 
"was so loud that it could be heard at a great 
distance from the meeting house where he was 
preaching, even in the midst of the winds that 
howl over the plains of Nauset ; but there was 
no more music in it than in the discordant 
sounds with which it mingled." 

Children of Constant and Jane Freeman: 
I. Robert, born August 12, 1696, mentioned 



128 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



below. 2. Jane, born September 20, 1697, 
died February 19, 1698. 3. Jane, born March 
5, 1698-99, in Eastham. 4. Constant, born 
March 25, 1700, in Eastham. 5. Mercy, born 
August 31, 1702, married, October 8, 1719, 
Caleb Hopkins. 6. Hannah, born May 3, 
1704, married, August 20, 1725, Micah Gross. 
7. Eunice, born November 25, 1705, married. 
March 4, 1733, William Crocker. 8. Eliza- 
beth, born February 5, 1707-8; married 

Lombard. 9. Jonathan, born June 9, 1710, 
in Truro, married Rebecca Binney, Septem- 
ber 23, 1731. 10. Apphia, born January 14, 
1713, married, October 6, 1731, Samuel Bick- 
ford. II. Joshua, born July 4, 1717, married, 
October 9, 1746, Rel^ecca Parker; (second) 
Rebecca Knowles. 

(IV) Robert Freeman, son of Constant 
Freeman (3), was born .\ugust 12. 1696, in 
Truro, Massachusetts. Married, April 5, 
1722. Mary Paine, of Eastham. He is held 
in special reverence by his pious posterity as 
pre-eminently a man of piety, whose life and 
religious experience were striking illustra- 
tions of the power of faith and prayer. It 
was believed by his own generation and the 
succeeding that in answer to a prayer was 
granted a promise including the fourth gen- 
eration of the family and it is still said that 
the religious status of his descendants con- 
firms the belief. He married the daughter of 
Elisha Paine; his widow married (second) 
Deacon Waldo, of Norwich, Connecticut, 
Freeman died September 27, 1755, in Pom- 
fret, Connecticut. Children of Robert and 
Mary Freeman: i. Elijah, born January 6, 
1722-23, died aged twenty-five years. 2. Re- 
becca, born September 23. 1724, married 

Paine. 3. Hannah, born .Vpril 23, 1726, mar- 
ried Chapman. 4. Robert, born De- 
cember 31, 1727. 5. Mary, born August 18, 

1729; married Holmes. 6. Elisha, born 

July 2, 1 73 1, mentioned below. 7. Simon, 
born April 28, 1733. 8. Mercy, born March 

II, 1735, in Canterbury, married Olm- 

stead. 9. Abigail, married Howell. 

(V) Captain Elisha Freeman, son of Rob- 
ert Freeman (4), was born in Truro, Massa- 
chusetts, July 2, 1731. Married Mercy Vin- 
cent, of Pomfret, Connecticut. Like his fa- 
ther, he was an eminent Christian, his "long 
life of faith and love terminating at the age of 
ninety-nine years." His memory is rever- 
enced by his posterity. "Sketches of his life, 
containing an account of his shipwreck and 
remarkable deliverance, as also his religious 
exercises and the special dealings of God's 
Providence during a life of eighty-eight 



years" is the title of a book written by him 
to gratify the desire of his numerous de- 
scendants, relatives and friends, to become 
acquainted with the leading incidents of his 
life. Tliis remarkable book was printed at 
Ballston Spa, New York, 1819. In early life 
he was a mariner. He removed to Norwich 
Landing, and in 1761, sailed with other set- 
tlers to Nova Scotia and settled in Cornwal- 
lis. In 1769, having made a trip to Halifax, 
and reloaded with government stores, he was 
returning to the Bay of Fundy, when at night, 
in a thick fog, his vessel struck a rock previ- 
ously unknown, since called "Freeman's 
Woe," and his vessel was wrecked. The fol- 
lowing spring he settled with wife and chil- 
dren on land granted by the English gov- 
ernment. No other family was near them; 
and their daughter, born in the wilderness, 
was the first white child born in what is now 
the town of Amherst. He remained there 
until the Revolution when, declining to take 
the oath of allegiance to England, and incur- 
ring the ill-will of his Loyalist neighbors, he 
went back to New England. In about a year, 
however, he was allowed to return to his 
home in Nova Scotia, through the influence 
of Colonel Street, who married his daughter. 
.■\t the age of fifty-six he settled at Kinder- 
hook, New York. Children of Captain Elisha 
and Marv Freeman: i. Son died in infancy. 

2. Elisha, born July, 1757, mentioned below. 

3. -Mary, married Morse, of Stephen- 
town, New York. 4. Mercy, married 



Doubleday, of Cooperstown, New York. 5. 
.-\bigail, married Colonel Street, pf St. John, 
New Brunswick, Canada. 6. Ann Frances, 
married Dillas Dernier, of Cobleskill, New 

York. 7. Hannah, married Chester, 

of Truro, Ohio. 8. Nicholas Vincent, mar- 
ried Lucretia Babcock, of Worcester, New 

York. g. Elizabeth, married Calkins, 

of Halfmoon, New York. 

(VI) Elisha Freeman, Jr., son of Captain 
Elisha Freeman (5), was born July, 1757, at 
Norwich Landing. Married Lydia Rey- 
nolds, 1779. He resided at Kinderhook and 
Worcester, New York. He died May 5, 
1818, aged fifty-five years; his widow Lydia, 
born May 20. 1765, died May, 1847. Their 
children: i. Joshua Edwards, born 1780, in 
New Brunswick, married Eliza Morgan in 
Eastport, Maine; died 1851 in La Grange, 
Ohio. 2. Lydia, married Elijah P. Olmstead, 
of Schodack, New York. 3. Elisha Edwards, 
born March 23, 1783, mentioned below. 4. 
Nathaniel, born September 25, 1785, in 
Kinderhook, New York, married Qarissa 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



129 



Baker. 5. Simeon, born October 3, 1788, 
married Olive Jackson. 6. (ieorge Washinfj- 
ton, born April 13, 1790, married Sarah 
Vonng. 7. Cynthia, born July 4, 1793, mar- 
ried Reuben \\'illiams. 8. .Mary, born -Aug- 
ust 25. 1795, married David France and 
Cjeorge G. VVarner, of Schoharie. 9. Mercy 
Ann, born June 3, 1797, in Worcester, Ot- 
sego county, New York, married J. S. Sim- 
monds and Orange M. Stacy. 10. Henry, 
born 1799. married Nancy Knowles. 11. 
Stephen \'an Rensselaer, born 1802, married 
Laura W'olcott; settled in Ohio. 12. .\bigail. 
born 1804. died 1805. 13. Rev. Frederic Rey- 
nolds, born October 6, 1805, married Lucy 
R. Beeman, born July 22. 1809, daughter of 
Rev. Julius Beeman. of Worcester, New 
\'ork, October 8, 1826: resided in Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

(\'II) Elisha Edwards I'reeman, son of 
Elisha Freeman (6), was born March 2^, 
1783. He married (first), April 4. 1804, 
Rachel Coley; she died September 14, 1805: 
married (second), January 21, 1807, Rebecca 
Plummer, of Sheffield, New Brunswick ; .she 
died January 13. 1817; married (third), Octo- 
ber 10, 1819 — , and with her removed to Osh- 
kosh. Wisconsin, in 1849. She died there 
October 18, iS^i, and he married (fourth). 
185 1, .Mrs. Cowel and (fifth), iSfx), Mrs. 
Schoonover. He died July 25, 1861. 

Children of Elisha Edwards and Rebecca 
Freeman: r. Sarah, born .\pril 3, 1808, mar- 
ried, January i, 1832, John \"an Patten; she 
died November 30, 1847; children: i. Re- 
becca A. \'an Patten, born September 10, 
1832; ii. James- Van Patten, born May i. 
1834; iii. -Mary L. \'an Patten, born -Xpril 
14, 1836; iv. Emily M. \'an Patten, born 
April 17, 1838; V. Robert \'an Patten, born 
-March 22. 1840; vi. Dorlisca Van Patten, 
born December 20, 1842; vii. Frederic \'an 
Patten, born November 29, 1845. 2. Emily, 
born July 9. i8io. married, .\ugust 22, 1838. 
Rev. Ingraham Powers; she died at Worces- 
ter. February 20, 1864; children: i. Cyrus A. 
Powers, born November 18, 1839; ii. George 
A. Powers, born June 5, 1841 ; iii. Milton L. 
Powers, born February 23, 1843; iv. Mary L. 
Powers, born February 28, 1845; v. Emelina 
Powers, born June 10. 1850. 3. Lavina, born 
September 15. 1812. died September 14. 1836. 
4. .Mary ,-\nn, born I-ebruary 22, 1815, mar- 
ried, December 25. 1835. David R. .Smith; 
married (second), 1852. Nathan Watson; 
children: i. Rebecca F. Smith, born Febru- 
ary 25, 1836; ii. Nathan Smith, born Septem- 
ber 24, 1837, graduate New York Medical 



College, 1869, resided Middlefield, New 
York; married Ellen -V. ilui)l)ard. August 
18. 1870, and had: Howard N. Smith, born 
January 18, 1S71, and Tracy Burpee Smith, 
born .March 21, 1874; iii. John .\. Smith, 
born December 21, 1838; iv. Jeremiah B. 
Smith, born .August 28, 1840; v. James W. 
Smith, born May 23. 1842; vi. Ingraham P. 
Smith, born .April 13. 1844; vii. Edwin Smith, 
born .March 2-. 1846; viii. Mary E. Smith, 
born October 14, 1847; by second wife: ix. 
David .S. .Smith, born I<S53. Children of 
Elisha Edwards and Lydia I'Veeman ; 5. 
William, born .August 3, 1820. died January 
4, 1821. 6. Henry, born June 11, 1822, died 
-September 17, 1822. 7. Rachel, born Sep- 
tember 18 1823, died .May 13, 1825. 8. Elisha 
Edwards, born .April 28, 1826, died June 16. 

1827. 9. Edwin .\., born March ti. 1828, 
mentioned below. 10. Lydia, born .August 
3, 1829, died December 11, 1829. 11. .Ada- 
line, born -April 7, 1831, married, December 
I, 1852, John C. Wheeler, and had si.\ chil- 
dren. 12. Robert, born November i. 1832. 
died December 24, 1839. 

(XTH) Edwin .A. Freeman, son of Elisha 
Edwards Freeman (7). was born March 11, 

1828, at Worcester, Otsego county. New 
A'ork. He was educated in the public 
schools and learned the trade of carpenter. 
He followed the building business until the 
war broke out. fie enlisted .August 8, 1862, 
in the Twenty-third Wisconsin A'olunteers in 
the Civil war. He was taken sick and ordered 
to the hospital at St. Louis, January 22, 1863. 
He died on the hosjiital boat and it is sup- 
posed that he was buried on the bank near 
some landing or else in the river itself. He 
married, Se])tember 18, 1850, Fanny Jaycox, 
of Waterloo, .New York, born September 18, 
1832. She is living and in good health. Chil- 
dren: I. lulwina Adaline, born November 
29, 185 1, married, February 22, 1871, Durell 
Foster. 2. Roxziha, born I'ebruary 22, 1853. 
3. P>enjamin Franklin, born September 2^, 
1854. mentioned below. 4. William Elisha, 
born .August 30, 1856. 5. George Wallace, 
born .April 4, 1858. 6. John Henry, born 
January 14. i860, died September 8, i860. 7. 
Alfred .Miller, born July 13, 1861, died No- 
vember 12. 1861. 8. Edwin .A.. Jr., born 
November 17, 1862. .All these children are 
deceased with the exception of Benjamin l'". 

• (IN) Benjamin Franklin I'Veeman. son of 
Fdwin .A. I'Veeman (8). was born at Oshkosh. 
Wisconsin, September 23, 1854. He lived in 
his native town, and attended school there 
until he was eleven vears old. Then he lived 



I30 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



two years at Albany, New York, and three 
years in Syracuse, New York. He worked 
on various farms while acquiring his school- 
ing. At the age of sixteen he became a 
traveling salesman in the employ of the firm 
of Trowbridge & Jennings, photographers, 
who made a specialty of copying pictures and 
portraits. He worked at this business two 
years and for E. C. Veeder, photographer, 
Rochester, New York, for two years. At the 
age of twenty he went on the road again for 
Chase Brothers & Stone. After two years 
this firm was dissolved, but he continued to 
work for Mr. Stone two years more. In 1876 
Mr. Freeman went to Boston with Mr. Stone 
and was with him in business for two years. 
In 1878 Mr. Freeman started in business on 
his own acount in a small photographer's 
wagon, located in Union Square, Somerville, 
Massachusetts. He became established in 
business there and eventually opened a studio 
at the corner of Perkins and Lincoln streets, 
Somerville. After two years he took larger 
quarters at 42 Broadway, where he was lo- 
cated for nineteen years. At the end of that 
period he moved to his own building which 
he now occupies, 22 Broadway, Somerville. 
This is a business block, containing four 
stores and three apartments, one of which 
Mr. Freeman occupies himself, together with 
the business ofifice and reception rooms on 
the second floor; studio, finishing, printing 
and toning rooms on the third floor. Mr. 
Freeman has not confined his artistic ability 
to photography. He is an artist of note in 
pastelle painting, having studied under Car- 
nig Eksergian, whose studio is at 175 Tre- 
mont street, Boston, and whose home is also 
in Somerville. During the past year he has 
had commissions for the portraits of ex- 
Mayor Chandler, City Treasurer John F. 
Cole, George I. Vincent, the city clerk. 
Major Hodgkins and George O. Proctor. In 
his photographic department he has been 
very prosperous, enjoying the patronage of 
the best families of that section. He has 
been especially successful with children's por- 
traits. He is a member of Soley Lodge of 
Masons, Royal Arch Chapter, Somerville 
Historical Society, Sons of \^eterans. Veteran 
Firemen's .Association. In politics he is a 
Republican. Treasurer of the Somer\'ille 
Fourth of July Association, and has been for 
six years a director of the Winterhill Co'- 
operative Bank. He married .Anna A. Bald- 
win, daughter of .\mos H. Baldwin, of Vol- 
ney. New York. Children: i. Clinton, died 
young. 2. Fanny, born June 10, 1885, gradu- 



ate of Somerville high school, 1904; member 
of Professor Sargent's physical culture class 
at Harvard University, class of 1907. 3. 
Edwin A., born December 10, 1886, graduate 
of the Somerville high school, class of 1906. 
Both children are gifted and trained musi- 
cally, and are skillful players. 



Thomas King the immigrant an- 
KING cestor, was born about 1600, in 
England, probably in Shaston, 
Dorsetshire, where his brother Peter King the 
elder made his will May 30, 1658. This will 
was proved December 9, 1658. It mentions 
Thomas, leaving him ten fwunds, giving his 
residence as New England. Peter had tene- 
ments in Stower Provest, etc. He mentions 
also a sister Frances, Grace Lush, grandchil- 
dren Joseph and Mary King, sons Joseph and 
Peter, Jr., and his wife Grizel. Another Eng- 
lish will, that of Elizabeth, wife of Richard 
Lee, an abstract of which is given in 
the Gen. Reg. for 1896, page 529, men- 
tions the wife of Thomas King, in 
New England, as Ann, although Ann, the 
first wife of Thomas, died December 24. 1642. 
at Sudbury, and the will is dated some years 
after. If this is the Ann, wife of Thomas 
King, mentioned, and no other is known of 
this name, she was Ann Collins before her 
marriage. Thomas King settled in Sudbury, 
as early as 1642. After the death of his first 
wife he married second, December 26, 1655, 
Bridget Davis, widow of Robert Davis ; she 
died a widow, March i, 1685. Children: i. 
Peter, mentioned below. 2. Elizabeth, men- 
tioned below. 3. Thomas, born December 4, 
1642; died January 31, 1645. 

(II) Peter King, son of Thomas King (i), 
was born in England, and came to Sudbury 
with his parents about 1642. In 1657 he was 
of age, and was one of the original twenty- 
one petitioners for the Marlborough grant. 
He received twenty-two acres November 26, 
1660, in Marlborough, and settled there near 
King's Pond, in the third squadron. He was 
a man of prominence : deacon of the church ; 
deputy to the general court 1689-90; and on 
the committee to erect the second meeting 
house. He died August 27, 1704. No record 
appears of his marriage or of any children 
except his adopted son, Samuel, mentioned 
below. 

(II) Elizabeth King, daughter of Thomas 
King (i), was born about 1635, in England, 
and was brought to America with her brother 
Peter, probably by their parents. She married 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



131 



in Sudbury, November 8, 1655, Samuel Rice, 
who was born 1634, son of Edmund Rice, the 
pioneer, who settled in Sudbury in 1638. 
(See Rice family sketch.) She died October, 
1667, when her sixth child was an infant. Be- 
fore her death she gave to her brother Peter 
King her baby boy, Samuel. For many years 
this boy was known as Samuel King, alias 
Rice ; and his children were similarly desig- 
nated. The Christian name Rice, mentioned 
below, has been common in the families of 
his decendants. 

Samuel Rice (2), married second, Septem- 
ber, 1665, Mary Brown, who died June 18, 
1675, and third, December 13, 1676, Sarah 
Hosmer, widow of James Hosmer, Jr. He 
died February 25, 1684-5, aged about fifty-one 
years. Children of Samuel and Elizabeth 
(King J Rice: i. Elizabeth Rice, born Octo- 
ber 26, 1656; married Peter Haynes. 2. Han- 
nah Rice, born 1658 ; married Jonathan Hub- 
bard. 3. Josuhua Rice, born April 19, 1661 ; 

married Mary . 4. Edmund Rice, 

born 1663 ; married Ruth Parker. 5. Esther 
Rice, born September 18, 1665 ; married 
Hubbard. 6. Samuel Rice, born Octo- 
ber 14, 1667; mentioned below. Children of 
Samuel and Mary (Brown) Rice: 7. Mary 
Rice, born .\ugust 6, 1669. 8. Edward Rice, 
born June 30, 1673-4. 9. Abigail Rice, born 
March 10, 1673-4, married Palmer Goulding. 
10. Joseph Rice, born May, 1678 ; married 
Mary Townsend. 

(HI) Lieutenant Samuel King, alias Rice, 
son of Samuel Rice (2), and foster son of his 
uncle, Peter King (2), was Tjorn at Sudbury, 
October 14, 1667, and died there November 
'3) ^7^3- John Rice, of Sudbury, was guar- 
dian of the five minor children of King until 
1720, when Moses Rice, of Worcester, was 
appointed for some of them, after the death of 
John, Sepitember 6. 1719. Lieutenant King, 
alias Rice, married Abigail Clap]), of Milton, 
Massachusetts, she died February 17, 1729-30, 
at Sudbury. Children: i. Peter, Ixirn 1695; 
mentioned Ix-low. 2. Ezra, born May 22, 
1697 ; settled in Worcester, where scveray chil- 
dren were born to him. 3. M indwell, born 
May 16 1699 (?). 4. Samuel, born March 
24, 1701. 5. Thomas, born March 25, 1703. 
6. Edward, born .'\ugust 4, 1705. 7. Eliza- 
beth, born .April 29, 1707. 

(IV) Peter King (alias Rice), son of Sam- 
uel King (3), was born in Sudbury in 1695; 
died April 9, 1739. He came to Worcester 
before 1720, and lived doubtless with Moses 
Rice, of Worcester. He married first, at Wes- 
ton, February 15, 1719-20, Elizabeth Flagg 



daughter of Benjamin Flagg (born 1662, 
died 1741) granddaughter of Thomas 
Flagg (1643-1695— see Flagg family sketch). 
She died October 5, 1722, and King 
married second, March 25, 1723, at 
Sudbury, Elizabeth Graves. He never 
used the "alias Rice" after coming to Worces- 
ter. He lived there until about 1723, after 
the death of his first wife. Children of Peter 
and Elizabeth (Flagg) King: 1. Samuel, 
born at Worcester, December 8, 1720. 2. 
Benjamin, born at Worcester, March 25, 
1722 ; mentioned below. Children of Peter 
and Elizabeth (Graves) King; all born at 
Sudbury: 3. Experience, married John Ball, 
of Concord. 4. Elizabeth, born June 22, 1725. 
5. Abigail, born April 20, 1728. 6. Ebenezer, 
born January 26, 1729-30; whose son Peter 
was born at Sudbury, February 11, 1757. 

(V) Benjamin King, son of Peter King 
(4), was born at Worcester, March 25, 1722. 
He was taken to Sudbury when an infant, 
after the death of his mother, and lived there 
until the death of his father in 1739, when he 
returned to Worcester to live with his guar- 
dian Benjamin Flagg, appointed September 
28, 1739. When he came of age he deeded to 
this uncle Benjamin Flagg, Jr., his rights in 
the estate of his grandfather, his uncle having 
agreed to support his grandmother, Experi- 
ence Flagg, widow of Benjamin, the re- 
mainder of her life. This deed was dated 
June 30, 1744, and another of the same date 
of similar purport was given to Benjamin 
Flagg by Experience Ball, of Concord, sister 
of Benjamin King. He was a soldier in the 
revolution, a private in Captain James Gray's 
company. Colonel Thomas Marshall's regi- 
ment, giving his residence as New Ipswich, 
New Hampshire, and Ashby, Massachusetts, 
adjoining towns, in 1776. He went from 
Ma.son, New Hampshire, in 1775, in Captain 
Ezra Town's company. Colonel James Reed's 
regiment. He gave his age as fifty-three, his 
height five feet six inches, complexion dark, 
eyes blue, occupation farming, birthplace 
Worcester, residence Mason. He was in 
Colonel Marshall's regiment as of New Ips- 
wich, July 15, 1776, and in Captain James 
Heron's company. Colonel Hazen's regiment, 
in 1778. His record is found in Ixith Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire Revolutionary 
archives. He settled in New I])swich before 
1755, and bought a farm there, near Saw Mill 
brook. He sold to .'\bijah .Smith, of Leomin- 
ster Massachusetts, in 1764, what is still 
known as the Smith lot, and then removed to 
Mason, New Hampshire. His name was on 



132 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



the tax list January 27, 1777, for the last time. 
He died in the service late in 1778, and years 
afterward his widow was a pensioner. She 
removed to Maine with her son Benjamin in 
1779, and located at Winthrop and Mon- 
mouth, Maine, west of Gardiner. Her son 
Benjamin located ten miles east of Gardiner. 
She died at Winthrop, January 6, 1819. Ben- 
jamin married, November 3, 1745, Sarah Tay- 
lor, of Townsend, Massachusetts. Children: 
I. Benjamin, Jr., born May 23, 1749; men- 
tioned below. 2. Sarah, married Amos Dakin, 
of Mason. 3. Elizabeth, married Nathan 
Floyd, of Hope, Maine. 4. Silence, married 
Peter Hopkins, of Winthrop, Maine. 5. 
Mary, married Huse, of Winthrop. 

6. Ebenezer, born at Mason, February 22, 
1768; married Mehitable Robbins, of Winthrop. 

7. Samuel, married Susanna Brainerd. of 
Winthrop. 

(VI) Benjamin King, Jr., son of Benjamin 
King (5), was born at New Ipswich, May 23, 
1749. He was brought up as a farmer, and 
followed that occupation through life. In 1779 
he came with his mother, brothers and sisters, 
to Maine, and settled ten miles east of the 
town of Gardiner, on the Sheepscot river, at 
a place then called Ballstown, of which the 
name was changed in 1807 to its present name 
of Whitefield. The locality became known as 
King's Mills, from the fact that King built a 
saw mill and grist mill on the excellent water 
privilege at this point. He also engaged in 
trade in addition to his business as miller and 
farmer, and had an interest in a vessel which 
was captured by the French early in the nine- 
teenth century and figured in the French 
spoliation claims, although congress has never 
appropriated money to reimburse the owners 
or their heirs. He died at Whitefield, Maine, 
August 30, 1801, his death being caused by a 
falling beam while raising a building. He 
married Ruth Bartlett, who died at Whitefield, 
Maine, September 23, 1802. Children: i. 
Peter, married Mary Glidden. 2. Elijah, mar- 
ried Bethiah Philbrick. 3. Benjamin, born 
August 6, 1776, died November 23, 1866; 
mentioned below. 4. Moses, married Lydia 
Peaslee. 5. John, died unmarried. 6. Rice, 
married Lavinia Hopkins. 

(VII) Benjamin King, son of Benjamin 
King (6), was born at Mason or New Ips- 
wich, New Hampshire, August 6, 1776. He 
received his education in the common schools, 
and helped his father on the farm until about 
the time of his marriage, when he bought of 
a relative two hundred and fifty acres on the 
east side of the Sheepscot river, Maine, situ- 



ated about a mile from the center of what was 
called the Six Mile Strip. Here he settled and 
cleared his farm. He was a butcher, and 
followed that trade in addition to general 
farming. He built the first brick house in 
Whitefield, Maine, he and his brothers burn- 
ing the bricks. He also had charcoal pits for 
the making of charcoal, a profitable industry 
before the era of anthracite. The farm later 
was sold to the town for a poor farm, but is 
now owned by Fessenden Turner. King was 
large and powerful in physique. Late in life 
he was injured by the kick of one of his oxen, 
causing a severe lameness and eventually 
death. He died November 23, 1866. He was 
a member of the Whitefield Baptist church. 
In politics he was a Whig. He was a member 
of the old Lincoln Guards at Whitefield. He 
married Ruth Eunice Glidden, born at .Alna, 
Maine, October 27, 1780, died at Whitefield, 
December 17, 1877. Children: i. Mary, born 
July 29, 1803, died July 9, 1854 ; married Jos- 
eph Clark, merchant and shipbuilder of 
Waldoboro, Maine. 2. Benjamin, born July 
I, 1805, died at Pittston, Maine, May 18, 1892; 
married ]\larch i, 1835, Jerusha Lennen, who 
was born September 6, 18 12, and died in 
Guthrie county, Iowa, August 23, 1896 ; he 
was a maker of edged tools, guns, etc., black- 
smith and farmer, a gifted mechanic. . Chil- 
dren : i. Kendall Curtis, born July 4, 1835 ; 
ii. Ira Wyman, married February 18, 1864, 
Lucetta Gibson and had eight children ; born 
October 10. 1836; iii. Giarles Fiske, born 
November 24, 1^44, died young; iv. Charles 
Randall, born November 5, 1845, married first 
Ona Wilson ; second, Anna L. Sinn, and had 
seven children ; v. Irving Alphonso, born 
March 27, 1848; married first, July i, 1870, 
Eliza J. Little; second, Ida Jane Butler (di- 
vorced) ; third, July 6, 1887, Nancy M. Pink- 
ham. 3. Joseph, born April 18, 1807, at 
Whitefield ; died December 16, 1903, at West 
Liberty, Iowa ; ship carpenter and farmer ; 
master of Nicholas Cooper's shipyards at 
West Pittston, Maine, later of Charles 
Cooper's yards at Bangor, Maine ; removed to 
Iowa in 1857. and engaged in farming; mar- 
ried first, December 23, 1832. Elmyra Choate, 
born February 21, 1807; she died at West 
Liberty, Iowa, March 4, 1880 ; married second, 
Mary (Brown) ("Adams) Watson. Children, 
all by the first wife : i. Zelotes, druggist, born 
Julv 13, 1834, died October 12, 1902; married 
December 25, i860, Abba R. Campbell, of 
Fountain Green, Illinois, and had one daugh- 
ter, Mrs. .^nna Andrews, of St. Paul, Minne- 
sota, ii. Mary A. C, born January 21, 1838, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



133 



died Ala} 18, 190O, at liurlington, Iowa; mar- 
ried T. M. Campbell, of Fountain Green, and 
liave Thomas K. Campbell and Mrs. Minnie 
G. Holbrcok, of Lincoln, Nebraska, iii. Dr. 
Elbraidge Harrison, born September 10, 1843; 
married December 5, 1867, Florence R. Elliott, 
who was Ixirn October 30, 1847, '^'•-'^1 '^^ Mus- 
catine, Iowa, October 3, 1893; servfd in the 
T/nion army in the civil war ; graduate of De- 
troit Medical College and practised at Musca- 
tine, Iowa. (Children: Elliott R., born July 
12. 1869. married January 17, 1895, Dora 
\\'right ; Elmyra. born February 24, 1872, 
died March 11, 1872; -Albert A., born July 14, 
1873, is with I'nited States anny in Philip- 
pines; Fllen Elliott. Ijorn Januar}' 15, 1878; 
Joseph Choate, born November 20, 1882, is 
with United States cavalry, second lieutenant, 
stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas; Miriam Man- 
ning, tx)rn July 22, iSS^), married January 17, 
190C), William (]. Ried. of Red ^^ ing, Minne- 
sota.) Dr. Elbridge Harison King married 
second, October 30, 1895, Mary Exo ; no i.ssue 
by second marriage. 4. Rice, born ]\Iay 2, 
i8c«;: mentioned below. 5. Judge Royal, died 
>oung. 6. Eunice, died young. 7. Hiram, • 
born September 25, 1817; died at China, 
Maine, .\ugust 22, 1863, a blacksmith by 
trade; married, July 19, 1843, Sarah .-\. Glid- 
den, who was born Eebruary 7, 1823. died 
November 14. 1865. Children : i. Horace E., 
born June i. 1844, 'I'^d January I, 1868; mar- 
ried July 31, 1864. Sarah V. Robinson, and 
had a son, Herbert E. Robinson, born June 17, 
1866, died November 7. 1906. ii. Ruth 
Amanda, born .August 31. 1852. 8. So- 
phronia. born November 13, 1819. died Feb- 
ruary 25. 1905: married. December 28. 1847, 
Samuel Kennedy, of Whitefield. Maine. Cliil- 
flren : .Augustus L., born .March 18, 1849: 
.Solon P).. born November 15, 1850; Calvin F., 
born November 11, 1852, died November 12, 
1874; Wilder F., born January 3, 1854; Will- 
iam H.. born October 13, 1856: Horace J., 
born November 14. 1859; Miles L. and .Annie 
M., horn January 5. 1862: Miles L., died 
October 30. 1862; Walter .A., born Alay 18, 
t86v (). .Abigail, torn Mav S- 182'?; died at 
Weilfleet. Mame. May 1. 1888; married P.ar- 
zillai Kemp, sea captain, who died June 10, 
1901. leaving one son, .Albert King. 10. Ruth 
.Ann. born August 18, 1827 ; married first, 
October 26. 1845 ; Miles Larabrec. who died 
in .'^eptember. 1847; second. April 18, 1849, 
William H. Alanning, who died at Lynn. Mas- 
sachusetts. November 22. 1882; collector of 
customs of the port of Gloucester. Massachu- 
setts. 



(X'llll Rice King, son of Benjamin King 
(7), was born at Whitefield, Maine, May 2, 
1809. He attended the common schools and 
Lincoln ^Academy at Damariscotta, Maine, 
until eighteen years of age. He worked on 
the farm also. After completing his school- 
ing he taught school during the winter terms 
and worked on his father's farm at other sea- 
sons. When he married he came into posses- 
sion of the farm, but later sold it to his 
sisters. He bought a farm of about seventy 
acres near the center of Wh'itefield, and car- 
ried on general farming and stock raising 
until his death. February 25. 1864. His son, 
Charles R. King, now owns the farm. Dur- 
ing the last years of his life he was an in- 
valid. He was an active member of the 
Whitefield Baptist church; in politics he was 
first a Whig, then a Republican. He was 
road surveyor of the town, and when a young 
man belonged to the state militia. He mar- 
ried July I. 1838. .Abigail Norris. who was 
born at Whitefield. May 17, 1807, and died 
at Somerville, Massachusetts. 1898, daughter 
of Jeremiah and Hannah Norris. Her father 
was born September ii, 1774. her mother 
-August II. 1777. Her father was a farmer. 
Children: i. .Albert Henry, born .April 15, 
1841, living at Sonier^-ille. Massachusetts, 
unmarried. 2. Martin Luther, born-.April 21. 
1843. 3. Charles Harrison, died February 11, 
1847. 4. Harriet Louisa, died January, 
1888. 5. Charles Rice, born June 17. 1S50; 
married .April 2. 1875, Theresa S. Tibbetts, 
of Whitefield; children: i. Charles -Arthur, 
born October 5, 1877, died April 21, 1878; ii. 
-Albert Edward, born May 30. 1879, died 
I<"ebruary 22. 1880; iii. Grace Louise, born 
December 25, 1880; married June i, 1905. 
Charles L. Joslyn, of Somerville. Massachu- 
setts; no issue; iv. Inez .Maud, horn .August 
17. 1882. 

(TX) Martin Luther King, son of Rice 
King (8), was born at Whitefield. .April 21, 
1843. His education in the common schools 
was supplemented by a course at the Pitts- 
ton (Maine) .Academy, and in the Bryant & 
.Stratton Ihisiness College, Portland. Maine. 
While going to school he assisted his father 
on the farm, and later he taught school dur- 
ing the winter, and continued farming the 
rest of the year until he was twenty-three 
years old, w-hen he removed to Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, and entered the employ of 
Peaslcy & Tibbitts. grocers. .After w^orking 
as clerk for three months he bought out the 
interest of Mr. Tibbitts, and the firm name 
became Peasley & King, and their principal 



134 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



place of business Somerville. In 1872 he 
bought out the interests of Mr. Peasley, and 
since then was in business alone until Febru- 
ary, 1906, at 33 Central Square, Somerville. 
On that date he sold the business to his 
brother, Charles R. King. Mr. King built his 
residence at 107 Cross street, Somerville, in 
1880, and made his home there as long as he 
remained in business. In February, 1906, he 
removed to his present farm, which has been 
known as the Alill Pasture, in Woburn, con- 
taining fifteen acres of tillage. He raises 
small fruits and berries for the markets of 
Stonehani, Winchester and vicinity. The 
house was built by the Wellman family. Mr. 
King is a member of the Perkins Street Bap- 
tist Church of Somerville, of which he is 
deacon and superintendent of its Sunday 
school, and has been a member of its parish 
committee. He is a member of the Somer- 
ville Young Men's Christian Association, of 
which he was president in 1904-5, and was 
member of its building committee when the 
present building was erected. In politics he is 
a Republican, and has often served as a dele- 
gate to nominating conventions of his party 
from the city of Somerville. He was a mem- 
ber of the Somerville common council in 
1887-8. He was one of the most popular and 
influential men in social life in Somerville. 
He was made a member of Hiram Lodge No. 
32, Free Masons, of Gardiner, Maine, Sep- 
tember 13, 1866, and is at present a member 
of John Abbott Lodge, of Somerville. He 
is also a member of Somerville Chapter, 
Roa! .\rch Masons, made October 10. 1871; 
and of De Molay Commandery, Knights 
Templar, Somerville. He is a member of the 
Ancient Order of United Workmen: was 
formerly a member of the Royal Arcanum; 
is trustee of the Somerville Home for .A.ged, 
and also for the Somerville Children's Home 
Association. He was president of the Boston 
Retail Grocers' Association for two years, and 
a director twelve years. 

He married first, August 10, 1870, Ann 
Eliza Tibbetts, who was born at Whitefield, 
Maine, August 21, 1846, and died December 
22, 1877, daughter of Andrew and Eliza Ann 
(Cheney) Tibbetts. Her father was a farmer. 
Children: i. Lillian Tibbetts, born July 20, 
1871: married June I, 1904, Thomas F. Bird, 
of .Somerville; have daughter Geraldine, born 
August 6. 1907, died Sei)teniber 19, 1907. 2. 
Florence Gertrude, born August 30, 1880; 
clerk in the ofifice of secretary of state. Bos- 
ton. 

He married second, October 17, 1894. Mrs. 



Margaret Ann (Beaton) Tibbetts, born North 
Edgecomb, Maine, June 8, 1847, daughter 
of William W. and Naomi (Uodge) Beaton. 
William Beaton was a stone contractor and 
proprietor of a quarry. 

(IX) Charles Rice King, son of Rice King 
(8), was born at Whitefield, Maine, June 17, 
1850. He received his education in the com- 
mon schools of his native town and at East 
Pittston Academy, East Pittston, Maine. At 
the age of fourteen his father died, and it fell 
to his lot to help continue the work of the 
farm. During the years from 1871 to 1875 
he spent the winter months in the employ of 
his brother-in-law, Fred H. Tibbetts, in West 
Somerville. Mr. Tibbetts was the proprietor 
of an express and freight business between 
Som^erville and Boston. In 1875, after his 
marriage, he returned to the farm in White- 
field, and continued there until 1890. He 
also carried on a grocery and provision busi- 
ness, having a store on the farm. He sold 
the store in 1890 to Fares E. Ware and Oc- 
tober 14, 1890, returned to Somerville to 
enter the employ of his brother, Martin L. 
King, who owned a grocery and provision 
store at Central Square, Somerville. He con- 
tinued in this position until January 30, 1906, 
when he purchased the business and good 
will of his brother. He enjoys a large local 
trade in Somerville and vicinity. He still 
retains the ownership of the homestead at 
Whitefield. some seventy acres of land. In 
1897 Mr. King built a tenement house at 9 
Prospect Hill avenue. Mr. King is a mem- 
ber of the Perkins Street Baptist Church, and 
has served in the office of deacon for three 
years, and is at present treasurer of the par- 
ish. He is an associate member of the 
Somerville Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion. He was superintendent of the Whitefield 
Baptist Sunday school several years. He is a 
Republican in politics, and was school agent 
and selectman of the tow-n of Whitefield sev- 
eral years. He is a member of Paul Revere 
Lodge, No. 184, Odd Fellows, of Somer- 
ville ; of the Ancient Order of United Work- 
men, and of the Retail Grocers' Association 
of Boston. He married .\pril 2. 1875, Ther- 
esa S. Tibbetts, who was born at Whitefield, 
Maine, daughter of Andrew and Eliza Ann 
(Cheney) Tibbetts, of Whitefield. Her father 
was a farmer there. Children: i. Charles 
Arthur, born October 5. 1877; died April 21, 
1878. 2. Albert Edward, born May 30, 1879, 
died February 22. 1880. 3. Grace Louise, 
born December 25, 1880, married June I, 
1905. Charles L. Joslyn. of Somerville: no 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



135 



children. 4. Inez Maud, born August 17, 
1882. married June 5, 1907, to Walter G. P. 
Harris. 



The family of Johnson in 
JOHXSOX the early days of New Eng- 
land contained many dis- 
tinguished representatives, and not least 
among them was Captain Edward Johnson, 
of Woburn, Middlesex county, Massachu- 
sett.-, the progenitor of the so-called Woburn 
family of Johnson. He enjoyed the distinc- 
tion of being the first general historian of 
New England. His descendants as a whole 
have been numerous. They were mostly 
tillers of the soil, Indian fighters on occasion, 
and were largely represented in the Revolu- 
tionary war; some have been members of 
congress and judges of courts, and many of 
the family have been notable for their longev- 
ity. The progenitor himself was not only the 
author of the earliest printed history of New- 
England, called the "Wonder-Working 
Providence," but also the first military of- 
ficer commissioned in his adopted town, and 
its first tow-n clerk. 'He was also the explorer 
of undiscovered wilds in New England. He 
represented his town twenty-eight years in 
the general court, and for a short time was 
speaker. Several attempts in the last hun- 
dred years have been made to write his bio- 
graphy, the last being made in 1905. 
• Captain Edward ( i ) Johnson, of Woburn, 
Massachusetts, the author of the celebrated 
history of New England called "The Won- 
dcr-Working Providence,'' was the son of 
\\'illiam Johnson, of Canterbury, county 
Kent, England, where Edward was baptized 
September 16 or 17, 1598. He died in Wo- 
burn, .Massachusetts, .April 23, 1672. Edward 
was a man of much influence in the colony at 
large, and no citizen was better known. lie 
was active in founding the First Church of 
Woburn. His history received the commen- 
dation and appreciation of hi.s- contempor- 
aries, and his writings are remarkable as an 
example of the Puritan style. He married 

Susan (or Susanna) , died March 7, 

1689-90. 

(II) William Johnson, son of Edward (i) 
and Susan or .Suanna Johnson, was born in 
Canterbury, l^ngland, and was baptized there 
March 22. i628-2(). He came to this country 
with his father's family in the general immi- 
gration to New England, became a promin- 
ent citizen of Woburn, and was its second 
recordet,or town clerk. He attained to high 



civil office, was one of the assistants of the 
colony, and a military officer of several ranks, 
from ensign to major; and was at one time 
in active command against the Indians. He 
was one of the resistants of the aggressive 
policy pursued by Governor Andros. He 
died at Woburn, May 22, 1704. He married, 
at Woburn, May 16, 1655, Esther, died De- 
cember 27, 1707, daughter of Elder Thomas 
Wiswall, of Dorchester and Newton. They 
left a family of children, whose descendants 
have been for a long period prominent in the 
civil and military life of Woburn. 

(HI) Edward Johnson, son of William (2) 
and Esther (Wiswall) Johnson, was born in 
Woburn, March 19, 1658. and died there 
.August 7, 1725. He was a deacon in the 
church. He was ensign, lieutenant and cap- 
tain of a Woburn military company, 1693 ^^ 
1724. was in active service against the In- 
dians in the winter of 1704, and commanded 
his company at that period. He was twice 
married: His first wife Sarah died May 31, 
1804, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Reed) 
Walker. He was the father of ten children. 

(I\") Samuel Johnson, son of Edward (3) 
and Sarah (Walker) Johnson, was bom Feb- 
ruary 21, 1696, and died "in 1764. He was 
married four times, and had five children by 
his first three wives. His first wife was Mary, 
daughter of William and Rebecca P>utters. 

(V) Reuben Johnson, son of Samuel (4) 
and Mary (Butters") Johnson, was born in 
Woburn, May 12, 1727. He served in the 
army at Lake George during two terms of 
service in that war, and died in 1760 or 1761. 
He married Sarah Johnson, of Woburn, died 
in Purlington. Massachusetts, April 12, 1809, 
at the age of eighty years, daughter of Eben- 
ezcr (4) and Sarah (Stearns) Johnson, of Wo- 
burn. Her father served in the Crown Point 
expedition against the French and Indians in 
1756, and died about November 3, that year, 
while in the service. 

(\T) Reuben Johnson, eldest child of Reu- 
ben (5) antl Sarah (Johnson) Johnson, was 
•born in 1751, died .August 12. 1804. He 
resided all liis life in Woburn. He was in 
the battle of Lexington, April 19. 1775. He 
married, August 5, 1777, Kezia (Wyman) 
Baldwin, died October 23, T822, aged 
seventy-five years, widow of Reuben Baldwin 
(a brother of the well-known Colonel Loam- 
mi Baldwin"), and daughter of Zcbadiah and 
.Abigail (Pierce") Wyman, of Woburn. Of 
this marriage were born six children. 

(\TI) John Johnson, youngest child of 
Reuben (6) and Kezia (Baldwin) Johnson, 



136 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



was born April 28, 1/88, in Woburn, where 
he died March 17, 1858. He was twice mar- 
ried, his first wife being Sarah, daughter of 
Obadiah and Sarah (Johnson) Kendall, of 
Woburn. 

(VIII) John Johnson, Jr., eldest child of 
John (7) and Sarah (Kendall) Johnson, was 
born in Woburn, February 12, 1814, and died 
there December 7, 1902. aged eighty-eight 
years. He was apprenticed in 1833 as a 
wheelwright to his uncle, Isaac -Hall, with 
whom he spent several years in the town of 
West Cambridge, now known as Arlington, 
Massachusetts. He worked at his trade after- 
ward for Oliver Parker, of Woburn West 
Side, and in 1839 built a shop and excavated 
a millpond in Cummingsville. Woburn, and 
began business for himself. He pursued his 
trade there, with farming to a more or less 
extent, until 1854, when he was elected treas- 
urer of the Woburn Agricultural and Me- 
chanics' Association, and held the position 
until the association went out of existence. 
He was an original stockholder of the State 
Bank, predecessor of the First National Bank 
of Woburn. of which latter institution he was 
a director for many years, vice-president 

from 1874 to , and president from 1891 

to 1900, his active association with local bank- 
ing thus covering the long period of a half 
century. He was town auditor from 1847 to 
1876, a selectman and assessor, and for 
seventeen years a member of the school com- 
mittee. As one of the exectitors of the will of 
Charles Bowers Winn, he had a part in the 
erection of the Woburn Public Library build- 
ing given by Mr. Winn. Mr. Johnson had an 
affection for things which are called anti- 
quarian, and collected a large amount of in- 
formation relating to the early history of tTie 
Johnson family. He had a definite idea of 
where the early settlers of Woburn lived, 
and delighted in reminiscences of the men of 
the past. He had a reputation for integrity 
and fairness in financial affairs which was 
never questioned. In his earliest life he was 
denied the privileges of a liberal education, 
which he desired, and entered trade instead, 
in which he was highly successful. He was 
twice married, his second wife being Julia 
Ajin Bulfinch, died May i, 1903, aged 
seventy-seven years, having survived her 
husband but a few months. She was a daugh- 
ter of Amos B. and Hannah (Coombs) Bul- 
finch. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were the par- 
ents of two sons and one daughter: Rosella 
Maria, John Warren and Edward Francis 
Johnson. 



(IX) Edward Francis Johnson, son of 
John (8) and Julia Ann (Bulfinch) Johnson, 
was born in Woburn, October 22, 1856, 
where he still resides. He prepared for col- 
lege and graduated at Harvard in 1878. He 
then studied law, traveled in Europe, entered 
the Harvard Law School in 1879, and was a 
student there for two years. He was admit- 
ted to the Suffolk bar in 1881; in 1882 
attained his degree of LL. B. from the Har- 
vard Law School, and was appointed clerk of 
the fourth district court of eastern Middlesex, 
a position he held until 1888. He practiced 
law, first in Boston and Woburn, laut after 
1883 in Woburn only. In 1887 and 
again in 1888 he was elected town 
treasurer of Woburn. He served as Wo- 
burn's first mayor upon its incorporation as 
a city in 1889, and again in 1890. In 1891 he 
was appointed justice of the fourth district 
court of eastern Aliddlesex. In 1894 he was 
elected a member of the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society, and in 1899 president of the 
Rumford Historical Association. He is also 
a member of the American Antiquarian So- 
ciety, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 
and the New England Historical Genealogi- 
cal Society. He inherited from his father a 
fondness for genealogical matters, and edited 
for publication "Tlie Woburn Record of 
Births, Deaths, and Marriages," published by 
the city of Woburn, the series now reaching 
its seventh volume (1906). This work was 
arranged on a plan which has been used as a 
model by many others. Mr. Johnson is also 
the author of a genealogy of the Johnson 
family entitled, "Captain Edward Johnson of 
Woburn, Massachusetts, and some of his De- 
scendants" (Boston, 1905). 

He married. September 26, 1882, Mary 
Elizabeth Simonds, daughter of Edward and 
Mary (Tidd) Simonds, of Woburn. Thejr 
children were: Harold Pendexter, born No- 
vember 10, 1883; Kenneth Simonds, Febru- 
ary 12, 1885, and Eleanor, June 28. 1900. 



Cole, grandfather of James 

COLE Madison and John Greenleaf Cole, 

had children, James, see forward ; 
and , who married (first) John Green- 
leaf, and (second) Robert Gould. 

James Cole, father of James Madison Cole 
and of John Greenleaf Cole, was born in Lin- 
coln, Middlesex county, Massachusetts. He 
married Harriet Wakefield, and their children 
were: James Madison, John Greenleaf, Har- 
riet, Caroline. James Cole and Harriet his 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



137 



wife are both burieJ in the I'ark Street cenie- 
ter\-, Boston. 

John Greenleaf Cole, son of James and Har- 
riet (Wakefield) Cole, was born in Boston, 
March i, 1817. He received his instruction 
in the elementary branches of school training 
in the public schools of Boston, as they existed 
at that time, and in 1832 was apprenticed to 
Cole & Snow, the senior member of the firm 
being his brother, James Madison Cole, to 
learn the printer's trade. When his brother 
was drowned, he continued his apprenticeship 
with Mr. Snow, who continued the business 
in Boston, and when his term of apprentice- 
ship expired in 1839 he removed to Woburn 
with Mr. Snow, and they formed a partner- 
ship to carry on the painting business in that 
town as Snow & Cole, and when Mr. Snow 
died IMr. Cole continued the business up to the 
time of his death, April 25, 1873, and accumu- 
lated a considerable property in Woburn. He 
was accustomed to taking trips for observation 
and pleasure, and these generally extended to 
the southern states. In 1849 h^ ^'^''^s one of 
the pioneer gold seekers who went from Wo- 
burn to California, they making the trip by 
sailing vessel around Cape Horn. He made 
a fortune in the mines, but on his return home 
by ship he lost most of his gold during a storm 
at sea. His life in California liad undermined 
his health, and the years' absence had made 
many changes in the business he had left in 
the hands of others. It was several inonths 
before he could regain his strength sufficiently 
to take up the painting business which, how- 
ever, by his determination and industry was 
soon as profitable as he could wish, and the 
following twenty-two years were years of re- 
markal)le prosperity. He was a man of quiet 
habits, and much respected by the people of 
his community. He was a member of the 
Orthodox Congregational Church of Woburn, 
?nd his political faith was represented by the 
Democratic party of which he was an active 
member. His fraternal affiliation was mem- 
bersliip in the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. He took a part in mihtary life as a 
member of the state miHtia bntli in Boston and 
Wolnirn. 

He was married April 30. 1840. to Lavina 
B., daughter of William and Lavina (Wilk- 
ins) Brookes, of New Ipswich, New Hamp- 
shire. Lavina B. having been born on her 
father's farm in that town, July 28, 1820. The 
children of John Greenleaf and Lavina B. 
(Brookes') Cole were: i. James Gilman. born 
Marcli 9, 1842. and a planter at Beaufort, 
South Carolina, from 1865. He died in hits 



plantation, unmarried, February 12, 1904. 2. 
John William, born .August 19, 1845, 'Ji^'^ 
August 15, 1848. 3. Mary Elmira, born 
January 13, 1849, married, September 3, 1873, 
Henry L. Andrews, of Woburn, and had one 
childl John Cole -Andrews, Ixmi February 28, 
1875, who became a printer in Woburn. 4. 
.Annie Lavina, lx>rn January 8, 1853, married, 
July 21, 1871, Edwin I\. Haggett, of Hallwell, 
ilaine, and had six children : Charles Henry 
Haggett, born November 2, 1872, married 
Grace Mills, of Medford, Massachusetts, and 
had children: Mara Blanche, 1894; Elsie 
Adelaide, 1897; Ruth Elizabeth, 1900; Fred 
Edwin Haggett, born .Augu.st 26, 1873, died 
JNIay 18, 1879; -^'Ti;' IHorence Haggett, born 
April 5, 1876, married William Somers. of 
West Medford, and had son, Howard Brookes 
Somers, born 1902 : Ruby Ellord Haggett, 
born June 27, 1878, married Charles Bennett, 
of Maiden, and had no children : Marion Hag- 
gett, born June 8, 1880, died September 9, 
1904. married James Tollman, of Alalden, and 
had daughter Evelyn Marion, who was born 
1900, died 1904 ; Dora Tilton Haggett, born 
April 22. 1884, in 1907 was unmarried, living 
m Somerville, Massachusetts. 



Abraham Bryant was the im- 
r.l\\'.AXT migrant ancestor of the 

Bryant family of Reading, 
Stoneham and vicinity, in Massachusetts. 
No connection has been established between 
him and the other immigrants of this sur- 
name. He was doubtless born in England, 
1647, where the name Bryant is traced back 
to Sir Guy de Briant, who lived in the reign 
of Edward III and whose descendants had 
a seat in Castle Hereford, Wales. The arms 
of the F^nglish family are : Three Piles meeting 
near in the base of the eseiUcheon, azure. 
.Abraham l>ryant's home was in Reading, 
now Wakefield, Massachusetts, on the south 
side of Elm street, west of the place of Joseph 
Hartshorn. He married (first), 1664. Mary 
Kendall, daughter of 'Hiomas Kendall, of 
Woburn. She died .March 8, 1688, aged 
forty years. (See Kendall sketch). He mar- 
ried (second) Widow Ruth (l)odgel Froth- 
ingham, widow of Samuel Frothingham. of 
Cliarlestown, Massachusetts. She died in 
1693. childless. (See Frothingham sketch). 
The children of .Abraham and Mary (Kendall) 
Bryant. Ijorn at Reading, were: Mary, born 
1666. married John Weston. Rebecca, born 
1668, died 1670. .Abraham, born 1671. 
Thomas. l)orn 1674. Anna, born 1676. 



138 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



William, Ijorn 1678, mentioned below. Ken- 
dall, born 1680, married, 1704, Elizabeth 
Swaine. Abigail, born 1683, died 1694. Ta- 
bitha, born 1685. 

(II) Colonel William Bryant, son of Abra- 
ham (i) and Mary (Kendall) Bryant, 'was 
born in Reading, Massachnsetts, 1678, and 
died there 1757. He became one of the lead- 
ing citizens of the town; he was the local 
magistrate and justice of the peace many 
years, and was captain of the military com- 
pany and later colonel of his regiment. He 
married, 1 701. Rebecca Arnold, daughter of 
William and' Rebecca Arnold, of Reading. 
Their children, born at Reading: William, 
born 1702, shovelmaker, removed to Sud- 
bury, Massachusetts. Joseph, born 1704, 
mentioned below. John, born and died 1706. 
John, born 1708. Timothy, born 1712. Re- 
becca, born 171 5. Jonathan, born 1717. 
Samuel, born 1720. Catherine, born 1722. 
Samuel, born 1726. 

(III) Joseph Bryant, second son of Will- 
iam and Rebecca (Arnold) Bryant, was born 
at Reading, Masfachusetts, 1704. He settled 
in Stoneham, which was set ofif from Charles- 
town and incorporated December 17, 1725. 
He signed the covenant at Stoneham, July 2, 
1729, and was dismissed from the Reading 
church before 1748. His residence was on 
what is now Bow street, next the house of 
John Souther on the left side of the road to 
the north, going toward Green street. He 
married (first) Sarah Gould, daughter of 
Daniel and .Sarah (Green") Gould, who bore 
him four children. Married (second). 1753. 
Widow Elizabeth Crowell (bom Parkman), 
and the children of this marriage were: Alary, 
born 1754, died 1823. Elias, born 1756, died 
1834. Ebenezer, born 1758, died 1804. John, 
born 1760. Timothy, born 1763. 

(IV) Colonel Joseph Bryant, son of Joseph 
and Sarah (Gould) Bryant, was born in 
Stoneham. Alassachusetts, about 1730. He 
was brought up and educated in his native 
town, and taught school there when a young 
man. He began a military career in the 
Stoneham company, and as early as 1760 had 
attained the rank of lieutenant. He seems to 
have been known also as Ensign Bryant. He was 
lieutenant of the company of Captain Samuel 
Sy>rague. of Stoneham, when the Lexington 
Alarm came and he was engaged in the fight- 
ing April 19, 1775. His sons Elias and Eben- 
ezer were in the same companv. He was 
commissioned major in Colonel Jonathan 
Fox's regiment (The Second Middlesex), 
February 12, 1776. He was later major in 



Colonel Samuel Fletcher's regiment, ap- 
pointed December 5, 1776, and the regiment 
was ordered to march to Fairfield, December 
16, 1776. In 1777 he was major in Colonel 
.Samuel Dullard's regiment, General War- 
ren's brigade, and was at the surrender of 
Burgoyne. He was equally prominent in 
civil life. He was selectman in 1760-68-73- 
75-91-92; town clerk in 1792; representative 
to the general court in 1775. He is called 
"Jr." on the records as late as 1768. He died 
April 14, 1810. He married Abigail Osgood, 
October 3, 1751. Their children: Joseph, 
was a prominent town officer, served on 
board of selectmen with his father, was town 
clerk in 1793, on tax list of 1784, soldier in 
Revolution; he was called Joseph, Esq. 
Elias, a soldier in the Revolution, settled in 
.Stoneham. Ebenezer, Daniel, born 1756, 
settled in Stoneham. Probably others. 

(I\') Ebenezer Bryant, son of Joseph and 
Elizabeth (Crowell) Bryant, was born at 
Stoneham, Massachusetts, 1758, died July 3, 
1804. He was educated in the public 
schools, and remained at home until he came 
of age, assisting his father in the work of the 
farm. He settled in Stoneham on a farm on 
Cobble Hill, near the present site of the stand 
pipe of the water company. The farm con- 
sisted of three hundred acres and was known 
as the old Oakes Green farm. He was a 
prosperous farmer. He was a member of the 
Stoneham company of Minute Men, Captain 
Samuel Sprague, of which his father was 
lieutenant, and he took part in the battle 
fought April T9, 1775. He enlisted for three 
months in the Continental army under Cap- 
tain Samuel Tay, Lieutenant Colonel Webb, 
in 1781. His brother, Elias Bryant, lived 
north of him. Elias was in the same com- 
pany in the Lexington call. He belonged to 
the Stoneham church. Ebenezer married, 
17S8, Sarah Green, who was born in 1767, 
daughter of Captain William Green, of 
Stoneham, now a part of Melrose. Her 
father was a captain in the Revolution. Chil- 
dren of Ebenezer and Sarah (Green) Bryant 
were: i. Sarah Wait, born in Stoneham, 
married in 1807, John Howard, had a large 
family residing in Stoneham. 2. Ebenezer, 
born 1791, died 1862; married Sophia Bryant, 
of Reading, and their children were: Sophia 
O., Malvina, Solon. 3. John, born 1796, died 
unmarried T869. 4. Betsey, born 1798, mar- 
ried Joseph Mathews; second marriage, 
James Burdett, of Reading, and their chil- 
dren were: James. Elizabeth, and Matilda. 5. 
Abigail, bom 1800. died 1893 ; married Lob 




XfqZ^c^ d>i-z^^ , 




MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



139 



Swcctscr. of Reading, and their children 
were: JuUa, widow of A. V. Lynde, Melrose; 
Sylvester. Caroline, unmarried; Charles A., 
of Wobnrn. Massachusetts, married Abbey 
Home, and Henrietta, widow of George 
Synimes, of Stoiieham. (>. ( )liver, born 1804, 
died 1854. 

(\') ( )liver Bryant, son of Ebenezer and 
Sarah ((ireen) Bryant,- was born at Stone- 
ham. Massachusetts, January 3, 1804. His 
father died July 3, 1804, and as soon as he 
was old enough he was "put out" to work. 
Me attended the district schools, but was 
largely self-educated. He was intelligent and 
ambitious and studied at every opportunity. 
He learned the trade of shoemaker, and 
worked for a time in the Benjamin Wiley 
factory at Wakefield, and also for George 
Dyke in his shop at Stoneham. Then he was 
employed for several years in the factory of 
Sullivan Simonds, Nashua, New Hampshire. 
He made several trips west, investing in land. 
He worked for a time on the farm of Cier- 
shom Flagg at .\lton. Illinois, finally locating 
in St. Louis, Missouri, where he died i\Iay 8, 
1854, of cholera, during an epidemic. He 
owned at one time a farm of fifty acres in 
Wakefield, near the Stoneham line, bought 
of Joseph Buck, and he lived there a number 
of years. He was a Congregationalist in 
religion, and a Whig in politics. He was a 
member of the Good .Samaritan Lodge of 
F"ree Masons. Reading, .Massachusetts. In 
1844-45 he belonged to the Nashua Light Ar- 
tillery Company of the New Hamj>shire 
Volunteer Militia. He married. 1826, at 
Medford. Massachusetts, .Sarah W. Symmes, 
daughter of Daniel and Sophia (Emerson) 
Symmes. of Mcflford. Her father was a 
blacksmith. Their children : Oliver Francis, 
born June 9, 1827, mentioned below. Charles 
Augustus, born at Stoneham, 1828. died 
1831. John Edward, born December 27, 
1830. died unmarried at Newbern, North 
Carolina, October i, 1864, of yellow fever, 
while in the employ of the government. 
Infant son, born and died in Stoneham. Mrs. 
Bryant died in Wakefield, then South Read- 
ing. December 17, 1834. 

(VI) Oliver Francis Bryant, son of Oliver 
and .'>arah W. (.Symmes) Bryant, was born at 
Stoneham. Massachusetts, June g. 1827, and 
was educated there in the common schools. 
His mother died when he was seven years of 
age, and he lived in the same neighborhood in 
different families. A\'hen he was ten years old 
lie went to live with Dr. Thaddeus Spaulding. 



of \\ akefield, assisting the doctor and attend- 
ing school until he was sixteen years old. He 
then removed to Nashua, New Hampshire, 
where his father had been living for a number 
of years, and learned the trade of shoemaker 
under his father's instruction at the factory of 
Sullivan Simonds. He worked there until 
1845. He was afterwards for a time clerk in 
a Boston grocery store, but in 1845 came to 
Woburn and began to work for William Flan- 
ders, a shoe manufacturer. After six months 
he entered the employ of Choate & F'landers, 
a new firm, in Woburn, in whose employ he 
remained nearly five years, taking in the 
meantime three terms of study in the Warren 
-Academy of Woburn and devoting much of 
his leisure time to reading and study. In 1848 
he began teaching school at Wilmington, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he taught for two years. 
In 1 85 1 he graduated at the Bridgewater State 
Normal School. During the following two 
years he taught schoijl two terms at Rockport, 
Massachusetts, working at his trade in W^o- 
burn between terms of school. In March, 
1852, he taught school at Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, for a year and a half. In 1853 he took 
a preparatory course of study at Lawrence 
Academy, under Rev. Dr. Hammond, at Groton, 
Massachmusetts, and entered Brown Univer- 
sity in the fall of 1854. He took a special 
course of two years, and later received from 
the university the degree of A. M. He taught 
sch(K)l two years at Canton. Masachusetts. and 
one year at East Dedham, and in 1858 became 
principal of the Ames School at Dedham 
Centre. In November, i8fx), he was appointed 
instructor of English in the Chauncey Hall 
School, Boston, where he taught lintil June, 
1894, having been associate ]irincipal for 
twelve years under Thomas Gushing and Will- 
iam H. Ladd. Mr. Bryant resigned his posi- 
tion in 1894 and retired from active labor in 
his profession. Since then he found occupa- 
tion for several years in the real estate busi- 
ness. Mr. Bryant is a member of the First 
Congregational Clnirch of Woburn, and has 
served in the capacity of deacon since 
his election, .'\pril 14, 1873. He was 
chosen clerk of the church in 1874, and re- 
signed after eleven years service. He was re- 
elected in 1896 and in 1907, still holds the 
office. In politics he is a Republican : he has 
often served his party as delegate to the state 
convention ; was a trustee of Woburn Public 
IJhrary for twenty-five years ; was alderma»i 
of the city in iP>c)C). and a member of the school 
board for three vears. He was formerh a 



140 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



member of the Appalachian Club of Boston, 
Middlesex Teachers' Association and the State 
and National Teachers' associations. 

Mr. Bryant married, August 19, 1856, 
Minerva Richardson, who was born at Wo- 
burn, Massachusetts, daughter of Joseph and 
Susanna (Converse) Richardson. Her father 
was a shoe manufacturer ; prominent in town 
and military affairs ; descendant of one of the 
founders of the town of Woburn. Children of 
Oliver and Minerva Bryant were: i. Edward 
Francis, born April 30, 1861, now a prominent 
banker and financier in Chicago, Illinois ; mar- 
ried, July 18, 1888, Florence Abbie Runnells, 
daughter of Daniel F. and Sarah (Farley) 
Runnells, of Nashua, New Hampshire. Chil- 
dren : Donald Runnells, born May 2, 1889 ; 
Dorothy Francis, born January 9, 1892 ; Mar- 
ion Farley, born November 11, 1895. 2. Oliver 
Converse, born June 27, 1863, now a success- 
ful business man in Los Angeles, California ; 
married, June 29, 1885, Caroline Louise Par- 
sons, of Chicago, Illinois, daughter of Andrew 
and Martha (Rowe) Parsons, of Chicago. 
Children: Helen Parsons, born May 7, 1889: 
Edith Kathcrine, born September 9, 1893. 3. 
Arthur Burgess, born November 25, 1869, 
died July 22, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Bryant are 
now (1907) in good health, living in the 
homestead, 164 Salem street, Woburn, Massa- 
chusetts, owned and occupied bv them since 
1867. 



The Clemson family dates 
CLEM SON back to remote antiquity in 
England. It is a name of 
the class of Johnson, Williamson, Hanson, 
Richardson and a host of others originating 
in the days when men were known by their 
father's single name. The name is found in 
the early records in various forms, such as 
Ralph fil Clemence (meaning Clement's son) ; 
Roger Clempson, a contraction of the original 
Clementson, but for many centuries the com- 
mon form of the name has been Clementson 
and Clemson, the coat of arms of the principal 
family being very old. The crest is given by 
Fairbairn : "An arm, from elbow, ppr. vested, 
paly gu. and or. cuffed, counterchanged, in 
hand a palm branch of the first." Apparently 
the Clemson or Clementson family has not been ' 
very numerous. 

(i) William Qemson, born about 1763, 
came from Leicestershire, England, and set- 
tled at Penn's Mills, Warwickshire, England. 
He was a farmer and cattle raiser. His farm 
at Penn's Mills was of considerable area for 



an English farm, located some eight miles 
from Birmingham on the Sutton road towards 
Litchfield. He died about 1819. He married 

Susan . Their children : Edward, born 

1791, married Elizabeth . Children: i. 

Mary ; ii. Charles ; William, mentioned be- 
low ; Sarah, Susan, Anna, Elizabeth, Annie, 
Mary. 

(IIj William Clen^son, son of William 
Clemson (i), was born at Penn's Mills, War- 
wickshire, England, October i, 1793, died 
February 14, 1869. He was educated in the 
schools at his native town and by his mother, 
who herself was a school teacher. He learned 
the trade of wire drawer in the mills of Barron 
& Webster, and at the age of nineteen was 
given his time. He worked for this firm for 
twelve years, subsequently going to Birming- 
ham where he was superintendent in a mill 
of the same firm for about ten years. After 
working for various concerns he entered the 
employ of Hughes & Evans at Deritend, S. W. 
Birmingham, in 1841, and conducted their 
steel wire business until 1854, when he practi- 
cally retired from business, removing to Wo- 
burn, iMassachusetts, where he resided in the 
village of Montvale until 1859. Then he re- 
turned to his native land and died in the city 
of Birmingham, England, February 14, 1869. 
He attended the Church of England and the 
Episcopal church. In politics he was a 
Liberal. 

He married, in 1819, Jane White, who was 
born March 4, 1797. and died January 26, 
1863, the daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth 
(Saunders) White, of Castle Bromwich, near 
Staffordshire. Her father, Nathan, was a 
gamekeeper for Sir Robert Lawley at Castle 
ilromwich. Their children : i. William, born 
May 27. 1 82 1, mentioned below. 2. Jane, 
born February 15, 1823, married. 1851, Jos- 
eph Wainwright. of Birmingham. Children: 
i. Joseph Wainwright married Elizabeth Mc- 
Kay and had Charles Wainwright and Ger- 
trude Wainwright : ii. William Wainwright. 
3. Nathan, born September 25, 1824, died 
young of the small pox. 4. Mary, born July 
5. 1826. died March 22, 1886: married, 185®, 
fesse Nash, of Birmingham. Children : i. 
William Nash, born 1851, married Emma 
Wadwell and had daughter Alice; ii. Fred- 
erick Jesse, March 4, 1858, married Alice 
Levitte. 5. Elizabeth, born December 24, 
1827, died young of small pox. 6. Rhoda, 
bom July 15, 1829, died young of small pox. 
7. Elizabeth' Rhoda. born June 25, 1831. 8. 
Susanna, born February 19, 1833, uiarried. 
October 8. 1857, Thomas Henshaw. Chil- 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



141 



dren : i. Henry Henshaw ; ii. Annie H. Hcn- 
sliaw ; iii. Salla Henshaw, married Jwlni 
Davis, of Mattapan, Xew York, and had Car- 
roll Morton Davis and Christie Anna Davis. 
9. Nathan White, boni December u. 1834. 
married, June 21, 1856, Elizabeth Smith, of 
Lowell, Massachusetts. Children : i. \\ alter 
Nathan, born December 21, 1859, married, 
October 16, 1888, Nettie Wilson, of Houlton, 
Maine ; ii. Frederick William, November 2, 
1866, married, March 16, 1898. Mabel New- 
ton, of Woburn, and had Ellen Elizabeth, torn 
April 23, 1900; iii. Ida Belle, July 5, 1868, 
married, November 22, 1888, Fred E. Nicker- 
son; and had Joseph Clemson Nickerson, born 
February 3, 1900. 

(HI) William Clemson, son of William 
t^lemson (2), was born at Penn"s Mills, War- 
wickshire, England, May 27, 1821. He re- 
ceived a thorough elementary training in the 
schools of his native town, but was appren- 
ticed at the age of fourteen to the wire draw- 
ing trade in which his father was an expert, 
and which at that time was one of the most 
remunerative in all England. He mastered 
the art of fine wire drawing but was ambiti- 
ous for a larger career than that promised an 
English operative or mechanic, and in March, 
1844, he left his native land for .\merica. He 
located first at W'est Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, but later worked for several months at 
bis trade in New York City. Returning to 
West Cambridge he accepted a position in the 
saw manufacturing plant of Welch & Griffiths 
at Arlington, where he was employed during 
the next four years, leaving this firm to start 
in business on his own acount. He formed a 
partnership with Joseph ^\'oodrough, under 
the firm name of W^oodrough & Clemson. to 
manufacture saws. Both were good mechanics 
and knew the art of saw making, but their 
capital was limited to their humble savings 
from daily wages and at first they had a strug- 
gle to make headway. The firm was strength- 
ened financially by the admission of Richard 
W. Henshaw, and the name became Henshaw, 
Woodrough & Clemson. From the small shop 
in W'est Cambridge, the business was moved 
in 1852 to Wobum. where it occupied the old 
factory of the Goodyear Rubber Company. .V 
year later Mr. W^oodrough withdrew from the 
firm and the name became Henshaw & Clem- 
son. Mr. Clemson inherited much mechanical 
skill and had an aptitude for research and in- 
vention. Many nights, after working in the 
shop all day. he toiled over his experimental 
u-ork until after midnight. He was constantly 
studying, elaborating and developing ideas on 



machinery that had suggested themselves to his 
busy brain. His first invention of practical 
usefuhn-ss was an a])])aratus for simultane- 
ously flattening and tempering saws, and after 
using it in his shop for seven years, he had ft 
patented. Some idea of the value of this de- 
vice may be gained from the fact that it saves 
nine-tenths of the labor required by the old 
method of flattening by hand. Two years 
later he patented a grinding machine which 
W'as equally valuable in economizing labor and 
also in producing better work. He co)itinued 
to invent and patent devices and machines for 
mal<ing saws better and more cheaply and 
for improving the saws themselves. In i860 
his work had become so w^ell and favorably 
known to the trade that a proposition was 
made to him to become a member of the firm 
of E.P.Wheeler and E.M. Madden, the owners 
of the Mohegan Saw W'orks at Middlctown, 
New York, after the retirement from the firm 
of Mr. Bakewell. The offer was accepted and 
until 1871 the business was continued under 
the firm name of W'heeler, Madden & Clem- 
son. Then the business was incorporated 
under the title of Wheeler, ]Madden & Clemson 
Manufacturing Co. When Mr. Madden died 
his share of the business was bought by Mr. 
Clemson, who in 1886 turned it over to his 
sons, George N. and Richard W. Clemson. 
Mr. Clemson was modest, unassuming and 
never sought prominence socially or politically. 
He was a Republican, but the only office he 
ever accepted was on the board of trustees of 
Middletown, w^hcre he served the municipality 
faithfully several years. He died January 12, 
1S9C:). He attended the Protestant Episcopal 
church ; w-as a member of Hoffman Lodge, 
No. 412, Free Masons, of Middletown. 

He married (first) at \\'est Cambridge, 
August 3. 1844, Ainelia Wright. .She died in 
1885. She was the daughter of Joshua and 
Margaret Wright, of England. Children: 1. 
Francis W^illiam, mentioned below. 2. George 
Nathan, liorn June I, 1854. 3. Maria Amelia, 
born July 11. 1856, married William W, Tay- 
lor. "4. Richard Walter, torn May iC\ 1838. 
5. Lillian Louise, married Jesse Bird. The 
child of W^illiam Clemson and his second wife 
(married February 22. 1887. Esther Smith, 
daughter of Jacob F. Smith, of Middletown) 
was : 6. W^illiam. 

(I\') I'Vancis William Clemson, son of 
William Clemson (3), was horn at .\rlington, 
Massachusetts, formerly West Cambridge. 
April 30, 1831. He removed with his parents 
to Woburn when he was a year old. There 
he attended the common schools until he was 



142 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



nine vears old, then removed with his parents 
to Aliddletown, New York, where he attend- 
ed the pubhc schools until sixteen years of 
age. He immediately entered the saw fac- 
tory of his father's firm and learned the busi- 
ness of manufacturing saws. He left the fac- 
tory in 1876 and with his brothers, George 
N. and later Richard W. Clemson, formed 
the firm of Clemson & Company and bought 
the business of Woodrough & Company at 
AVoburn, Massachusetts. This firm continued 
to make s^ws until 1885, when he sold his 
interest to Herbert A. Woodrough and en- 
tered business on his own account at Win- 
chester, manufacturing belt and leather split- 
ting knives. In March, 1891, he returned to 
Woburn to enter a partnership with Fowie 
Brothers, whose plant was on Cedar street. 
The firm name became Fowle Brothers & 
Clemson and continued prosperously until 
April, 1898, when Mr. Clemson again re- 
turned to Winchester and operated his old 
plant again for about four years. He then 
returned again to the plant on Cedar street, 
Woburn, with William C. Bailey in a cor- 
poration known as the Clemson-Bailey Com- 
pany, which continued to manufacture goods 
at that location until September, igo6. when 
the present brick building on Salem street, 
ninety feet by thirty feet, was occupied, be- 
sides a wooden building thirty by one hun- 
dred and ten feet, two stories in height. This 
company manufactures with the best possible 
machinery and facilities, saws, leather split- 
ting and belt knives. The product finds a 
market all over the world, large shipments 
going to South American countries, to Aus- 
tralia and to the United Kingdom, though 
the prirtcipal business is in New England and 
the western states in this country. The pres- 
ent officers of the company are: President, 
Florence E. Clemson; secretary, Clarence E. 
Clemson: treasurer, Francis W. Clemson. 
The latter is also superintendent of the fac- 
tory and general manager of the business. 
He has a beautiful residence on Salem street 
a short distance from this place of business. 
He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
church. In politics he is a Republican, but 
has never cared to hold public office. He 
was made a member of King Cyrus Lodge of 
Free Masons, Stoneham; a member of Wo- 
burn Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, of the 
Maiden Council of Royal and Select Masters 
at Maiden ; of Hugh de Payen's Command- 
ery. Knights Templar, at Melrose. 

He married at Newburg, New York, Aug- 
ust 7, 1871, Elizabeth Eith, who was born in 



(jermany, December 17, 1850, daughter of 
Samuel and Francisco Warren Eith. Chil- 
dren: I. Clarence Eugene, born April 14, 
1873, niarried Rachel Harris Cronin, of Mel- 
rose; no issue. 2. May Belle, born May 22, 
1875, niarried Albert G. Williams; no chil- 
dren. 3. Howard E., born December 23, 
1877, died July 17, 1880. 4. Florence Eith, 
born March 29, 1880, unmarried, resides at 
liome with parents. 

(V) Belle Clemson, daughter of Francis 
William Clemson (4), was born in Middle- 
town, New York, May 22, 1875, married, 
September 2, 1895, Albert D. Williams, of 
Woburn, Massachusetts, a native of Rhode 
Island. 



The Hanson family is traced 
HANSON to an ancient English origin, 
originally Danish, according 
to the family traditions. Watson's history of 
Halifax, England, gives a good account of 
the early history of the family and the origin 
of the name. According to this authority the 
earliest known progenitor of the Hansons 
was Roger de Rastrick, who lived about 1251 
and was a man of some importance. He 
owned land in various places in the county of 
York, Rastrick being one of his estates. 
John de Rastrick had a son Henry, who in 
turn had a son John. In those days when 
only Christian names were in use, the two 
Johns of Rastrick were doubtless confused, 
and in order to distinguish them, the younger 
John became known as John, Henry's son, 
shortened to Hen's son, Hensori, and finally 
modified, by the choice of the various spel- 
lings, into Hanson. As early as 1337 the 
name was spelled Henson at Halifax, the 
principal seat of the English family. John 
Hanson, of this family, went to London, and 
family historians think he was the father of 
Thomas Hanson, the emigrant to America. 

(I) Thomas Hanson, immigrant ancestor, 
was born in England, and was among the 
early settlers of Dover, New Hampshire, in 
the vicinity of which his descendants have 
been numerous. He had a grant of land, 
January II, 1658-59, near Salmon Falls of 
one hundred acres, bounded by land of 
Joseph Austin, Nathaniel Twombly, Job 
"Clements and Jeremy Tibbetts. He was 
admitted a freeman, June 5, 1661, and resided 
at Cocheco. His will was proved June 27, 
1686, his wife Mary being executrix. He pro- 
vided dowries for his daughters when they 
should reach the age of eighteen. His widow 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



H3 



(\as killed by the Indians, June 28, 1689. 
Children: I. Thomas, born about 1643. 2. 
Tobias, mentioned below. 3. Isaac, born at 
Dover; taxed at Cocheco. 4. Timothy. And 
two daughters. 

(II) Tobias Hanson, son of Thomas Han- 
son (i), was born about 1640. He was on the 
tax list of Dover from 1662 to 1672. His 
wife was captured by the Indians, June 28, 
1689, and he himself killed by them May 10, 
1693. Children: i. Tobias, Jr., mentioned 
below. 2. Joseph. 3. Benjamin, married 
Elizabeth . 

(III) Tobias Hanson, Jr., son of Tobias 
Hanson (2). was born at Dover, about 1675. 
He was a Friend or Quaker. In fact, most of 
the family for several generations were 
Friends. He married (first) Lydia Cheney; 
(seondl Ann Lord. Cliildren: i. Benjamin. 
2. Elizabeth, married Sanuiel Buxton. Chil- 
dren of Tobias and Ann Hanson: 3. Mercy, 
born August 4. 1699, married Stephen Var- 
ney. 4. Tobias, mentioned below. 5. Jud- 
ith, born February 7, 1703, married Sam- 
uel Twombly. 6. Joseph, born at Dover, 
January 10, 1704. died September 5, 1758: 
married (first) Rebecca Shepard : (second) 
Sarah ."-^cammon: (third) Susanna Rurnham. 
7. Nathaniel. 8. Isaac, married Susanna 
Canney. 9. Samuel. 10. Aaron. 

(IV) Tobias Hanson, son of Tobias Han- 
son (3), was born March. 1702. died August 
27. 1765. Married (first). December 22, 1728. 
Judith Varney. daughter of Ebenezer and 
Mary (Otis) \'arney. who was born .'\pril ir, 
1710. He married (second), October 21, 
1750. -Sarah Fry, daughter of William Fry. 
She died September 17, 1800. They were 
Friends also. Children: i. Anne, married 

Cortland. 2. Mary, married Jedidiah 

Varney. 3. Elizabeth, married Reuben 
Tuttle. 4. Aaron, mentioned below. 5. Pa- 
tience, born June 12, 1743. married Benjamin 
Meder. 6. Moses, born February 3. 1744-45. 
married Mary Hanson. 7. Mercy. 

(V) Aaron Hanson, son of Tobias Han- 
son (4), was born in or near Dover, about 
1740. He settled in Rochester, New Hamp- 
shire, and was one of its proprietors. He 
was probably not a Quaker, for he took part 
in the Revolution, being in 1775 second lieu- 
tenant in Captain Place's company: Colonel 
Burnham's regiment. Among his children 
we have reason to believe was Aaron, the set- 
tler in Wakefield. New Hampshire. 

(VI) Aaron Hanson, son of .-\aron Hanson 
(5), was born in Wakefield, New Hampshire, 
about 1775. He was a farmer in that town. 



He married .Mary Graves. Children: I. Ira. 
2. Hannah, married .\braham .Mason. Chil- 
dren: i. .\hraham .Mason; ii, Hannah 
Mason; iii. Miranda Ma.son; iv. Sophia 
Mason: v. Mary Jane Mason. 3. ^lary, mar- 
ried John Dorr. 4. Phinehas Craves, born 
April 24, 1805. 5. Aaron, killed by light- 
ning. 6. John. 7. Joel Fernald. horn April 
16, 1814, married "Martha Swan, of Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, daughter of Timothy 
(George, a soldier of the Revolution, was his 
father and the line — John, Ebenezer. John 
Swan, the immigrant). Children: i. Aaron 
Oliver, born May 21, 1838; ii. Joel Winslow, 
May 28, 1839: iii. Martha Ann, .March 9, 
1841 : iv. James Ira, January 2^. 1843; v. 
Mary Isabel, December 26, 1844: vi. Ella 
Josephine. January 7, 1850; vii. Sarah 
Roberta, October i, 1851. 

(VH) Phinehas Gia\cs Hanson, son of 
Aaron Hanson (6). was Imrn at Wakefield, 
New Hampshire, .\prii 24. 1805. He received 
a common school education and worked on 
the homestead most of the time until he was 
of age. He learned the trade of blacksmith 
and followed that trade through his active 
life. He had his shop near the center of his 
native town and was industrious and enter- 
prising, as well as pow'erful in physique and 
skillful as a craftsman. A short time before 
his death he planned a new shop and had 
erected the frame, but died before it was com- 
pleted, at the early age of tw-enty-seven. In 
religion he was a .Methodist: in politics a 
Whig, after the formation of that partv. He 
married. May 14. 1829, Mary Shackford. 
who was born at Wakefield. New Hamp- 
shire, April 25, 1805, and died April 14. 
1891, daughter of Nathaniel and Phebe 
(Nutter) Shackford, of Wakefield. She mar- 
ried (second) Charles Dorr and had, among 
other children, George S. Dorr, at present 
editor and publisher of the Carroll County 
Pioneer. Sanlxirnvillc. New Hampshire. Her 
father. Xathnniel .Shackford. was born .April 
II. 1769, a farmer; her mother, Phebe Nut- 
ter, born June 27, 1777. Children of Phine- 
has Graves and Mary Hanscm: i. Horatio 
Dearborn, born August 18. 1829. died No- 
vember 19. 1902; married (first) Hulda Luella 
Webber: (second"! Eliza .Ann Hall, of Lex- 
ington. Massachusetts, and had one child by 
each: i. Emma, married Charles Flovd. of 
Waltham, and had Charles and Edith Floyd: 
ii. Minnie Eliza, married Fred Judkins and 
had Ruth Eliza and Mildred. 2. Phinehas 
Graves, Jr.. born March 24. 1832. mentioned 
below. 



144 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(VIII) Phinehas Graves Hanson, son of 
Phinehas Graves Hanson (7), was born at 
Wakeheld, New Hampshire, March 24, 1832. 
He began at an early age to help his father 
on the farm, attending the district school dur- 
ing the winter terms until he was nineteen, 
when he left home and began an apprentice- 
ship of three years in the carriage manufac- 
tory of Abel Barrett, of West Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, and of his uncle, Joel Han- 
son. He removed to VVoburn where he 
worked at his trade for Oliver Parker for a 
number of years, and finally bought the busi- 
ness of his employer. His place of business 
for a time vias on Everett street, later on 
Union street. His business grew and pros- 
pered. He was a master of his art and num- 
bered among his patrons the best families of 
Woburn and vicinity. In 1862 he decided to 
remove to Lexington, an adjacent town, 
where he had his carriage shop for six years. 
In 1868 he returned to Woburn and entered 
the employ of John Cummings, taking charge 
of his estate, carrying on the farm, employing 
a force of forty men in market gardening. 
After seventeen years in this position he came 
to the present Hanson farm April 14, 1885. 
known then as the John Weston place, con- 
ducting it for Mrs. Weston, his wife's mother. 
In 189s he bought the entire property and 
continued to occupy and conduct the farm 
until his death. He had an excellent dairy, 
maintainmg some fifty head of cattle, and 
owning a large and profitable milk route in 
the vicinity. He was accounted an expert in 
raising milch cows and judging cattle. He 
also made a specialty of the culture of straw- 
berries and early produce. He was well 
versed in modern methods of agriculture, a 
constant reader and student. He was a 
member of several Boston societies and was a 
leading exhibitor at the various fairs and ex- 
hibitions, also acted as judge on many occa- 
sions. He was devoted to his family and 
highly esteemed by a large circle of friends. 
He was a Unitarian in religion. In politics 
he was an active Republican and served his 
party regularly as delegate to various con- 
ventions. He was a member of the first com- 
mon council of the city of Woburn. He was 
a member of the Woburn board of trade. He 
was made a member of Mt. Horeb Lodge of 
Masons at Woburn, September 4, 1878: be- 
longed to Baldwin Coimcil of Royal Arcan- 
um, Woburn ; the Boston Horticultural So- 
ciety; the Boston Market Gardeners' Asso- 
ciation and was honorary member of the Wo- 
burn Phalanx, a military company. He died 



at Woburn, February 25, 1899. He married, 
April 27, i860, Helen Louisa Weston, who 
was born in Woburn, August 29, 1839, 
daughter of John and Louisa (Parker) West- 
on, a descendant of Joshua Parker, Jr., a 
soldier in the Revolution. Her father was a 
farmer and town officer. Children : i . Flora 
Louise, born August 22, 1861. 2. Howard 
Weston, born March 6, 1865. 3. Helen 
Alaria, born January 6, 1870. 4. Mary Alice, 
born August 24, 1875, married, August 14, 
1895, George Henry Foster, of Burlington. 
Children: i. George Hanson Foster, born 
May 9, 1896; ii. Howard Shedd Foster, Feb- 
ruary 14, 1899; iii. Homer. Earle Foster, No- 
vember 29, 1900, died INIarch i, 1901. 5. 
John Weston, born April 2, 1878. 



John Ellis, the immigrant ances- 
ELLIS tor, was born in England and 
came to Sandwich, Plymouth 
county, Massachusetts, at an early date. He 
was on the list of men reported able to bear 
arms in 1643, and was a lieutenant in the mili- 
tary company of his town. He married Eliza- 
beth Freeman, daughter of Edmund Freeman. 
He died in the spring of 1677, and the inven- 
tory filed soon afterward was dated May 23, 
1677, presented by his widow Elizabeth. 
Among his children were: I. Bennett, born 
February 27, 1648. 2. Mordacai, March 24, 
1650. 3. Joel, March 20, 1654. 4. Matthias, 
June 2, 1657. 

The descendants of John Ellis lived in 
Sandwich and vicinity for many generations. 
Some of the family lived at Hanover, Massa- 
chusetts. The family at Industry, Maine, is 
descended from a member of this family from 
Harwich. Massachusetts. (See page 603, "His- 
tory of Industry.") Roger Ellis, of Yar- 
mouth, may have been a brother of John Ellis ; 
married, N6vember 12, 1644, Jane Lisham : 
removed to Boston where he was admitted an 
inhabitant in 1633 and bought a house in 
Charlestown. December 25, 1657; noncupative 
will bequeathed all to his wife Alice, March 24, 
1668-9. 

(II) Perez Ellis, descendant of John Ellis 
(i), said to be the son of Perez Ellis, was born 
about 1750, in Sandwich or vicinity. Cape Cod. 
He was one of the early settlers of Hartford, 
Maine, and his was one of the first houses 
built in that town. He had one hundred and 
sixty acres of land in the northeast part of the 
town near Whitney pond, and became a prosper- 
ous farmer. In early manhood he learned the 
trade of tanner and carried on a tanyard in 



MIDDLESEX CO UN TV. 



145 



addition to his fanning. It is said that he was 
in the service during the Revohilion, though 
the record of his service has not been kept or 
found, lie was an orthodox in rehgion. Chil- 
dren, all born at Hartford, Maine: 1. I'hillip. 
2. Gilbert. 3.-Josiah. 4. Benjamin. 5. Will- 
iam. 6. Betsey, married X'alentine Ripley, of 
Bucktield, Alaine. 7. Polly, married \\'illiaiA 
Ripley, of Peru, Maine. 8. Phebe, marrieil 
John Thompson. 9. Martin, mentioned below. 
10. Dorcas, married Benjamin Thomas, of 
Hartford. 11. Arden, settled in Canton, 
Maine. 

(Ill) Martin Ellis, son of Perez Ellis (2), 
was born at Hartford, Maine, about 1790. He 
was educated in the district schools of his na- 
tive town. He was brought up on the farm 
and worked for his father until he married 
when he settled in Canton, an adjoining town, 
and cleared his farm, then a wilderness, in 
what was known as the Texas grant near the 
Androscoggin river. He built a house and 
lived there until his death, May, 1872. He en- 
listed in a company in his locality during the 
War of 181 2, serving in Aroostook county, 
and after his death his widow drew a pension. 
He was very pious and a notable Bible student, 
and both he and his wife were authorities in 
matters of Scripture. He frequently preached 
in the vicinity. He was a total abstainer at a 
time when temperance reform had scarcely be- 
gun. He was a Universalist in religion, a 
Whig in politics, but late in life became a Re- 
publican. He was active in the anti-Masonic 
movement. 

He married, at Hartford, Maine, Desire 
Russell, of Yarmouth, Maine, who died May 6, 
1880, at Melrose, Massachusetts. Qiildren : i. 
Perez Russell, married (first) Betsey Allen; 
(second) in Melrose, Eliza Guerney ; (third") 
Mary Lane. Children, by first wife : Wealthy, 
Mary Ann, Thomas, John, born in Melrose. 
2. Sarah, married James Barrett, of Melrose, 
where all the children were born : Henhy, 
Charles, George, Frank, William, Eunice. 3. 
Martin. Jr., married (first) Lydia Bartlctt ; 
(second) Lucinda (Doane) Eaton; children 
of the first marriage : Albert, Frank, Charles : 
children of the second marriage : Lydia Lu- 
cinda. born April 20, 1866, married Bart Bux- 
ton, of Woburn ; Flora Etta, born December 
14, 1868. 4. Mary Jane, married Thomas 
Gurney, of Canton, Maine. Qiildren : Emma 
Jane, Julia Sophia, Delia. 5. David S.. mar- 
ried Sarah Webster. Children : Hathaway, 
Sarah. Charles. 6. Thomas Chandler. 7. De- 
sire, married .'\dams Merrill. Children : 
Georgianna, Florence, George, Alberta, Mar- 
i— 10 



tin, I'-lizabeth. 8. Elizabeth, married Moses 
Symmes, of Reading, Massachusetts. Qiil- 
dren: i. Celia, born at Reading; ii. 
Everett, born at Hartford, Maine ; iii. 
Elizabeth, born at Canton. 9. Jacob Mitcliell, 
mentioned below. 10. Walter Byron, men- 
tioned below. II. Hannah Maria, married 
Hiram Childs, of Peru, Maine. Children born 
at Peru : i. Nettie ; ii. Emerson ; iii. Clinton ; 
iv. Amiie ; v. Jennie, born at Woburn ; vi. 
Hiram, born at Woburn. 12. Infant, died 
young. 

(IV) Jacob jMitcliell Ellis, son of Martin 
Ellis (3), was born at Canton, Maine, Novem- 
ber, 1834. He attended the district schools of 
his native town. He began to work on the 
farm when very young, and at the age of six- 
teen left home to work at North Maiden, Mas- 
sachusetts, for his brother, P. R. Ellis, who 
was the proprietor of an express business be- 
tween Boston and Melrose. He returned 
home, after some nxjnths, but two years later 
again came to Massachusetts and learned the 
trade of shoemaking at Melrose. He became 
foreman of a shoe factory there before the 
Civil war. He enlisted from Melrose and was 
mustered in July 31, 1861, at Ouincy, a private 
in the Second Battery, Massachusetts Volun- 
teer Light Artillery, Captain Ormand 1'". Xims. 
He received an honorable discharge at Frank- 
lin, Louisiana, February 15, 1864, and re- 
enlisted the same day. He was promoted for 
gallant and meritorious service to the rank of 
corporal, then sergeant and January 2, 1865. 
second lieutenant. The Second Battery was 
the first light battery recruited in the state for 
three years service and was organized 
in Boston by Major Cobb. Enlistment began 
.April 18, 1861, and on July 5 following the 
battery went to Camp Adams, Quincy ; left the 
state August 8, encamping August 12 at Mt. 
Clare, Baltimore, Maryland, in General Dix's 
Department. During November the battery 
took part in a number of expeditions into 
.Maryland and Virginia for the purpose of 
sup])ressing secession sentiment and the re- 
cruiting of rebel troops, returning after a cam- 
paign of forty-one days to Baltimore. The 
battery was attached to General Butler's Ex- 
pedition against New Orleans, and ordered 
Febri^ary 25, 1862, to Fortress .Monroe, and 
April 5 ordered to New Orleans. They moved 
on Baton Rouge, Louisiana. May 31, in Gen- 
eral Williams's brigade, and June 20 embarked 
on an ( xpedition against Vicksburg. landing 
at Ellis Cliffs, June 22. driving out a hostile 
force : re-embarked and again landed June 25 
and June 27 to take part in the bombardment 



146 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY, 



ol Vicksbiirg; July 26 they returned to Baton 
Rouge and August 21, after the battle at Baton 
Rouge, moved on to Carrollton and thence to 
New Orleans, where they remained until their 
return, December 17, to Baton Rouge, having 
been assigned to General Grover's division, 
Nineteenth Army Corps, Department of the 
Gulf. They joined in the demonstration March 
13, 1863, against Port Huron and shelled the 
enemy's works ; took part in the Teche Ex- 
pedition and operations at Fort Bisland, Louis- 
iana, reaching Alexander on the Red river, 
i\iay 12, arriving May 25 in front of Port 
Hudson and began the siege in which the bat- 
tery was constantly active until the Confed- 
erates surrenderer July 9, 1863. After that 
i\lr. Ellis was on duty with the battery at 
Donaldsville and New Orleans. Several ex- 
peditions were made into the interior after 
September 17 and there were engagements at 
A'ermillion river and Carrion Crow Bayou, 
Louisiana. They camped November 16 at 
New Iberia, remaining until January, 1864, 
moving thence to Franklin and March 13, 

1864, marched under General Banks in his Red 
River campaign, marching constantly, skirm- 
ishing and fighting desperately at Sabine Cross 
Roads, Louisiana, against overwhelming odds, 
losing nearly all their horses, and making it 
necessary for the battery to spike most of their 
guns. The command received new guns on 
the return to New Orleans, and September 2 
moved to Morganza, Louisiana, engaging in 
numerous scouting expeditions during the win- 
ter. The battery was removed in the spring to 
Florida, landing March 10, 1865, at Barranca, 
marching through incessant rain and deep mud 
to take part in the Siege of Mobile, Alabama. 
They invested Fort Blakeley, April 2, 1865, 
and after the surrender, April 9, marched to 
Claiborne, Alabama, fighting at Daniels Plan- 
tation, April II. They were continually on the 
march for the next seven weeks on the road to 
Vicksburg, completing a difficult march of six- 
teen hundred miles June 4, with the loss of 
many horses and mules in three months. He 
started for home, July 22, 1865, and arrived in 
Boston, August 4, 1865, being discharged and 
mustered out at Gallup's Island, August 11, 

1865. After the close of the war he served 
nine years as first lieutenant of Battery C, of 
Melrose, Massachusetts. 

Mr. Ellis has been in the stnne mason busi- 
ness since the war. He was in partnership 
with his two brothers, Perez R. and Walter B. 
Ellis, under the firm name of J. M. Ellis and 
Co. from 1872 .several years, as contractors 
and doing a general express business. Jacob 



M. Ellis subsequently engaged in the stone 
contracting business and in bridge building for 
the Boston & Maine Railroad Company and 
others. Some years later he formed a partner- 
ship with John W. Buswell, of Salisbury, Mas- 
sachusetts, under the firm name of Ellis & Bus- 
well Company, of which Air. Ellis is the presi- 
dent, with offices at 27 Salem street, Woburn, 
Among the large contracts taken by Mr. Ellis 
and the firm of Ellis & Buswell Company 
were : The stone railway stations at Prospect 
Hill in-i886; at Somerville Highlands in 1887; 
at Winthrop Hill in 1888; at Somerville Junc- 
tion in 1889; at North Somerville in 1893; all 
stone work connected with the separation of 
grades at Haverhill in 1905 ; the Blood Brook 
Arch Bridge at Hanover, New Hampshire; 
bridge at Brattle street, Arlington Heights, 
Massachusetts ; Guildhall Bridge at Guildhall, 
Vermont ; bridge at Goffstown, New Hamp- 
shire : elevator foundation on Mystic Wharf at 
Charlestovn ; all the stone work at Northern 
Union Station, Boston ; the viaduct between 
Chelsea and Charlestown ; twelve piers and two 
abuttments at Thomaston, Maine ; the big pier 
at the Androscoggin river at Lewiston ; two 
piers and two abuttments at Lewiston Lower 
Falls. The firm controls two excellent quar- 
ries, one at Biddeford, Maine, the other at 
Peabody, Massachusetts. Mr. Ellis built his 
elegant and substantial residence at 27 Salem 
street, where he has his office as well. 

He is a member of the Woburn Unitarian 
Church. In politics he is a Democrat, and has 
served his party repeatedly as a delegate to 
various nominating conventions. He has been 
an alderman and councilman of the city of 
Woburn ; an overseer of the poor and license 
commissioner. He was made a Mason at Mel- 
rose in 1866, and demitted to Mt. Horeb 
Lodge of Free Masons, March 27, 1872 ; of 
Woburn Royal Arch Qiapter; of Melrose 
Council, Royal and Select Masters, January 
25, 1873 ; of Hugh de Payen's Commandery, 
Knights Templar, at Melrose ; of Massachu- 
setts Consistory, thirty-second degree, Scottish 
Rite Masonry, at Boston, January 3, 1896; 
and of the Aleppo Temple, Mystic Shrine, at 
Boston. He is also a member of Crystal Fount 
Lodge, No. 9, Odd Fellows, at Woburn : of 
the Order of Elks ; of Burbank Post, No. 33, 
Grand Army, and of the Meshawum and 
Grand Armv Club, and was a charter member 
of U. S. Grant Po.st, No. 4, of Melrose. He 
is president of the Peabody (Massachusetts) 
Granite Company. 

He married, June 17, 1851, Betsey Jane 
Packard, who died in 1861, daughter of 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



147 



Moses Packard, of Buckfield, Maine. He 
married (second), August 26, 1865, Margaret 
Clinton, in New Orleans, Louisiana, who was 
bom at New York City, November 30, 1839, 
daughter of William and Catherine Clinton, 
of New York City. Children of Jacob M. 
and Betsey J. Ellis: i. Edgar S., mar- 
ried, September, 1879, Ella De Loria; four 
children who died and Jacob Joseph Ellis. 

2. William Burton, married Georgie Pierce, 
of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and had Leslie 
B. Children of Jacob M. and Margaret Ellis: 

3. George Russell, born June i, 1866, died 
May 30, 1872. 4. Ella Gertrude, born May 
II, 1868. died January 28, 1869. 5. Arthur 
Clinton, married Lorena Davis, of Stoneham, 
daughter of George F. Davis, of Stoneham; 
no children. 6. Infant, born and died May 
31, 1873. 7. Maud Abbie, born May 5, 1879, 
married, March 20, 1901, Harry A. Jones, 
son of James A. and Mary E. (Hill) Jones, of 
Stoneham; children: i. Evelyn Margaret, 
born January 10, 1902; ii. Marianne Arden, 
born August 15, 1904. 8. Ernest Melville, 
born May 31, 1883, married, November 4, 
1903, Bertha .Maria Hurd; children: i. Ernes- 
tine Helen, born April 4, 1904; ii. Clinton 
Mitchell, born October 15, 1905. 

(IV) Walter Byron Ellis, son of Martin 
Ellis (3), was born in Canton, Maine, March 
I, 1B36. He was educated in the common 
schools of his native town, attending the win- 
ter terms of school until he was twenty years 
old, and meanwhile working in sunnner with 
his father on the homestead. When he came 
of age he left home and located at Melrose, 
Massachusetts, and for a year drove an ex- 
press team from Melrose to Boston for his 
brother, Perez R. Ellis. He subsequently re- 
turned to Canton and worked for a year in a 
saw mill and then resumed farming until 
1872, when he returned to Melrose to enter 
partnership with his brothers, P. R. and Ja- 
cob M. Ellis, contractors and stone masons, 
under the firm name of D. M. Ellis & Co., 
also conducting the express business between 
Melrose and Boston. After two years the 
firm was dissolved and he imdertook con- 
tracting on his own account, following it with 
marked success until 1892, when he was 
elected superintendent of streets of the city of 
-Melrose. He held the position, giving emi- 
nent satisfaction to the public that he served 
until 1899. when he resigned to accept a po- 
sition with his son, Fred E. Ellis, contractor 
and stone mason, and he is at present asso- 
ciated with him. His present home in Win 



throp he built together with other building" 
necessary for his business. 

He is a member of the Universalist church 
at Melrose, and is a Democrat in politics. He 
was for seven years engineer of the Melrose 
Fire Department and has always shown a 
lively interest in its welfare. He is a member 
of Oriental Star Lodge, No. 21, Free Ma- 
sons, of Livermore, Maine; of Waverly Chap- 
ter of Royal Arch Masons at .Melrose; of 
Melrose Council of Royal and Select Mas- 
ters at Melrose; of Hugh De Payen's Com- 
mandery, Knights Templar, at Melrose, and 
is a thirty-second degree Mason of the Scot- 
tish Rite. He is a member of U. S. Grant 
Post, Grand Army. He enlisted August 28, 
1863, in Company G, Fourth Maine Infantry, 
Second Brigade, Third Army Corps, under 
Colonel Walker and served in the Army of 
the Potomac; was in the hospital nine 
months; received an honorable discharge 
March 28, 1865. 

He married, August 26, i860, Martha Jane 
Child, who was born at Livermore, Maine, 
April 20, 1841, daughter of Marshall and 
Olive (Stetson) Child, of Livermore. Her 
father, Marshall, was a farmer and was at one 
time selectman of Livermore. Children: i. 
Frances Olive, born March 26, 1861, died 
September 15, 1864. 2. Florence May, born 
December 2, 1862, teacher in the public 
schools, New Bedford, Alassachusetts. 3. 
Olive Alberta, born May 20, 1865; married, 
October 24, 1894, Charles C, Garey, of Med- 
ford, .Massachusetts; children: i. Florence 
May, born July 24, 1895; ii. Mildred .A.lice, 
August 30, 1896; iii. Marjorie, October 19, 
1901. 4. Fred Elihu, born January 15, 1868, 
married, June 12, 1892, Eleanor G. Thurber; 
children: i. Margaret, born July 5, 1893; ii. 
Catherine Frances, March 2, 1893. 5- George 
Byron, born November 15, 1870, married, 
November 15, 1892, Jennie Conway; no chil- 
dren. 6. Walter Russell, born September 
21, 1876, died December u, 1879. 7- Linma 
Gertrude, born January 2, 1878, married, 
May 3, 1902, Harold Carter, of -Melrose; no 
children. 



John Lewis, the immigrant ances- 
LEWIS tor, was born in England and 

settled among the earliest at 
Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was an in- 
habitant and planter of that town as early as 
1634, and was admitted to the Charlestown 
Church, September 10, 1644. He removed to 



148 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Maiden, an adjoining town. His wife Mar- 
guerite was admitted to the Charlestown 
Church, September 7, 1638, and she died at 
Maiden, March 10, 1649. He married 
(second), April 10, 1650, Mary Brown, be- 
lieved to be a daughter of Abraham Brown, of 
Watertown. Lewis had ten acres granted on 
the "Mystic Side" in 1637. His first lot was 
four acres for planting, set off in 1634-35. His 
house was on the southwest slope of Mill 

Hill. His widow married Cutler. He 

died September 16, 1657. Children: i. John 
born September 12, 1638. 2. Joseph (twin), 
born March 29, 1640. 3. Mary (twin), born 
March 29, 1640. 4. Samuel, mentioned be- 
low. 5. Elizabeth, born September 6, 1642, 
married Bryant Borden. 6. Sarah, born De- 
cember 24, 1647, married Joseph Brabrook, 
born at Alalden. 7. Abraham, born Decem- 
ber 10,, 1650, of Rumney Marsh. 8. Jona- 
than, born January 4, died February 10, 
1652. 9. Mary, born January, 1653, married 
Samuel Penfield. 10. Hannah. 11. Isaac. 
12. Trial, born January, 1657-58. 

(H) Samuel Lewis, of Maiden, son of John 
Lewis (i),was born at Charlestown, Massachu- 
setts, June 24, 1641. He settled after his father 
at Maiden and was a farmer. He died there 
February i. 1698-99. He married, 1683, at 
Charlestown, Sarah Dutton. She married 
(second), before 1706, Samuel Dix. Children 
of Samuel and Sarah Lewis: i. Samuel, men- 
tioned below. 2. Sarah, born December 12, 
1689. 3. Abigail, born February 6, 1694-95. 
4. John, born March 14, 1698-99. 

(HI) Samuel Lewis, son of Samuel Lewis 
(2), was bom in 1684-85. He resided in 
Reading and Lynn, jNIassachusetts. Married, 
1706. Sarah Boutwell, daughter of John and 
Hannah Boutwell. He was dismissed to the 
North Parish Church in 1720. Children, born 
at Reading: i. Sarah, born 1707. 2. Mary, 
1709- 3- Samuel, mentioned below. 4. 
Abigail. 5. Ebenezer, 1717, trooper in 
the French war. 6. Phebe, 1720. 7. Joseph, 
1722. 8. Lydia, 1724. 9. Benjamin. 

(IV) Samuel Lewis, son of Samuel Lewis 
(3), was born at Reading, 1714. Married 
Mary Taylor. He was the father of Timothy 
Lewis, mentioned below. 

(V) Timothy Lewis, born about 1740-45, 
son or nephew of Samuel Lewis (4), settled 
first in Reading, whence he removed to 
We.'^tminster, ^Massachusetts, about 1772. He 
bought land in Westminster of Eli Keyes, of 
Westminster, sixty-four acres in the second 
division, including house and barn, by deed 
dated November i, 1771. He is supposed to 



have lived on this farm until November, 1772, 
when he sold it to Michael Sweetser, of 
Reading, a relative, weaver by trade, though 
in this deed the residence of Lewis is also 
given as Reading. Silas Whitney, of West- 
minster, bought the rights of various heirs to 
land in Westminster, March 8, 1777. These 
heirs were: Samuel and William Sweetser, 
of Lynn; Timothy Lewis and wife, Martha, 
Mary and Michael Sweetser; Paul, Cornelius 
and Lydia, Abigail and Elizabeth Sweetser, 
all of Reading. He was called of Westmin- 
ster for the first time in a deed dated April 

14, 1778, of land at Westminster sold to 
Thomas Wetherbee. A few years later he lo- 
cated in the adjacent town of Lancaster. He 
and his wife, Martha, mortgaged their farm 
in Lancaster, April, 1800, to Charles Chase. 
They deeded land to Samuel Damon, Jr., in 
Lancaster, March 11. 1808. Timothy Lewis 
died in Lancaster in 1816. His will was dated 
July ID, 1816, and allowed November 19, 
1816. He married, June 25, 1767, Martha 
Sweetser, who was born September 13, 1741, 
at Reading, daughter of Michael and ^Iary 
Sweetser. Children: i. Martha, born June 
27, 1769, married Gibson. 2. Ede, mar- 
ried Hanson. 3. Lydia, was one of his 

executors. 4. Mary, was one of his execu- 
tors. 5. Timothy, married. October 18, 1799, 
Nabby Foster. 6. William, mentioned be- 
low. 7. Pearson. 8. Charles, married at 
Lancaster (intentions September 2, 1797) 
Hannah Damon, of Reading. 

(VI) William Lewis, son of Timothy Lew- 
is (5), was boi-n in Lancaster, about 1780. He 
was probably the William Lewis, of Lancas- 
ter, credited with Revolutionary service. He 
settled at Lynn, Massachusetts, where he 
died. He was a farmer. He married April 

15, 1800, Martha Farmer Weston, of Read- 
ing, Massachusetts, born January 18, 1782, 
daughter of John J. and Lettice Weston, of 
Reading. Children: i. William, born at 
Reading, April 11, 1801, died October 23, 
1870; married (first), April 9, 1823, Emma 
Pratt; married (second) Hannah Jewell, of 
Winchester, New Hampshire: Children, all 
born at Winchester: i. Francis Weston, born 
January 13, 1823, married Julia Ann King, of 
Sudbury, Massachusetts: (children: Emma 
Frances Lewis; Benjamin K. Lewis); ii. 
Marshall Pratt, born February 6, 1824, mar- 
ried Caroline Thomas. of Middletown, 
Massachusetts (children: George Vernon 
Lewis; Harriet Ohvia Lewis; Carrie H. Lew- 
is, Frank Lewis, and William Pratt Lewis); 
iii. Olivia Pratt, bom November 19, 1828, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



149 



married Dr. Daniel White, of Chelmsford, 
Massachusetts, had child Ella White; iv. 
Emma Ann, born June 7, 1831, married Ira 
Eisher; (second) William Hunt; (third) J. -M. 
Buss (children: Achsa Lewis Fisher, Celia 
Amanda Fisher, Florence Emma Fisher) ; v. 
William H., born November 28, 1832; (chil- 
dren — Helen Isadore: Mary Lillian). 2. 
\'arnum. born at Reading, 1803, died 1848 at 
Bolton. Hinds county, Mississippi; removed 
to Natchez when he was only twelve years 
•old; married twice; children of first wife of 
\'arnum Lewis: i. Elizabeth, married Duke 
Askew (had Thomas Askew and Ella (As- 
kew) Knox, ot Vicksburg, Mississippi) ; 
William ; N'arnum had by second wife, Sarah 
Aloffett. whom he married in 1841; iii. Em- 
ma S.. born October i, 1842, at Bolton, mar- 
ried. July 4, i860. Dr. J. C. Clapp, who for 
forty years was president of the Catawba Col- 
lege at Newton, North Carolina, a German 
Reformed clergyman, born in 1833 (their 
children: Lewis Clapp, born May 16, 1861, 
died April. 1862; Carol, .\ugust 15. 1862; 
Emma L., June 2, 1864; Milton Clapp. Janu- 
ary 20. 1866; Ernest, December 11. 1867; 
Crawford, December 13. 1869: Clarence 
Clapp, February 7, 1873; Rowland Clapp, 
Februan.- i, 1875, died ^larch 15, 1876; An- 
nie L. Clapp, February 2, 1877; Edward 
Clapp, July 7, 1878, died young; Robert 
Earle Clapj), July 10, 1879); iv. Thomas 
Varnum Lewis, born at Bolton, 1844. never 
married. 3. Hanson Reetfield, born Novem- 
ber 2", i8o(), mentioned below. 4. David, 
married (first). April 15, 1829, Dorcas Smith, 
of Woburn, Massachusetts; she died Decem- 
ber 7, 1833. aged twenty-seven; child — Sarah 
Ann. born November 9, 1833; married (sec- 
ond) Mrs. Mary W. (Pearley) Butnian: chil- 
dren — ii. Mary Elizabeth, born March 18, 
1836; iii. Edward .\ugustus. October 16, 
1838. 5. Dolly. 

(V'H) Hanson Reetfield Lewis, son of Wil- 
liam Lewis (6), was born at Reading, Novem- 
ber 27. 1809. When he was six years old his 
mother died and he was bound out as an ap- 
prentice until he came of age to his uncle, 
John Weston. He worked on the farm, at- 
tending the winter terms of the district school 
and later learning the trade of shoemaker. 
He conducted the old Sweetser place at 
South Reading for a time. In 1840 he took 
the Lawrence farm where the Lawrence 
School is now located and afterwards had the 
Lemuel Richardson farm on Cross street. He 
was appointed warden of the town farm in 
Wohuru. April i, 1856. and his wife matron. 



They filled these positions successfully and 
creditably for a period of fourteen years, re- 
signing April, 1870, on account of the 
ill health of Mrs. Lewis. They were highly 
commended by the town for their faithful ser- 
vices and kind treatment of their charges. In 
1851 he built his house on Highland street 
when that district was still pasture and wood- 
land, ajjproachcd by the old .Marshall lane, 
with scarcely any buildings where now is one 
of the ckjsely built residential districts of the 
city. Mr. Lewis had charge of various es- 
tates in Woburn and was employed in several 
leather concerns in his later years. He died 
in Woburn, July 15, 1891. In politics he was 
originally a Jacksonian Democrat, but his 
abolition sentiments lirought him into the 
Free Soil party later and he voted for Fre- 
mont, being after that a Republican for the 
remainder of his life. At the time of his 
death he was one of the oldest living mem- 
bers of the Baptist church with which he 
united by baptism in June, 1852, and of which 
he was a faithful, consistent and valued mem- 
ber. He was upright and honest in all his 
dealings and was held in the highest regard 
bv his townsmen. He belonged to the Light 
Infantry and the militia comjjany called the 
Home Guard during the Civil war. 

He married (first), April 10, 1834, at Sa- 
lem, Massachusetts, Sarah M. Morong, who 
was born in Salem, July 30, 1813, and died 
l^'ebruarv 21, 1849, flaughter of John and 
Hannah (Nicholson) Morong. He married 
(second), April 4, 1850, Mrs.' f )live (Walker) 
Weeks, widow of Richard P. Weeks, and 
daughter of Moses • Billings and Oliver 
(Winij) Walker, of Burlington. She was born 
at Charlestown, Massachusetts. February 18, 
1818: died March 28, 1852. Child of 
Hanson B. and Sarah ^I. Lewis: i. Charles 
Edwards, born December 27, 1836. died June 
■5, 1840. Child of Hanson B. ancl Olive Lew- 
is: 2. William Henry, born March 20. 1852, 
mentioned below. Hanscjn B. married 
ft bird) November 22, 1852, Frances .Ann 
Barker, of Cambridge, born at Piermont, 
New Hampshire. June 13. 1819, and died De- 
cember 8, 1890. daughter of Jedediah and 
Ann (P)ailey) Barker, of Piermont. 

(■\TII) William Henry Lewis, son of Han- 
son Beetfield Lewis (7), -was born at Woburn. 
Massachusetts, March 20, 1852. He at- 
tended the public schools of his native town 
and worked on his father's farm until he was 
eighteen years of age, when he became a 
clerk in the grocery store of Cyrus Tay & 
Company of Woburn. He left this firm to 



ISO 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



enter the employ of J. D. Porter &. Company 
and continued with their successor, E. J. 
Jencks. for a year. He then operated a ma- 
chine for a year in the leather factory of Rus- 
sell & Johnson, but returned to the grocery 
business and was clerk for E. Dean & Com- 
pany three years. He was traveling salesman 
for one and one-half years for T. F. Randolph 
& Company, dealers in flour and grain ; eigh- 
teen months in the bakery and ice cream busi- 
ness on his own account in Newark, and then 
returned to the grocery business, and for ten 
years was employed by Fitz & Stanley, of 
Woburn. In the spring of 1891 he started in 
his present grocery business at the corner of 
Mt. Pleasant and Highland streets in Woburn, 
and has enjoyed a very large and profitable 
trade. He built a one-story building in 1891 
for his business and has added another story 
and other improvements and additions since 
then. He resides in the homestead on High- 
land street, inherited from his father, adjoining 
the lot on which his store is located. Through 
square and upright dealing, no less than by his 
agreeable personality, Mr. Lewis has won the 
esteem and respect' of his townsmen. He has 
demonstrated his business ability without sac- 
rificing his integrity. He is a member of the 
Baptist church of Woburn, and has been a 
deacon eighteen years and superintendent of its 
Sunday school for the past two years, and is 
also a member of its standing committee. In 
politics he is a Republican. 

He married, December 25, 1872, Ella Ame- 
lia Dickerson, who was born at North Read- 
ing, December 29, 1853, died February 9, 
1907, daughter of John and Abigail (Clark) 
Dickerson. Her father was a shoemaker and 
farmer. Child : Cora Winn, born January 2, 
1874, married, July 8, 1896, Morlie A. Burnes, 
of Woburn; children: i. Lewis Richard, born 
April 5. 1897: ii. Charlotte Isabel, March 29, 
1898; iii. Frances Ackman, May 26, 1900, 
died August 19, 1902; iv. Elizabeth, May 24, 
1905; v. and vi. Donald Winn and Harold 
William (twins), February 11, 1907. ]\Irs. 
Burnes, the mother of these children, died 
February 26. 1907. 



The name of Prescott is of 
PRESCOTT Saxon origin and is com- 
posed by the contraction of 
two .Saxon words, priest and cottage, and 
therefore signifies priest-cottage, or priest's 
house. The name has long been known in Eng- 
land. It was given to a street and a lane or place 
in the ancient city of London. Prescott is also 
the narie of a market town in Lancashire, and 



those of this surname that emigrated to 
.America originally, or their ancestors, origi- 
nated from this town. Some of the Prescott 
family had titles and the ancient coat of arms 
is: "Sable, a chevron between three owls, ar- 
gent (tw'o in chief, one in base). Crest, a cu- 
bit arm, couped, erect, vested, gules. Cuff er- 
mine, holding in the hand a pitch pot (or 
hand beacon), sable fired proper." The 
arms of the Prescotts of Dryby, Lin- 
colnshire, England, which belong to the 
descendants, particularly of that branch of the 
family descended from James Prescott of 
New Hampshire, are described: "Ermine, a 
chevron sable — on a chief of the second two 
leopards' heads, or. Crest, out of a ducal 
coronet, or, a boar's head and neck, arg., bris- 
tled of the first." 

The first mention of the surname Prescott 
is found in Thomas Rymer's Foedera — Mag- 
istro Waltero de Prestecote, the Latin for 
Walter Prescott. Although the direct lineage 
of the .\merican Prescotts has not been 
traced further back than the reign of Eliza- 
beth it is evident that the family from an early 
date lived at the town of Prescott, already 
mentioned. 

(I) James Prescott, of ."^tandish, Lanca- 
shire, a descendant of the Lancashire family 
was the progenitor. He was required by or- 
der of Queen Elizabeth dated August, 1564, 
to keep in readiness horsemen and armor. He 
married a daughter of Roger Standish, Esq., 
of Standish. and sister of Ralph Standish. 
Children: i. James, mentioned below. 2. 

Roger, married (first) Elizabeth in 1563; 

(second) Ellen Shaw, of Standish, August 20, 
1368: resided in Shevington; died 1594. 3. 
Ralph, died young. 4. Robert, married, Feb- 
ruary 3. 1565, Elizabeth Nightingale; resided 
at Standish and died there 1576. 5. William, 
father of Alexander, grandfather of Sir John 
Prescott. Lord of the Manors of Radwington 
in Essex and Bromley in Kent. 6. John, re- 
sided in Sutterby. Lincolnshire. 

(II) Sir James Prescott, son of James Pres- 
cott (i), married .\lice Molineaux. For his 
braverv and military prowess and achieve- 
ments he was created Lord of the Manor of 
Dryby in Lincolnshire, and had new arms 
granted to him, as described above and was 
aftenvards known as Sir James. He died 
March i. 1583. Children: i. John, mentioned 
below. 2. Ann, born at Dryby. 

(III) John Prescott, only son of Sir James 
Prescott (2), was born at Dryby, Lincoln- 
shire Children: i. William. 2. James, men- 
tioned below. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



i=;i 



(I\') James Prescott, son of John Prescott 
(3), was born at Dryby. and lived there. Chil- 
dren: 1. Mary, baptized at Dryby, 1631. 2. 
John, baptized 1632. 3. Anne, Ijaptized 1634. 
4. James, mentioned below. .And others 
wliose names are unknown. 

(\') James Prescott, son of James Prescott 
(4), was the American immigrant ancestor. 
He left Dryby in 1665 and settled in Hamp- 
ton, New Hampshire, then of Norfolk county, 
Massachusetts. He had a farm in that part 
of tile town whicii since r7i2 has constituted 
the town of Hampton Falls, about two miles 
north of the Hampton Falls Academy on the 
road to Exeter, lately owned by Wells Hea- 
ley. He was admitted a freeman in 1678 and 
his church membership was transferred to the 
parish at the Falls in 171 2. From thence it 
was transferred to the Kingston Church, Sep- 
tember 29, 1725. We are told by the Pres- 
cott Memorial that "he was a man of integri- 
ty and influence, possessing good sense, a 
sound and discriminating mind, one whose 
judgment was much sought for, and in whose 
opinion the people placed the most confident 
reliance." He was one in 1694 of the origi- 
nal grantees of the towm of Kingston, and 
December 19. 1700, was moderator of the 
proprietors' meeting and again July 18, 1701. 
He had large grants of land in Kingston, 
whither he removed in 1725 and where he 
died November 25, 1728, aged about eighty- 
five years. 

He married. 1668, Mary Boulter, born at 
Exeter, May 15, 1648, daughter of Nathaniel 
and Grace Boulter. Her father w-as born in 
England in 1625, settled in Hampton as early 
as 1642 and in Exeter in 1645. She died at 
Kingston, October 4, 1735, aged eighty-seven 
years, four months and twenty days. Their 
children: i. Joshua, born March i, 1669, had 
eleven children. 2. James, Jr., born Septem- 
ber I, 1671, married (first), March i. 1695, 
Maria Marston; (second), June 17. 1746, Abi- 
gail Sanborn. 3. Rebecca, born .\pril 15, 
1673, married (first), December 3, 1691, Na- 
thaniel Sanborn: he married (second) Sarah 
Nason; he died November 9, 1723. 4. Jona- 
than, born August 6, 1675, died January 6, 

1755; married Elizabeth . 5. Mary, 

born June 11, 1677, married (first) Novem- 
ber 2, 1699, Jabez Coleman; (second), "No- 
vember 9, 1730, Thomas Crosby, and (third) 

Bean; she died 1740. 6. .Abigail, born 

November 19, 1679, married, November 2, 
1699. Richard Bounds. 7. Temperance 
(twin), died young, born November 19, 1679. 
8. John, born November 19, 1681, mentioned 



below. 9. Nathaniel, born November 19, 
1683, niariied, December 30, 1703, .\nn Mars- 
ton; he died I-'ebruary 26, 1771. 

(\'I) John Prescott, son of James Prescott 
(5), was born at Hampton. November 19, 
1681, died 1761. He was -n His Majesty's 
service in 1707 and also in Captain Davis's 
scouting party in 1712. .\mong other arti- 
cles mentioned in his will, which was proved 
in 1761, were the following: sword, gun, pair 
of pistols and holsters, powder horn, etc. He 
married, .August 8. 1701. .Abigail Marston. 
She was born March 17, 1679, and died De- 
cenilier 30. ijCk). daughter of James and Din- 
ah (Sanborn) ]\Iarston, o£ Hampton. She was 
admitted to the church February 22, 1702, 
and he June 6. 1721. Both were transferred 
from the Hampton Falls Church to Kensing- 
ton. New Hampshire, Church in 1737 and 
back to nani]jton balls .March 7. 1742. Chil- 
dren: T. John. Ijorn .August 15. 1702. died un- 
married December 24. 17^4. 2. Rebecca, 
born -August 10, 1704, died 1733; married, 
September 18, 1729, Benjamin Bachelder. 3. 
Lydia. born November 30. 1706, married, 
F"ebruary 2, 1731, Edward Smith, of Exeter. 
4. Hon. Benjamin, born September, 1708, 
married (first) September 18, 1729, Mrs. 
Dorothy (Robie) Sanborn; (second), Septem- 
ber 14, 1758, .Abigail Cove. 5. James, born 
April II, 171 1, married, November 27, 1733, 
Sarah Butler; he died September 8. 1754. 6. 
Abigail, born .April 29, 1713, died December 
21. 1781; married. September 2, 1731, Daniel 
Sanborn. 7. Nathaniel, born July 25. 1715, 
died 171)1: married. I'ebruary 4. 1742, Sarah 
Tucker. 8. .Abraham, born May 20, 1717, 
died June 26, 1789: married, July 2, 1741, 
.Sarah Clifford. 9. Jedediah. born June i, 
1719. mentioned below. 10. Josiah. born 
October 2. 1721. died in army. 

(VH) Jedediah Prescott, son of John Pres- 
cott (6), was born at Hampton Falls, June i, 
1719, baptized there June 18, 1721. lie set- 
tled in that part of Exeter, New Hainpshire, 
now the town of Brentwood. He was a farm- 
er. TTe removed to Deerfield, New Hamp- 
shire, thence to Monmouth, Maine, where he 
died July 24, 1793. He married. May 12, 

1742, Hannah P>achelder, w-ho w'as born Oc- 
tober 23, 1720, and died 1800, the daughter of 
Samuel Bachelder, and granddaughter of Na- 
thaniel whf) with his father. Rev. Stephen 
Bachelder, were among the first settlers of 
Hampton. Children: i. Josiah. born May 
^7- 1743. fl'^f^l r)ctober 11. 1781; married 
Betsey Smith. 2. Elizabeth, born January 5. 

1743. married. 1766, Nathaniel Whittier: she 



152 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



died April 2. 1814. 3. Jodediah, born Sep- 
tember 20, 1746, clied March 31, 1827; mar- 
ried, September 11, 1772, Sarah Morrill, of 
Salisbury, Massachusetts. 4. Abigail, born 
May II, 1748, died about 1808; married Ben- 
jamin Carr. 5. Mercy, born October 30, 
1751, married, March 10, 1778, Dr. Jonathan 
Hill; she died October 4, 1797. 6. Rev. John, 
born October 29, 1753, died January 26. 183 1, 
married Mehitable Morrill. 7. Samuel, born 
September 5. 1759, married, May, 1781, Bet- 
sey Whittier; he died at Hallowell, Maine, 
1841. 8. Ruth, born March 12, 1761, died 
September 15, 1815; married, June 5. 1783, 
Henry Hall, of Deerfield, New Hampshire. 9. 
Jesse, born September 24, 1763, mentioned 
below. ID. James, born February 23, 1765, 
died at Portland in 1830; married Mary 
Owen. II. Elijah, born July 25, 1766, died 
October 28, 1848: married, January, 1790, 
Hannah French, of Dunstable, New Hamp- 
shire. 

(VHI) Jesse Prescott, son of Jedediah 
Prescott (7), was born at Exeter, New Hamp- 
shire, now the town of Brentwood, September 

24. 1763. He was brought up on the farm 
and lived in Exeter until his marriage in 1783 
when he removed to New Sharon, Maine, and 
bought a farm. He died January 15, 1847. 
He married, December i, 1783, Mary Whit- 
tier, who was born January 16, 1763, and died 
at New Sharon, Maine, August 7, 1841, the 
daughter of Nathaniel and Hannah (Clough) 
Whittier, of Salisbury, Massachusetts. Chil- 
dren: I. Hannah, born April 3, 1785, mar- 
ried (first), December 17, 1809, Nathaniel 
Small; (second), July 31, 1839, Daniel R. Fol- 
lansbee, of New Sharon, Maine. 2. Mary, 
born October i, 1786, married, April 8, 1819, 
Briggs Holland; children: i. Nancy Holland, 
born July, 1820; ii. Jesse L., April, 1825. 3. 
Ruth, born October 28, 1791, died February 

25, 1855; married, December 11, 1817, Win- 
slow Harrington. 4. Abel, born June 22, 
1793, mentioned below. 5. Olive, born April 
7, 1795. married, September, 1829, Eliphalet 
Wood. 6. Benjamin, born April 11, 1797, 
married, February 24, 1820, Hannah How- 
land. 7. Jesse L., born June 21, 1799, mar- 
ried. November 20, 1823, Agnes M. Cass. 8. 
Nathaniel, born September 2, 1801, married 
(first), 1825. Abigail B. Wheaton; (second). 
1845, Emily North. 9. Elizabeth, born Octo- 
ber 10, 1803, died September 14, 1804. 

(IX) Abel Prescott, son of Jesse Prescott 
(8), was born at New Sharon, Maine, June 22, 
1793. He received his education in the dis- 
trict schools, such as the sons of farmers were 



wont to receive at that time, and workel with 
his father during the summer months Pie 
left home before he was of age to work in the 
woolen mills at Andover, Massachusetts, and 
learned his trade there. After his marriage 
he removed to Dedham, Massachusetts, and 
became head overseer of the East Dedham 
woolen mills. He finally settled in Dunbar- 
ton, New Hampshire, where he bought ,t farm 
of one hundred acres located in the southeast 
part of the town. He carried on general 
farming and raised stock. He sold liis farm 
to one Merrill and spent his later years with 
his son. He was of small stature but of great 
activity and energy. He was intensely inter- 
ested in the anti-slavery movement and later 
in the temperance movement. Like many of 
the thinking farmers of New England he read 
the New York Tribune faithfully and agreed 
with the principles and opinions of Horace 
Greeley generally. He was a Unitarian in re- 
ligion, of upright life and clean character. In 
early life he was a Whig, later a Republican. 
He belonged to the state militia. He married 
April 5. 1819, Eleanor Harvey. Children: i. 
George Washington, born June 23, 1820, 
mentioned below. 2. Harriet Louisa, born 
April 12, 1822, died November 18, 1906; mar- 
ried. November 29, 1859, Anson F. Barton; 
no children. 3. Hannah Maria, bom Decem- 
ber 24, 1823. 4. Daniel Harvey, born March 
21, 1827, married (first), April 30, 1849, Sa- 
bina T. Hall; (second), April 2y, 1858, Marga- 
ret (Tempest) Edenton. 5. Mary Elizabeth, 
born October 12, 1829, died September 10, 
1833. 6. John Barnet, dentist by profession, 
born April 2. 1832, married (first), November 
29, 1854. Ann .Augusta Wallace, who died 
December 11, 1855; no issue; married (sec- 
ond). November 6, 1862, Lauretta Paul, of 
South Thomaston, Maine; child Annie Laura, 
born 1864. 7. Eleanor Frances, born Octo- 
ber 19, 1834, married. April 16, 1861 William 
Adamson, of Philadelphia; children: i. Elea- 
nor Harvey Adamson, born February 24, 
1862; ii. Prescott Adamson, December 25, 
1863; iii. Hattie Agnes Adamson, May 5, 
1866; iv. George Frederick Adamson, Sep- 
tember 18, 1868; Robert Harvey Adamson, 
June 30, 1871 ; May Eleanor Adamson, July 
19, 1874. 8. Frederick Augustus, born Au- 
gust I, 1837, died May 3, 1842. 9. Walter 
Maynard, born May 29, 1839, died October 9, 
1840. 

(X) George Washington Prescott, son of 
Abel Prescott (9), was born at Andover, 
Massachusetts, June 23, 1820. When a small 
lad he removed with his parents to Dedham 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



153 



and there received his education up to the age 
of sixteen in the pubhc schools. Then ne re- 
moved with his parents to Dunbarton, where 
he worked for liis father on the farm, attend- 
ing for a few terms the seminary at Tilton, 
New Hampshire. He left home to follow the 
sea, in coasting vessels, from Maine to Souln 
Carolina. At the time of his marriage he 
settled on'the farm of his wife's father at Dun- 
barton, but after a few years removed to 
Manchester, New Hampshire, and worked m 
the .Amoskeag Mills. He also kept a ^-or- 
poration boarding house and for four years 
the .\moskeag Hotel in Amoskeag Village. 
He finally returned to Dunbarton to the farm 
of his wife's father, later purchasing it, and 
carrying on general farming and stock rais- 
ing. He had one hundred and twenty acres 
of land and maintained an excellent dairy, 
making butter and iiaving a large milk route. 
In 1890 he sold the farm to Charles and 
Frank Lord, and Came to Woburn, Massa- 
chusetts, where he lived with his son until his 
death. October 21. 1897. A Whig, and later 
a Republican, in politics. He married Susan 
Walker Marshall, who was born at Dunbar- 
ton, June 27, 1822, daughter of Moses and 
r^ach'el (Beard) Marshall. She died October 
7. 1898, at Woburn. Her father, Moses, was 
a fanner. Childreii ; i. (leorge P'rederick, 
born November 3. 1846. 2. Susan Ellen, 
born October 22, 1850. 3. Maynard Sumner, 
born March 25. 1853, died February 22, 1854. 
4. Maynard Sunnier (2) born .\pril 20, 1854, 
mentioned below. 5. Hattie Eudora, born 
-May 15, 1856, married Dana K. Marshall, of 
East Weare, New Hampshire; child: Bernard 
Prescott .Marshall. 6. Jessie (jertrude. born 
March 6, 1858, married William G. .\nderson, 
resides at Roxbury. 

CXI) Maynard Sumner Prescott. son of 
George \\'^ashington Prescott (10), was born 
at Dunbarton. New Hampshire. April 20, 
1854. He attended the j>ublic schools of his 
native town, afterward attending the high 
school and Bryant & Stratton Business Col- 
lege at Manchester, New Hampshire. He re- 
mained on the farm, assisting his father with 
the work until he was twenty-two. when he 
entered the employ of the Baeder & .Vdamson 
glue factory at Montvale, Massachusetts, as a 
coo])er. later having charge of the heading 
of all their barrels, and finalls taking a posi- 
tion as clerk and bookkeei)er in the office. Tie 
resided during the three years he worked for 
this company on Nashua street in the eastern 
part of the town of Woburn. In 1880. while 
still in this business, he began in a small way 



outside to buy and sell poultry and he was so 
successful that in 1881 he erected new build- 
mgs on leased land and entered partnership 
with George F. Barton to carry on the busi- 
ness on a large scale. The firm name was 
Barton & Prescott. Mr. Prescott devoted all 
his attention to the raising of fowls and the 
business proved successful. At the end of 
three years he bought out his partner and 
later purchased twelve acres of land on which 
he has erected spacious buildings for his busi- 
ness, having facilities for hatching out and 
caring for ten thousand chickens annually. 
He keeps about two thousand and five hun- 
dred hens, each of which averages a hundred 
and fifty eggs a year. He makes a specialty 
of Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds. 
His market for poultry and eggs is in Win- 
chester and Boston, and he has retail places 
in Somerville and Cambridge. His farm is 
located in the easterly part of Woburn, and 
was at one time part of the old Emerson 
place. Mr. Prescott is a very active and pros- 
perous man with few interests outside of his 
home and business. He attends the Unitar- 
ian church at Woburn, and is a i\epublican in 
jiolitics. 

He married. October 25, 1888, at Groton, 
Massachusetts. Marion Jane Parker, who was 
born at \\'oburn, December 20, 1856, daugh- 
ter of John Flagg and Martha Jane (Jones) 
Parker, of Woburn. Her father, John, was a 
wheelwright and carriage manufacturer. 
Thcv have no children. 



The surname Crosby is of very 
CROSBY ancient English origin. It is 

derived from two English 
words Cross and By (bury, burgh or bor- 
ough), meaning the town of the cross. There 
are eight old towns in England named Cros- 
by. We find the name used as a surname 
from the very beginning of the use of sur- 
names in England. In 1204 Ode de Crosseby 
was constable of Tikehall, in Yorkshire, near 
the Nottinghamshire line and as early as 1220 
we find Simon de Crosseby in Lancashire. The 
name Simon has continued in frequent use 
among his descendants to the present day, and 
he is undoubtedly the progenitor of the .Amer- 
ican family. The Crosby coat of arms of an- 
cient but unknown history is : Per Chevron 
sable and argent three goats pass, counter- 
changed. 

(I) Simon Crosby, the immigrant ancestor, 
was born in England in 1608. He was a hus- 
bandman. He sailed from England in April, 



154 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



1635, in the ship "Susan & Ellen" with his 
wife Anne, then aged twenty-five years, and 
young son Thomas. He settled in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, and was a proprietor as early 
as February 8, 1635. He was admitted a free- 
man in 1636 and was a selectman of the town. 
He had several grants of land. His estate is 
what was known later as the Brattle place, 
having passed into the hands of Rev. William 
Brattle, and on one of his lots was erected the 
famous old Brattle House. He died Septem- 
ber, 1639, aged thirty-one years. The inven- 
tory of his estate was taken November 15, 
1645, by John Bridge and Richard Jackson. 
Widow Ann yielded to the three sons, 
Thomas, Simon and Joseph, certain portions 
September 22, 1645, and she married (sec- 
ond) Rev. William Tompson, of Braintree. 
Children of Simon and Anne Crosby: i. 
Thomas, born 1635. 2. Simon, born August, 
1637, mentioned below. 3. Joseph, born 
February, 1639-40. 

(H) Simon Crosby, son of Simon Crosby 
(i), was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
August, 1637. and died there January 22, 
1725-26. He was admitted a freeman in 
i6f8, and was deputy to the general court in 
1692-97-98. He settled in Billerica near Bare 
hill to the north and became a large land own- 
er and prosperous inn-keeper of that town. 
He was for many years one of the foremost 
citizens. His will was proved in 1725-26; 
sons Thomas and Josiah executors. He mar- 
ried Rachel Brackett, daughter of Deacon 
Richard Brackett, of Braintree, July 15, 1659. 
Children, born in Billerica: i. Rachel, born 
August 20, 1660, married, January 6, 1685, 
Stephen Kidder. 2. Simon, born 1663, men- 
tioned below. 3. Thomas, born March 10, 
1665-66. 4. Joseph, born July 5, 1669. 5. 
Hamiali, l)orn March 30, 1672, married Sam- 
uel Danforth. 6. Nathan, born February 9. 
1674-75. 7. Josiah, born November 11, 1677. 
8. Mary, born November 23, 1680, married 
John Blanchard. 9. Sarah, born July 27, 
1684, married, October 26, 1706, Raw- 
son. 

(IT I) Simon Crosby, son of Simon Crosby 
(2), was born in Billerica in 1663. He mar- 
ried Hannah , who died May 6, 1702. He 

married (second), March 16, 1702-03, .A-bigail 
Parker, widow of John Parker, who died a 
widow, March 31, 1755. He lived in Billeri- 
ca near the .Shawshin river. Children, born 
in Billerica: r. Simon, born August 23, 1689. 
2. Abigail, born January 6, 1691. 3. John, 
born .-Xpril 11, 1694, died January 6. 1695-96. 



4. John, born April 18, 1696. 5. Samuel, 
born October 4, 1698, married, December 9, 
1729, Dorothy Brown and resided in Shrews- 
bury. 6. Hannah, born June 12, 1700. 7. 
Mary, born May i, 1702. 8. James, born. 
May 29, 1704. 9. Phineas, born November 
26, 1705. 10. Solomon, born .April 8, 1708. 
II. Nathaniel, born December 31, 1710, died 
May 28, 171 1. 12. Rachel, born June 7, 1712. 
13. Benjamin, born December 16, 1715. 

(IV) Lieutenant Simon Crosby, son of 
Simon Crosby (3), was born in Billerica,, 
Massachusetts, .'\ugust 23, 1689. died there 
February 2, 1770-71. He married, July iB,. 
1711, -Rachel Kettell, of Charlestown, Massa- 
chusetts. He married (second), June 9, 1714, 
Abigail Kidder, daughter of Enoch Kidder, 
her cousin ; she died November 7, 1748. Chil- 
dren, born in Billerica: i. Francis, born Oc- 
tober 25, 1715. 2. Abigail, born June 5, 1717, 
married, 1748, Samuel Winship, of Lexing- 
ton. 3. Samuel, born May 20, 1719, died July 
9, 1745. 4. John, born April 19, 1721, died 
November 6, 1743. 5. Mary, born October 3, 
1722, married Ebenezer Richardson. 6. 
Stephen, born February 27, 1723-24, died 
July 8, 1734. 7. Ephraim, born November 27, 
1725, died August 29, 172S. 8. Elizabeth, born 
October 24, 1727, died July 4, 1734. 9. Han- 
nah, born April 2, 1730. 10. Ephraim, born 
Cictober 13, 1731, mentioned below. 11. Per- 
sis. born August 9, 1733, married Jonathan 
Lewis. 12. Elizabeth, born February 10, 
1737-38. married Adams. 

(V) Ephraim Crosby, son of Lieutenant 
Simon Crosby (4), was born in Billerica, Oc- 
tober 13, 1731, died February 29, 1808. Mar- 
ried, April 17, 1755, Mary Meriam, of Bed- 
ford, who died November 30, 1814. He was 
a soldier in the Revolution — Ephraim Crosby, 
Jr., private in Captain Joseph Bradley Var- 
num's company. Colonel Mcintosh's regi- 
ment; General Lovell's brigade, July 29, 1778, 
in the Rhode Island campaign. Most of the 
men were from Dracut and Billerica. Chil- 
dren : I. Abigail, born Augst 6, 1751, married 
Jotham Blanchard. 2. Anna, born March 6, 
1760, married, February i. 1782, Nathaniel 
Henchman. 3. Ephraim, born March 13, 
1762, mentioned below. 4. John, born June 
16, 1765. 5. Mar\-, born December 9, 1767,. 
married Joseph Kendall. 

(VT) Ephraim Crosby, son of Ephraim 
Crosby (5), was born at Billerica, March 13, 
1762. died in 1820. His home was in Billerica 
near the Shawshin river, and he was a farmer. 
In 1815 he removed to Milford, New Hamp- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



155 



shire. He married, March 13, 17S8, Sarah 
French, born in Billerica, daugliter of Wil- 
liam anil Sarah (Richardson) French. Sarah 
was the daughter of Samuel Richardson; mar- 
ried l-ehruary 2^, 1764. William was the son 
of William French, born March 19, 1/2/, and 
.\lehitai)le (Patten) F'rench, daughter of 
Thomas Patten. William, Sr., was son of Ja- 
cob and grandson of the immigrant, William 
F'rench. Children of Ephraim and Sarah 
Crosby: i. Sarah, born October 29, 1789, died 
May 25, 1796. 2. Ephraim, born June 27, 
1791, died September 10, 1808. 3. Rufus, 
born January 2, 1793, died May 28, 1796. 4. 
Anna, born October 10, 1794, died August 11, 
1882; inarried, November 11, 1834, Joseph 
Goodhue, of New Boston, New Hampshire ; 
child : Sarah Lucy Goodhue, born No- 
vember 2, 1836, married (first), November 
20, 1867, George H. Mansfield, of Lynn, 
Massachusetts, (their children: i. Annie 
Louise Mansfield, born June 22, 1869, mar- 
ried, June 14, 1887, Charles Fogg, of New 
Boston; married (second), December 31, 
1895, Herbert E. Houghton, of Lynn, and 
have five children : ii. George Henry Mans- 
field, born April 19, 1873, married, April 17, 
1893, Addie J. Warren, of New Boston ; iii. 
Alice Bertha Mansfield, born October 10, 
1878). 5. Rufus, born November 7, 1796, 
mentioned below. 6. Sarah, born Septem- 
ber 15, 1798, died June 5, 1850: married, De- 
cember 24, 1834. Thomas Wilkins, of Am- 
herst, New Hampshire; children: i. Elizabeth 
Hubbard W^ilkins, born March 4, 1836, died 
unmarried October 14. 1878; ii. Annie Fran- 
ces Wilkins, bom March 0. 1839, married, 
October 30, 1869, Henry W'illard Russell, 
children: Sarah Katherine Russell, born De- 
cember II. 1870; ii. Josephine Weston Rus- 
sell, born June 2. 1872, married, October 29, 
1902, \\'illiam E. Brooks; iii. George Wil- 
liams Russell, born October 19. 1876, mar- 
ried. May 10, 1905. Ida F. Newhall. 7. 
Charles, born May 31. 1800, died May 7, 
1870; married Lvdia Smith, who died ^Tav 
27- '<^7.S: no children. 8. Marv, l)f)rn Mav 6, 
1802, died December 2, 1873; married David 
Hughes, of Foxborough, Ma.'-'sachusetts; 
child. Mary S. Hughes, born December 5, 
1840. 9. Sylvester, born April 12. T804. died 
August II, 1877; tiiarried Caroline D. Hall, 
of New^ Hampshire; children; i. U^illiam 
Dayton, bom August 3. 1841. married (first). 
April 20. 1864. Emeline W^iodman. of Lowell. 
Massachusetts; married (second). October 22, 
T905. Jessie Frey, of Chicago, Illinois ; ii. Ben- 



jamin I'ranklin, born May 19, 1843 '< '■'■ Henry 
Harrison, born September 18, 1845, ^^^'-^ Sep- 
tember 8, 1847; 'V- Jason Whitman, born 
.March 4, 1848. married, October 30. 1895, Ilat- 
tie .\. Palmer, of Lowell ; v. Sylvester Harlan, 
born June 21, 1850, died July 18, 1866. 10. 
Caleb, born June 17, 1806, died September 
5, 1867; married, December 4, 1832, F'annie 

B. Gray, of Wilton, New Hampshire, who 
was born .\ugust 29. 1 810, died December 5,. 
1878. Children; i. Warren C, born August 
21, 1838. died January 24. 1898. married. No- 
vember 20. 1861. Nellie M. Swain, of Dracut, 
Massachusetts; ii. Frances L.. born Novem- 
ber I, 1842, died December 9, 1884; iii. Sarah 
J., born April 26, 1844; iv. Maria G., born 
I*"ebruary 25, 1846, died January 3, 1849; v. 
Emma L., born September 5, 1847, died Janu- 
ary 18, 1888; married, September 16, 1874, 
Charles A. Kendall, of Lowell (children: 
Charles B. Kendall, bom July 10, 1876; 
Walter H. Kendall, l)orn November 14, 1877; 
William C. Kendall, born June 26, 1879; 
Fanny G. Kendall, born June 12, 1881); vi. 
Rufus B.. born August 20, 1850, died March 
7, 1858. II. Lucy, born March 26. t8o8. died 
November i, 1880, unmarried. 12. Louisa, 
born March 26. 1808, died September 14, 
1877. unmarried. 13. Ephraim, born .April 

13. 1810. died December 8, 1889; married, 
August 10, 1836, Caroline Taylor, who was 
born January 5. 1810; children; i. Abby F., 
born November 14, 1839; ii. Luella C, born 
November 25, 1846, died November 23, 1852. 

14. George, born May 22, 1812, died January 
23, 1868; married, l-"ebniary 13, 1842, Louisa 

C. Sargeant, of Lowell, Massachusetts, who 
was born June 4, 1818. and died .April 16, 
1879; children: i. George H., born June 20, 
1848. died February 28. 1849; •'• Lizzie L., 
born October 17, 1859, died January 9, 1874. 

(VH) Rufus Crosby, son of Ephraim 
Crosby (6), was born in Billerica, November 
7, 1796. He attended the district school there 
until he was seventeen years old, during the 
winter terms, and worked with his father on 
the farm at other seasons. When he was 
eighteen years old he removed with his par- 
ents t<j Milford. New Hampshire, where a few 
years later he bou.ght a farm of one hundred 
and thirty acres about three miles from the 
center of the village, and kxrated on the bank 
of the Souhegan river. Fie became a pros- 
perous farmer. In addition to general farm- 
ing he raised hops extensively and carried on 
some business in lumber. The timber and 
wood that he cut in Milford he hauled to 



156 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Nashua, a distance of fourteen miles. He 
was a very devout and pious man, a member 
of the Milford Congregational church (ortho- 
dox). He was broad of shoulder and of medi- 
um height, quiet and retiring in disposition, of 
excellent judgment and sound intellect. He 
was highly respected and esteemed by his 
townsmen. In politics he was a Democrat 
of the old school, and he held the offices of 
road surveyor and school committeeman in 
Milford. He was a member of the state mili- 
tia in his youth. He married, March 29, 1825, 
Ann Blanchard, who was born at Lynde- 
borough. New Hampshire, April i, 1803, and 
died March 19, 1879. Children: i. Mary 
Ann, born June 24, 1826, died September 2, 
1906; married, November, 1851, W. W. How- 
ard, of Milford, who died November 10, 1905; 
children: Alonzo W. Howard, born June 27, 
1853, married, November i, 1893, Sadie J. 
Mooar, of Milford; ii. William R. Howard, 
born January 16, 1857, married Lizzie R. An- 
derson, of Milford. 2. Rufus Pierce, born 
September 28, 1829, mentioned below. 3. 
Harriet Louisa, born March 3, 1832, married, 
December 8, 1859, William Lincoln Cleaves, 
of Mount Vernon, New Hampshire, and had 
William Crosby Cleaves, born January 12, 
1861. 4. George, born March 6, 1835, died 
February 13, 1904; married, January 12. 1865, 
Julia Ann Fiske, of Nashua, New Hampshire, 
who was born May 20, 183 1; children: i. 
Harriet Frances, born February 9, 1867, un- 
married; ii. Alice Gertrude, born November 
II, 1868, married April 23, 1902, Perley P. 
Kidder, of Francestown, New Hampshire, 
born July I, 1866; iii. Herbert Weston, born 
May 20, 1872, married, November 8, 1897, 
Sadie N. Nutting, of Milford, New Hamp- 
shire ("children :Marion Gertrude, born Sep- 
tember 26, 1901, and Ina Nutting, born July 
5, 1905): iv. Harry Parsons, born .\pril 9, 
1874, married, December 8, 1898, Jessie Dun- 
can, of Gardner, Massachusetts (children: 
George William, born October 28, 1900; 
Harry Dxmcan, born November 20, 1902; 
T^alpii Parsons, born March 20, 1905). 5. 
Ephraim, born August i, 1840, died October 
13. 1865. 6. Abbie Elizabeth, born Septem- 
ber. 24. 1845, died .-Xugust 27, 1895; she was a 
school teacher in Milford. 

(VHP) Rufus Pierce Crosby, son of Rufus 
Crosby (7), was born in Milford, New Hamp- 
shire, September 28, 1829. He received his 
education in the district schools during the 
winter months, until he was eighteen years 
old, helping his father on the farm at other 
seasons. At the age of twenty years he left 



home and entered the employ of his uncle, 
Sylvester Crosby, of Lowell, Massachusetts, 
on his farm. Subsequently he returned to his 
home, but stayed only a short time. He went 
to work in the patent leather manufactory of 
Robert Ames at Ro.xbury, now Boston, 
Massachusetts, and learned the trade, remain- 
ing some three years and a half. In 1854 he 
came to Woburn to enter the employ of Cyrus 
Cummings. who was also a patent leather 
manufacturer. The patent leather business at 
that time was in the experimental stages and 
after a year the business at Woburn was 
abandoned, and Mr. Crosby bought the milk 
route of Frank Cutter, living at Cummings- 
ville, in Woburn. Mr. Crosby was very success- 
ful in the milk business, and for a period of 
thirty-one years had a very large and prosper- 
ous business. He sold it in 1886 to Charles 
Cummings and retired, and since then has 
not engaged in active business. In 1872 Mr. 
Crosby built his present residence at 85 Pleas- 
ant street. Mr. Crosby is a typical self-made 
man. Depending upon his own resources, he 
made a successful struggle for a position in 
the business world and acquired a competence 
in middle life. By his industry and activity 
in early life, he fairly earned the years of 
leisure he has enjoyed since his retirement. 
His amiable disposition and good nature 
make him a friend of all, and few men are 
better known or more generally esteemed. 
He attends the Woburn Congregational 
church. In politics he is a Republican. 

He married, December i, 1854, at Rox- 
bury, Masachusetts, Mary E. Sherborn, who 
was born January 15, 1827, at Barrington, 
New Hampshire, and died at Woburn, March 
24, 1905, daughter of John Sherborn. Chil- 
dren: 1. Edwin Pierce, born at Burlington, 
March 18, 1856, married, May 12, 1881, :\Iaria 
A. McCabe, of Woburn, Massachusetts ; child. 
Bertha .Maria, born March 25, 1882. 2. Mary 
Lizzie, born at Burlington, November 26, 
1857, died at Woburn, December 14, 1884; 
married, February 12, 1880, Frank Nichols, 
of Woburn ; children : i. Rufus Stratton, 
Nichols, born September 24, 1881, married, 
January I, 1904, Elvira Cloutman, of Milford, 
New Hampshire; ii. Dana Frank Nichols, 
born .-\ugust 3, 1883, died March 19, 1888. 3. 
Annie Etta, born November 11, i860, mar- 
ried, June 22, 1881, William H. Herrick, of 
Winchester, Massachusetts, at Woburn; chil- 
dren: i. Ralph Crosby Herrick, born Janu- 
ary I, 1885; ii. Grace Herrick, born August 
11', r886. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



157 



Joseph Tripp, the immigiaiu aii- 
TRlPi' cestor oi Benjamin Augustus 
Tripp, settled in the town of 
Dartmouth, Bristol county, Plymouth Colony, 
anil took the freeman's oath, as recorded, m 
-May, 1680. He had already been chosen 
"reatter" of the town in 1675. ^^*^ ^^'^^ '^"'-" *3' 
the agents appointed by the town, February 
4, 1685, "'for the encouragement of a minis- 
ter to preach the word of God." In a list of 
the persons of the name of Tripp, who are 
recorded as among the early settlers of the 
town of Dartmouth, besides Joseph, are found 
Abaul. Benjamin, Ebenezer, James, Peleg, 
Richard and Timothy. 

Othriel Tripp was the son of a Tory at the 
time of the American Revolution, and often 
a prisoner in both the American and British 
camps. Othriel Tripp was born in Dighton 
or Taunton, and was superintendent of a 
woolen factory at North Dighton, in which 
his son, William Wilbur (q. v.), worked. He 
was an orthodox Congregationalist. He mar- 
ried, October 19, 1792, Rebecca Wilbur, and 
had children: William Wilbur (q. v.); Ben- 
jamin, who died of lockjaw-; Othriel: Anne- 
vill; Sarah, who married .\nsel Balcom, and 
had two children — Betsey and Balcom. 

William Wilbur Tripp, son of Othriel and 
Rebecca (Wilbur) Tripp, was the oldest of 
seven children. He was born in Taunton, 
.May 3, 1796, and attended school in his 
native town. When quite young he went to 
work in a woolen factory at North Dighton, 
where his father was superintendent, and 
soon after he reached his majority removed 
to North Brookfield. where .March 20. 1820, 
he was married to Mary, daughter of Reuben 
and Hamiah (Atwoodi (lilbert. of North 
Brookfield. and their children were: i. Will- 
iam (jilbert, born January 20, 1821, died Oc- 
tober 8, 1838. 2. Hannah Rebecca, born April 
28, 1823, died November 17, 1845: was mar- 
ried September 14, 1841, to Lewis R. Damon, 
of Warren, and had children — Charles E. 
Damon, born March 24, 1842: Lyman .\t- 
wood, born November 9, 1845. married 
I-lmma J. Boyd, had four children, and died 
December 13, 1904. 3. Benjamin, born July 
31. 1825, died August 16, 1828. 4. Reuben 
I-'dwin, born November 29, 1827, died De- 
cember 22. 1845. 5. Benjamin .\ugustus, 
horn June 7, 1830. 6. Mary Maria (blind), 
horn July 12. 1833. died 1885. 7. John Wil- 
bur, born December 2. 1835, married. June T2, 
1862. Elizabeth J. .^rnelt. of Marietta. Ohio, 
and had one child. May Belle, born March 15. 
1866, married. November 18, 1886, T. R. 



-Mason, of Stella, Nebraska, and had five chil- 
dren. 8. Sarah Ann White, born January 18, 
1838, died I'cbruary 14, 1838. 9. Lillian 
Leonard, born May 8, 1839, married, .August 
2^, 1863, S- Erancis Ruggles, of Marietta, 
Ohio, and had four children. 10. Othriel 
Faxon, born .Vugust 2j, 1841, married (first), 
1870, Dell Randolph, of Alichigan, and (sec- 
ond) Lydia , and died at Battle 

Creek, ^Michigan, December 29, 1880. 11. Eliz- 
abeth Ann, born February 7, 1844, married^ 
September 13. 1865, William Lord, of Spen- 
cer, Massachusetts, and had one son, and died 
at Little Falls. New York, November n, 
187b. 

Benjamin Augustus Tripp, son of William 
Wilbur and Alary (Gilbert) Tripp, was bora 
at North Brookfield, Massachusetts, June 7, 
1830. In 1832 his parents removed to West 
Brookfield, where he attended the public 
school until he was nine years old. He re- 
moved with his parents to Warren, Alassa- 
chusetts, in 1839, where he learned the trade 
of shoemaker with his father, and he was a 
faithful apprentice, thoroughly mastering the 
trade. His father died in 1845, and he took 
the little shop in his own charge and con- 
tinued the business up to 1850. In that year 
he went to Grafton, Alassachusetts, to take a 
position in the large shoemaking shop of 
Jtniathan Warren, and he worked at his trade 
in this shop 1850-52. In 1852 he returned to 
Warren and resumed work in the little shop 
on the home place, continuing to make shoes 
up to 1857, when he removed to New York 
City to work at shoemaking for James Mc- 
Master on new and improved shoe machines. 
His work was so satisfactory that within five 
months after he took up the work on the 
machine he was made superintendent of the 
shop, and he remained with the concern for 
one and one-half years. The panic of 1857 
was felt the following year in the shoe indus- 
try, and the house of James McMaster failed, 
and Mr. Tripp returned to Warren where he 
worked on the farm about one year. His next 
venture was a trip to New Orleans, where hi& 
reputation as a skilled workman had preceded 
him, and the New Orleans Boot & Shoe 
Company secured his services as superintend- 
ent of their factory, then in course of con- 
struction. He set up the new machinery that 
the company had purchased, and he demon- 
strated its working to the public with entire 
satisfaction to the stockholders, directors and 
officers of the company, and to the great 
edification of the public, to whom making 
shoes by machinery was a novelty. After the 



158 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



factory was in full working condition, and 
men had been trained to take his place, he 
returned home, but he was summoned back 
by the company who offered him a permanent 
position at a largely advanced salary to super- 
intend the factory, and he remained up to i86i, 
when the breaking out of the Civil war closed 
the ports of the southern states, and he was 
obliged to seek for suitable leather in the 
southern tanneries, and in his travels for this 
purpose visited all the seceded states, and 
secured a very thorough knowledge of the 
political condition of affairs. As he foresaw, 
a long and desperate struggle with uncertain 
results, he determined to return to his home 
and he made his way through the closely 
guarded southern lines, and in 1861 again 
took up work in his own shop. In 1864 he 
was offered a partnership by William P. Rams- 
dell, and the firm of Ramsdell & Tripp did a 
thriving business up to the close of 1869 as 
shoe manufacturers. 

He represented his* district in the general 
court of Massachusetts in 1870, and in 1871 
he, with Asahel Fairbanks and his son, ex- 
Senator Wilson H. I'airbanks, as partners, 
began the manufacture of boots and shoes 
under the firm name of B. A. Tripp & Com- 
pany. This concern continued for eight 
years, and in 1879 Frank Hazelwood with 
Silas Potter, of Boston, bought out the Fair- 
banks interest, and became partners, and the 
business was continued two years under the 
firm name of Tripp & Hazelwood. In 1881 
Cutter Moore and others, of Warren, bought 
out the interest of Frank Hazelwood, and the 
corporation of Tripp & Jvloore Boot and 
Shoe Company was formed under the laws of 
the state of Massachusetts, with Cutter Moore 
as president, and Mr. Tripp as treasurer, 
secretary and business manager. The com- 
pany did a successful business up to Decem- 
ber, 1884, and it was then dissolved by mu- 
tual consent. In 1885 Mr. Tripp removed 
from Warren to Woburn, and purchased the 
undertaking business then carried on by L. 
Houghton Allen, and Mr. Tripp continued the 
business at the old stand on Montvale avenue 
up to August, 1898, when he purchased land 
on Pro-pect street and removed the build- 
ings to the new lot. and business continued 
to increase until he became the leading 
funeral director of the city and vicinity. He 
also conducted a profitable blacksmithing 
business from 1894. His son, Charles E. 
Tripp, was admitted as a partner in the busi- 
ness in 1872. the firm becoming B. A. & C. E. 
Tripp. 



Benjamin A. Tripp was married April 2, 
1 85 1, to Ruth Maria, daughter of Perley and 
Hannah (Reed) Damon, of Warren, and their 
children were: I. Charles Edgar, born in 
Warren, December 30, 1851, who became his 
father's partner on reaching his majority. He 
was married December 2, 1872, to Abbie Jane 
Day, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and their 
son, George Edward Tripp, was born No- 
vember 28, 1872, was married October 2, 
1895, to Elizabeth M. Fountain, of Woburn, 
and their daughter, Blanch Evelyn, was born 
July 9, 1896. Mrs. Charles Edgar Tripp died, 
and Mr. Tripp was married (second), Decem- 
ber 30, 1874, Flora Mandella, daughter of John 
and Mary Ann (Winch) Howard, of Upton, 
Massachusetts, and their children were: Leon 
Benjamin, born April 19, 1877, died July 29, 
1877 ; Angle May, born July 4, 1884, married, 
June 20, 1896, Alnion E. Richardson, of Wo- 
burn. 2. Edward Herbert, bom October i, 
1854, was married May 31, 1877, to Emma 
L. Newton, of Marlboro, Massachusetts, and 
their children were: Abbie Ruth, born Janu- 
ary 27, 1879, died May 14, 1896; Herbert 
Newton, born July 12, 1882, died August 9, 
1888, and Augustus Benjamin, born Decem- 
ber II, 1886. 

Mr. Benjamin A. Tripp joined the Congre- 
gational church at Warren, Massachusetts, in 
i860, and served as deacon of the church at 
Warren for about eighteen years. His public 
policy in the affairs of government was 
formed in the platform of the Republican 
party, and he was a delegate for that party to 
numerous county and state conventions, and 
in Warren his party elected him selectman for 
three years, and highway commissioner. 



Edmund Gustin, the progenitor 
GUSTIN of this family, lived at St. 

Ouens. Isle of Jersey. He mar- 
ried there April 25, 1638, Esther Le Rossig- 
nol. The homestead at St. Ouens was sold 
by their son in 1677 to John Brock, of Read- 
ing, Massachusetts. The family name is 
something of a puzzle, however. The son, 
who will be known in this sketch as John 
Gustin (i), was originally designated August- 
ine Jean in the records. Savage implies that 
the name should have been Jean or John 
Augustine, and it certainy took that form 
after its owner came to America. In a few 
years it was shortened to Gustine, and eventu- 
ally most of the family dipt off the terminal 
also, making it Gustin. Esther, the mother 
of Jean, had a brother, M. Augustine Rossig- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



159 



nol. of St. Ouens. and it is presumed th;it both 
Jean and Augustine were given names. 

(II) John (Justin, son of Edmund Gustin 
(i), was born in St. Ouens, Isle of Jersey, 
Januarj' 9, 1647. He came to New England 
when a young man and was a sergeant in 
Captain Turner's company in King Philip's 
war, 1676. He had made his home at Read- 
ing, -Massachusetts, and was living there in 
1677 when he sold his English patrimony. In 
1680 he received a grant of land at Falmouth 
from President Danforth, the fourth lot on 
what was Broad street, now India street, 
Portland, Maine, with the privilege of con- 
ducting a brick yard. He bought a small lot 
in Falmouth of Widow Housing on the west 
side of the Prcsimipscot river. He was driven 
from home by the Indians with the other set- 
tlers, but returned in 1719. He was a mar- 
iner part of the time and was once captain 
of a vessel. 

He bought land above the falls on the Pre- 
siimpscot in 1686 of Thomas Cloice and made 
his home there until May 26, 1690, when the 
Indians destroyed Falmouth. He married at 
A\'atertown. .Massachusetts, Elizabeth Brown, 
daughter of John Brown. Some of his chil- 
dren did not return to Maine, but went to 
Pennsylvania, Connecticut and elsewhere. 
His descendants have been traced in Virginia 
and Pennsylvania among the well known 
families of Hamiltons, Snowdons and Thomp- 
sons of Philadelphia; Clews, Hunters and 
Greens of \'irginia. He left a widow and 
seven children, viz. : Samuel, John, Jr., 
Thomas, mentioned below: Ebenezer, David. 
Sarah. Abigail. 

(III) Thomas Gustin, son of John Gustin 
(2). was born about 1690. He settled at Col- 
chester, Connecticut, where June 7, 1722, he 
married Sarah llolmes. daughter of John and 
Elizabeth (Gates) Holmes, of Colchester. 
The birth of the eldest son is recorded there. 
Children; Thomas, Jr., born at Colchester, 
July 19, 1725. Samuel, settled at Marlow, 
New Hampshire, about 1765. John, resided 
at Lyme. Connecticut, and had son John. Jr., 
born there September 27, 1768. Josiah, born 
1749, settled at ^larlow. 

(I\0 Thomas Gustin, Jr., son of Thomas 
Gustin (3). was born at Colchester, Connecti- 
cut, July 19. 1725. .About 1765 he and his 
brother Samuel settled among the first seven 
in the grant at Marlow-, New Hampshire, 
made October 7, 1761, to men of Lyme and 
Colchester, Connecticut. Samuel remained 
there and was chairman of the committee for 
the towns of Marlow, Alstead and Surrey, 



New Ilampsliire, representing the signers of 
a petition relative to a re])reseiitative in the 
legislature, December 11; 1776. Thomas 
(Justin was an early settler at Claremont, 
New Hampshire. He was on a committee to 
audit the accounts of the selectmen in 1768 
and 1770; was moderator in 1772; selectman 
1771-72-74-75, and on the connnittee of safety 
in 1775. He took the tirst steps to form the 
church in 1 77 1 and the tirst minister. Rev. 
George W'heaton, was settled in February, 
1772. He or his son Thomas was a soldier in 
the Revolution from Claremont in Captain 
Wetherbee's company. His relatives, Joel, 
Amos and Walter Gustin, were in Connecti- 
cut regiments in the Revolution; Josiah and 
others in New Hampshire regiments. The 
wile of Thomas Cnistin died at Rockingham, 
\'ermont. where his son Elisha settled. Chil- 
dren: Edward, born 1758. Polly, married 
Seth Deming, of Cornish, New Hampshire. 
Elisha, removed to Rockingham, Vermont; 
soldier in Revolution. Thomas. Jr., was sol- 
dier in Revolution. 

(V) Edward Gustin, son of Thomas 
Gustin (4), was born probably in Colches- 
ter, Connecticut, in 1758, and died at 
an advanced age in Hinsdale, New Hamp- 
shire. He made an application for a pension 
August 10, 1832, when he was seventy-four 
years old, show'ing service of fourteen months 
as private and eight months as sergeant in 
the New Hampshire troops. He served part 
of this time under Captain Jones, Colonel 
Troop. He was a petitioner from Claremont 
for a lottery to defray the cost of needed 
roads connecting with W'inchester and other 
towns after the Revolution. He settled later 
in Hinsdale. Children: Edward, Jr., born 
November 12, 1786-87, married, 181 1, l'"anny 
hield; resided at Winchester. Thomas, men- 
tioned below. 

( VI) Thomas (justin. son of Edward Gus- 
tin (5), was born about 1790 in Claremont, 
New Hampshire, probably. He settled in 
Cornish and became a prosperous farmer, 
raising cattle and sheep extensively. He 
married .Mice Vinton, daughter oi" John Vin- 
ton. Children: Miranda. Elizal)eth. .Mice, 
James Harvey, John. 

(VII) James FTarvey Gustin, son of Thomas 
Gustin (6), was born at Cornish, New Hamp- 
shire. May 19, 181 5, and died at Winchester, 
Massachusetts, September 3, 1897. He was 
educated in the common schools of his native 
town, working between school terms on his 
father's farm until eleven years old, when his 
father died and he was "put out" to work until 



i6o 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



he was twenty \ears old. Then he came to 
BrookHne, Massachusetts, in the employ of 
his brother, John Gustin, who was a market 
gardener there. Later he worked for a farmer 
named Derby, whose produce he used to sell 
in Boston. It is said that he was the first 
produce man to back his wagon up to old 
Quincy Market. After a fiew years he went 
into business as proprietor of a restaurant in 
Boston, but the venture was not successful 
and he abandoned it and went west. When 
about twenty-eight years old he located in 
Fall River, Massachusetts, and learned the 
trade of mason. He worked on the construc- 
tion of many of the .big cotton mills there. 
In 1853 he leased the Baldwin place at Hyde 
Park, Massachusetts, but subsequently became 
foreman on the Cheever Newhall farm at 
Milton for three years. He then leased the 
Clark farm at Waltham, Massachusetts, and 
raised produce for the Boston market. He 
had the Bright farm at Belmont four years; 
the Darling farm at Woburn five years, sell- 
ing the ten year lease to go into the meat 
and provision business on Joy street, Boston. 
He worked afterward at Winchester at the 
mason's trade and at length bought the Eaton 
farm in that town and lived on it until he died, 
September 3, 1897. Mr. Gustin was a Baptist 
in religion and a Republican in politics. 

He married, April 3, 1846, Susan Crane 
French, who was born November 3, 1826, 
and died at Winchester, December 16, 1888, 
daughter of Ephraim and Olive (Eaton) 
French, of Berkeley, Massachusetts. Her 
father was a prominent citizen ; was represen- 
tative to the general court. Children: i. 
Wilham Henry, born August 15, 1847, died 
October 30, 1848. 2. Mary Adley, born June 
7, 1849, married, June i, 1879, Alvah B. 
Heald, of Woburn ; children : i. Alvah Frances 
Heald. born October i. 1880, died February 
24, 1886; ii. Florence Warren Heald, June 17, 
1883, died April 24, 1893; iii. Bertha May 
Heald, August 31. 1884. 3. Herbert Ervin, 
born July 25, 1851, married, October 5. 1880, 
Julia Carlisle, of Charlestown, Massachusetts; 
children: i. Herbert Irving, born August 15, 
1882, married, October 12, 1904. Mildred 
Pettingill, of Salisburw and have Bertram 
Pettingill, born November 15. 1906; ii. Ernest 
Sumner. February 2, 1888, died June 15, 
1889; iii. Lester Carlisle, March 29. 1890; iv. 
Ralph Livingston, November 27, 1891. 4. 
Francis Edward, born August 28, 1855, men- 
tioned below. 5. Clarence Harvey, born 
August 12, 1857, married Annie F. Sinclair, 
of Florida; children: i. Myrtie, ii. Harvey 



James, iii. Eleanor, iv. Jessie, v. Marion, vi. 
Mary. 6. Susan Amelia, born February 3, 
i860, married, November zy, 1889, George 
H. Newcomb, of Woburn. 7. Charles Henry, 
born at Belmont, December 30, 1861, died' 
December 28, 1862. 8. James Ernest, born 
at Woburn, December 2, 1865, married, No- 
vember 4, 1 89 1, Lena Ellis Thayer, of Taun- 
ton, Massachusetts ; children : i. Mildred, ii. 
Ernest, iii. Raymond, iv. Marjorie. 9. 
George Oliver, born March 3, 1868, married, 
February 6, 1890, Augusta Branch, of 
Charlestown; child — Chester Orville, born 
March 23, 1891. 

(VIII) Francis Edward Gustin, son of 
James Harvey Gustin (7), was born at Milton, 
Massachusetts, August 28, 1855. His parents 
removed to Waltham when he was an infant 
and he began his education there in the public 
schools. When he was seven his parents 
removed to Woburn. He attended the Wo- 
burn schools and Warren Academy, and 
helped his father on the farm until he was 
fourteen years old. He learned the trade of 
mason and worked at it with his father until 
seventeen years old. He was then employed 
for eighteen months on the farm of V. P. 
Locke at Winchester; twenty months in 
charge of the milk business of Henry Brick 
at • Newton ; for eighteen months by Sanuiel 
Twombley in market gardening at Winches- 
ter. He leased the Jacob Pierce place at 
Winchester for eight years, and later the 
Hanfon place for market gardening and 
greenhouses. In 1890 he bought a farm at 
Leominster, Massachusetts, conducting it in 
addition to his other business for four years. 
He also owned and conducted a farm in 
Maine for eight years. In 1900 he bought his 
present farm at Woburn, then known as the 
old Ellard place, consisting of twenty acres to 
which he has added by purchase some sixteen 
acres. He has prospered in business, finding 
an execllent market for his produce in Bos- 
ton. Mr. Gustin is a Baptist in religion; a 
Republican in politics. He was made a mem- 
ber of Mt. Horeb Lodge of Free Masons, 
May 17, T882; of Woburn Chapter of Royal 
Arch Masons, November 11, 1892; of Hugh 
De Payen's Commandery of Knights Temp- 
lar, June 24, 1894; of Bethel Lodge. No. 12, 
Odd Fellows, at Arlington, November 9, 
1881. He belongs to the Market Gardeners' 
Association of Boston. His only public office 
was that of special police. He married. April 
8, 1883. Ellen Maria Walley. born July 25, 
1851, daughter of James and Ellen (Dudley) 
Wallev, of Dedham, Massachusetts. Her 




^/^c 



MIDDLESEX CULWl'V, 



i6r 



father was a blacksmith. Cliildren: l-raiicis 
Edward. Jr., horn i-ehruary 4, 1884. Susan 
Anna. Dccenitier 24. i88f). Cliark-s .\lfr<.-d. 
July 3. 1888. 



\\ illiani Russell, immigrant 
RUSSELL ancestor, was torn in England 

in 1605, according to his depo- 
sition made in 1661. He settled in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, aTx>ut 1636, and died there 
Eebruary 14, i66i-b2. He was a carpenter by 
trade. It is likely that he was related to John 
Russell, a pioneer at Cambridge, and to Rich- 
ard Russell, one of the first settlers at Char- 
lestown, but the connection is not known. He 
resided in West Cambridge or Menotomy, and 
was a member of the Cambridge church. His 
widow Martha married (second) Humphrey 
Bradshaw, March 24, 1665, and signed a deed 
of the Billerica property of Russell after her 
second marriage. She married (third), May 
24, 1683, Thomas Hall ; she died about 1694. 
Children: i. Joseph, born 1636; married, 
June 23, 1662, Mary Belcher. 2. Benjamin. 
3. Phehe, died July 8, 1742. 4. John, born 
Septeml)er II, 1645. 5- Martha. 6. Philip, 
born about 1650, mentioned below. 7. Will- 
iam, born April 28. 1655, married Abigail 
Winship. 8. Jason, born November 14, 1658, 
married Mary Hubbard. 9. Joyce, born 
March 3, 1660, inarried Edmund Rice, of Sud- 
bury. 

(H) Philip Russell, son of William Russell 
(i), was born at Cambridge about 1650. Mar- 
ried, June 19, 1680, Joanna Culler, born 1660, 
died November 26, 1703, aged forty-three. 
She was the daughter of James Cutler. He 
inarried (second), October 18, 1705, Sarah 
Brooks, of Medford. He was a carpenter by 
trade and resided at Menotomy, later at Cam- 
bridge Farms (Lexington). He was promi- 
nent both in the old town of Cambridge and in 
the new settlement, being selectman of Cam- 
bridge in 1700 and 1701. He was a subscriber 
to the meeting house at the Farms in 1692, 
and was on the committee to seat the meeting 
house later. He died February 7, 1730-31, 
aged eighty years. His children's names ap- 
pear in the settlement of his estate in the Mid- 
dlesex probate records. Children: i. James, 

born July 23, i68r, married Mary . 2. 

Joanna, born December 30, 1683, married Will- 
iam Munroe. 3. William, born July 23, 1686, 
mentioned below. 4. Philip, born September 
18, 1688, died March 3, 1773. 5. Samiiel, 
born Jamiary 12, 1690-91. 6. Jemima, born 
1692, married William I>ockc. 7. Thomas. 

i-U 



born 1698, baptized July 3. 8. .Abigail, born 
September 11, 1700, married David Sprague. 
9. Sarah, married, .\pril 26, 1739, Joseph Rus- 
sell. 10. Susaima, born (Jctober 27, 1706. 

(IH) Captain William Russell, son of 
I'hilip Russell (2), was born in Cambridge, 
July 23, 1686, died November 25, 173 1. He 

married Elizabeth . He was constable 

in 1722 and 1723; residing at Cambridge 
I'arms. His father deeded the homestead to 
him, subject to a life lease, and he in turn 
deeded the place to his eldest son, Nathaniel. 
He was active in military as well as civil life 
and became captain of the Lexington com- 
pany. Cliildren : i. Nathaniel, bom February 
23, 1706-07. 2. Lydia, Ijorn May 19, 1711. 
3. Submit, born 1712, baptized Decemljer 28, 
1712. 4. Joel, born .August 2, 1716, mentioned 
below. 

(IV) Joel Russell, son of William Russell 
(3), was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, 

August 2, 1716, married Huldah . They 

resided several years in Littleton, Massachu- 
setts, and settled in Rindge in 1752 with his 
family, though he himself had been there a 
season or more previously to prepare for the 
new home. He lived first in the northwest 
part of the town, then removed to the farm 
later occupied by Benjamin Hastings. His 
wife was living April 10, 1775 ; he died about 
1780. Their children: i. Silas, born Octo- 
ber 10, 1742, married, August 22, 1765, Kezia 
Phillips. 2. Hannah, born .April 2, 1744, died 
January 8, 1750. 3. Joel, born April 18, 1747, 
soldier in Revolution, 1775, removed to New 
Ipswich, New Hampshire. 4. Lydia, born 
-April I, 1749. 5. William, born June 18, 1751, 
soldier in Revolution. 6. Sainuel, btjrn May 
31, 1753, married, July 22, 1774, Abigail Rus- 
sell, soldier in Revolution, settled in New Ips- 
wich. 7. Daniel, mentioned below. 8. Eliza- 
beth. 9. Hannah, born August 8, 1759. 10. 
Nathaniel, born February 13, 1762, taxed until 
1795, II. Abigail, born January i6, 1765. 

(V) Daniel Russell, son of Joel Russell (4), 
was born in Rindge, New Hampshire, March 
18, 1755. He was a soldier in the Revolution, 
a private in Captain Nathan Hale's company 
and marched on the Lexington call, April 19, 
1775. During the summer following lie was 
in Captain Philip Thomas's company, Colonel 
James Reid's regiment. lie was in Rindge, 
March 14, 1776, when he signed a patriotic 
agreement of citizens to resist the British ag- 
gressors. He enlisted in the Continental army 
in April, 1777, and was severely wounded in 
the battle of Stillwater and was unable to re- 
turn to duty. .-According to his petition for 



l62 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



reimbursement for extra expenses, his wound 
was very serious. He enlisted, he said, March 
5, '^777' '" th^ Continental arm}- and was shot 
through the side of the back while fighting 
with the enemy near Stillwater, September ly, 
1777, which disabled him from fighting; from 
thence he was conducted to Albany and about 
October 20 received a furlough ancl was eleven 
days in getting to Rindge, in great pain by 
reason of said wound. He immediately put 
himself under the care of Dr. John Young, of 
Peterboro, where he stayed till October follow- 
ing. The following month, when he recovered 
his health so he was able to ride to Boston, 
he took a furlough of Hon. Major General 
Gates and returned to Rindge and was in pros- 
pect of recovering his health. But his said 
wound not being healed internally, as the bone 
was fractured, it "healed" again and it became 
necessary to have it laid open again. He soon 
put himself under the care of Dr. Howe, of 
Jafifrey, where he stayed till August i, 1779, 
which cost him thirty pounds, besides board 
and other necessary charges, and not being 
able to return to his regiment or any corps of 
invalids he went under the care of Dr. Young, 
of Peterboro, again and stayed until October 
13, which cost him forty pounds to doctor. 
When he recovered his health so he was able 
to go to Boston, and was found not fit for any 
kind of duty, he received a furlough for two 
months and at the end of that time received a 
furlough the same as a discharge till the time 
of enlistment expired. He returned to Peter- 
boro under the care of Dr. Young, and for a 
time was unable to earn his living. The facts 
stated were related in his petition which closes : 
"He is utterly unable to earn his own support 
and is reduced to low and miserable condition 
of life and must throw himself upon the charity 
of the people unless some relief is granted." 
This interesting document is dated June 2, 
1780. He was granted forty-two pounds, thir- 
teen shillings for reimbursement and kept on 
half pay for a few years until he fully recov- 
ered. The town also allowed him extra com- 
pensation on account of his extraordinary ex- 
penses. Hj removed from town about 1785, 
and settled in the neighboring town of Lynde- 
borough where his children were born. Chil- 
dren : I. George G., born February 21, 1785, 
married Rachel . 2. Huldah, born Sep- 
tember II, 1786. 3. John G., born June 21, 
1788. 4. Daniel, born March 25, 1790. 5, 
Elijah, born April 22, 1793, 

(VI) Daniel Russell, son of Daniel Russell 
(5), was born March 25, 1790, and died at 
Providence, Rhode Island, May 24, 1845. He 



was educated in the common schools, and 
worked in his youth on his father's farm. He 
also learned the trade of shoemaking, and after 
h,e left home followed that trade all his life. 
About the time he became of age he settled in 
Providence. He opened a shop on College 
PJill and made custom shoes, and another shop 
on Main street, and drew the patronage of the 
best people of the city and college. About 
1817 he removed to Chillicothe, Ohio, where 
he established a prosperous buiness in custom- 
made shoes. He returned about 1824 to Provi- 
dence and started in business there again and 
continued tlie remainder of his life, tie died 
March 14, 1845. He built his house on Transit 
street about 1824. It was sold by the heirs 
after the death of his wife in 1876. He was 
a gifted musician, played the base viol in 
church and was greatly interested in musical 
affairs. He was a Universalist in religion and 
attended the Universalist church at Provi- 
dence. In politics he was in later life a Whig. 
He was a member of the Providence Lodge of 
Free Masons. He belonged to the militia when 
a young man. 

He inarried, at Providence, Rhode Island, 
January 12, 1812, Mary Walker, who was born 
September 9, 1788, at Rehoboth, Massachu- 
setts, and died at Providence, November 22, 
1876, daughter of Calvin (born January 5, 
1754, died March 25, 1835) and Phebe (Cole) 
Walker, of Rehoboth. Children: i. Mary W., 
born at Providence, October 10, 1812, married, 
1846, James A. C. Hathaway, born at Fall 
River 1824 ; children : i. Sarah Adeline Hatha- 
way, born 1848 ; ii. Lizzie Ella Hathaway and 
Willie Cleveland Hathaway, born December 
19, 1849; twins, died March, 1850. 2. Rachel 
Gould, born May 16, 1814, died August, 1814. 
3. Herbert, born 181 5, died in infancy. 4. 
Eliza W., born May 25, 1816, married (first) 
William Henry Quimby, of Haverhill ; (sec- 
ond) Dr, John Richards, of Newton, Massa- 
chusetts, and had four children. 5. Sarah C, 
born October 3, 1818, at Chillicothe, Ohio, 
married, 1841, Robert Almy, of Portsmouth, 
Rhode Island ; children : i. Robert Russell 
Almy, born October 7, 1843, died January 29, 
1850; ii. Edward Clarence Almy, born Julne 
13, 1847; iii. Sarah Ella Almy, bom August 
18, 1850; iv. Mary Adelaide Isabel Almy, 
born September 17, 1853; v. Robert Tilling- 
hast Almy, born February 14, 1858. 6. Phebe 
W., bornat Chillicothe, August 17, 1820, mar- 
ried, 1842, Thomas G. Howland, of Rhode Isl- 
and, and had one child, died in infancy. 7. 
Rebecca H., born May 3, 1822, died young. 
8. Daniel, born July 16, 1824, mentioned be- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



163 



low. 9. William C. \V., born .\ugust 9, 1828, 
died at Taunlun, Massachusetts, December 26, 
1834. 10. Emma \\'., born June 24, 1830, 
marrieJ, July 2, 1854, at Taunton, Gordon 
Westcott I'erkins ; children : William Russell 
P'crkins. torn September 22, 1856, and Daniel 
Ernst, who now resides at Kramling, Colo- 
rado. II. .\lbert Gould, born .-\pril 30, 1832, 
died April 9, i8(k) ; married, June 24, 1857, 
Mary E. Irons ; child, Cliarles Albert, born 
October 24, 1859. 

(VII) Daniel Russell, son of Daniel Rus- 
sell (6), was born at Providence, Rhode Isl- 
and, July i6, 1824, and was educated there in 
the common schools. His father taught him 
the trade of shoemaking and he worked in his 
father's shop for some years, but when seven- 
teen years old left home to serve an apprentice- 
ship in the carriage painting trade, under Mr. 
Fairman, of Providence. He served three 
years and for four years more worked as a 
journeyman at Providence and in Middleboro, 
Massachusetts. In 1847 he went to Boston 
and became a salesman of small wares from 
samples. In 1849, when gold was discovered 
in California, he prepared to join the argo- 
nauts, but finally was induced by his friends 
and family to remain at home, and during that 
year began to work for Hon. Nathan Porter 
as agent and bookkeeper in his hat and cap 
business, taking a position after two years 
there with Cyrus Handy, clothier. In 1852 he 
returned to Boston to enter the employ of Ed- 
ward Locke & Co., clothing dealers, and re- 
mained two years. At this time he made his 
home in Melrose, where he lived until his 
death. In 1855 he became connected with the 
firm of Isaac Fenno & Co., and six years later 
became a partner. He retired in 1869 to de- 
vote his entire time to various public and pri- 
vate interests. Mr. Russell attributes his first 
real success in life, when he entered the em- 
ploy of Edward Locke & Co., to the interest 
that a western buyer showed in him by giving 
him his first order of $1,500, which he soon 
duplicated and which was given over older 
salesmen and greatly against their wishes. 
From that time his confidence and success 
were established. 

From his removal to Melrose, in 1852, until 
his death, he was closely identified with the 
material and moral development of the town. 
He was largely interested in the establishment 
of the Melrose Savings Bank, and was one of 
the first board of trustees, and in 1878 was 
elected president, a position he filled until his 
death. FTe was selectman of the town three 
years, director of the RTelrose and Maiden 



(Jas Company until 1898, and was one of the 
comniis.^ioners of the water loan and sinking 
fund of the city of Alelrose. He was also a 
director of the I'utnam Woolen Company of 
Putnam, Connecticut. He was a Republican 
in politics, and in 1878 was elected state sena- 
tor of the sixth Middlesex District, which 
consists of Melrose, Wakefield, Reading, 
Billerica, Tewksbury, Wilmington, Bedford, 
Woburn, Winchester, Stoneham, North 
Reading anfl Burlington. He served as chair- 
man of the committee on insurance and mem- 
ber of the committee on agriculture. He was 
re-elected senator in 1879 and again was 
chairman of the insurance connnittee, and a 
member of the committees on agriculture and 
street railways. In 1890 he was a delegate 
from his congressional district to the Re[)ub- 
lican National Convention at Chicago. 

Having been an active member of the Mel- 
rose Universalist church, he held many offi- 
cial positions in it, and was largely instru- 
mental in raising the fund for the present 
handsome place of worship. His first contri- 
bution was two thousand dollars and he 
worked constantly to induce others to con- 
tribute. Upon the completion of the beauti- 
ful structure he presented to the society an 
organ costing two thousand dollars, and fin- 
ally gave $2,800 to help cancel the church 
debt. To the town he gave a clock for the 
tower on the town hall and substantial .gifts 
to the fire department, and in his honor one 
of the companies is named the Russell Hose 
Company. 

He was made a Master Mason in Wyoming 
Lodge at Melrose, .'Vpril 28, 1858; member 
of St. .A.ndrew's Chapter of Royal Arch 
Masons at Boston in 1861; of Boston Com- 
mandery. Knights Templar, March 7, 1863. 
He demitted from St. .\ndrew's Chapter and 
became a charter member of Waverly Chap- 
ter, September 30, 1862. He took a demit 
from the Boston Commandery and became a 
charter member of Hugh de Payen's Com- 
mandery. Melrose, Februarj' 14, 1866. Ever 
since joining the craft he took a profound in- 
terest in Masonry, and has given liberally to 
the organizations with which he was connect- 
ed. When Masonic Hall, Melrose, was burnt, 
he was the prime mover in the effort to build 
the elegant new Temple, heading the sub- 
scription fund with a handsome sum and 
securing other subscriptions until the fund 
had reached the sum of thirty thousand dol- 
lars. The new Masonic Temple was dedi- 
cated in 1867 and bonds were issued for thirty 
thousand dollars. He bought a large share 



164 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of the bonds and contrilnited the pipe organ 
costing $2,500. He was the organist of his 
lodge for thirty years and of both chapter and 
commandery since they were organized, with- 
out fee or reward. The building is nearly free 
of debt, mainly on account of the liberality 
and personal efforts of Mr. Russell. In 1894, 
at a reception given by Hugh de Payen's 
Commandery he was given by the three Ma- 
sonic bodies a very handsome and valuable 
jewel of an original design in gold, surmount- 
ed by a solitaire diamond in token of their 
appreciation of his long and faithful services. 

Since his retirement from active business, 
Mr. Russell devoted much time to music of 
which he is very fond. His late residence is 
one of the most picturesque and attractive in 
the city of Melrose, being beautifully located 
on an eminence overlooking the entire city. 
The spacious grounds denote the taste and 
love of nature of its late owner. Russell Park, 
with its many pleasant homes, adjoins the 
home lot on the right. Mr. Russell enjoyed 
the society of good companions and enter- 
tained generously. He was a delightful host, 
especially for those who loved music. He 
also had a variety of phonographs and more 
than two hundred and fifty records. 

Mr. Russell married, October 21, 1850. 
Mary Lynde, who was born in Melrose, June 
15, 1825, and died June 5, 1899, daughter of 
Jonathan and Mary (Kimball) Lynde, of Mel- 
rose. Their children: i. William Clifton, 
born at Melrose, May 14, 1858, unmarried. 2. 
Daniel Blake, born January 3, 1862. Mr. 
Russell died January 23, 1907. 



The Danforth family in 
DANFORTH England was located for 
many generations before 
the American emigrant in the town of Fram- 
lingham, Suffolk county, England. They be- 
longed to the yeomanry or middle classes, but 
held prominent positions in the church and 
civil life and some of them were distinguished 
for their wealth and influence. 

(I) William Danforth, of Framlingham, 
England, made his will on the "Feast of the 
Assumption of Our Lady" in 1512. It was 
proved October 23, 1512. He left legacies to 
his children, named below, and to his wife 
Isabel; to the churches of Ravyngham and 
Cranesford. He was buried in the Fram- 
lingham churchyard. Children: Paul, men- 
tioned below; James, Reynold, buried March 
2, 1572; Isabel, Elizabeth. 

(II) Paul Danforth, son of William Dan- 



forth (I), made his will November 13, 1538, 
at Framlingham, and it was proved Novem- 
ber 18, 1538. He bequeathed to his wife Kafh- 
eryne and children. The "Lyncolnes tene- 
ments" that he inherited from his father he be- 
queathed to his eldest son Nicholas. Children i 
Nicholas, mentioned below ; Thomas, Robert, 
Richard, Isabel, Margaret, Agnes, Olive. 

(Ill) Nicholas Danforth, son of Paul Dan- 
forth (2), was born at Framlingham, Eng- 
land, about 1510. His will is dated Novem- 
ber 12, 1585, and proved February 17, 1585- 
86. He provides for his children, wife Alice, 
and children of brothers Robert and Richard. 
Children: i. Thomas, mentioned below. 2. 
Anne. 3. Johane, baptized March 19, 1563, 
buried January 2, 1578. 4. Margaret. 5. 
Elizabeth, baptized January 29, 1569. 6. 
Olive, married, Pebruary 6, 1 581, William 
Smallage. 

(I\ ) Thomas Danforth. son of Nicholas 
Danforth (3), was born at Framlingham, Eng- 
land, about 1560. Married. January 24, 1585, 
Jane Sudbury, who died March, 1601. His 
will is dated April 20, at the Castle, Fram- 
lingham, and is proved September 7, 1621. 
Thomas Sudbury's will was dated February 
18. 1606, and proved March 10, 1606. That 
also mentions the children of Thomas and 
Jane (Sudbury) Danforth. Children: i. Nicho- 
las, baptized November 6, 1586, buried Feb- 
ruary 6, 1588. 2. Nicholas, baptized March 
I, 1589, mentioned below. 3. Robert, bap- 
tized November 16. 1592, buried January 3, 
1592-93. 4. Robert, baptized November 11, 
1593. 5. Mary. 6. Jane. 

(V) Nicholas Danforth, son of Thomas 
Danforth (4), was the immigrant ancestor. 
He was baptized at Framlingham, March i, 

1589. He married Elizabeth , who 

was buried in Framlingham. February 22, 
1628. He became one of the leading citizens 
of his native town. In 1622 he was warden 
of the parish church. In 1629 he was a mem- 
ber of the Court Baron or Borough Leet 
Jury. He came to America in 1634 and set- 
tled at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Rev. 
Cotton Mather in his account of Rev. Samuel 
Danforth, son of Nicholas, says of the 
pioneer: "Mr. N. Danforth, a gentleman of 
such estate and repute in the world that it cost 
him a considerable sum to escape the knight- 
hood which King Charles I imposed on all of 
so much per annum; and of such figure and 
esteem in the church that he procured that 
famous lecture at Framlingham in Suffolk, 
where he had a fine "mannour;" which lecture 
was kept up by Mr. Burroughs and many 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



165 



other noted ministers in their turn; to whom, 
especially to Mr. Shcphard, he proved a 
Gains, and especially when the Laudian fury 
scorched them. This person had three sons, 
whereof the second was our Samuel, born in 
September in the year 1726, and by the desire 
of his mother, who died three years after his 
birth, earnestly dedicated unto '"tiie school of 
the prophets.'' His father brought him to 
New- England in 1634, and at his death, about 
four years after his arrival here, he commit- 
ted this hopeful son of many prayers unto the 
paternal oversight of Mr. Shephard, who 
proved a kind patron unto him." (Alagnalia 

II.. 59.) 

1 lis home in Cambridge was on what is 
now Bow street, near Mt. .\uburn street. He 
was deputy to the general court in 1635, on a 
committee to lay out the bounds of Concord 
in 1636, and in September of that year was 
put on a similar connnittee to measure and 
set the bounds for the town of Roxbury, and 
November 15. 1637, to set those between 
Dedham and Dorchester. When the import- 
ant committee to "take order for a colledge at 
Newetowne" (Harvard College) was selected 
November 20. 1637, Mr. Danforth was one of 
the number. He was selectman in 1635 and 
was admitted a freeman March 3, 1635-36. 
He must have kept a tavern, as he was given 
permission by the general court. March 12, 
1637-38, to "sell wine and strong water" "no 
man else to sell by retailc without license 
from the counsell." He died in April, 1638. 
Children: i. Elizabeth, baptized at Framling- 
ham, August 3, 1619, married, in Cambridge, 
October i, 1639. Andrew I'elcher, who kept 
the Blue Anchor Tavern. Cambridge, at the 
northeast corner of I'righton and Mt. Au- 
burn streets, grandfather of Governor Jona- 
than Belcher. 2. Mary, baptized at Fram- 
lingham, May 3, 1621. 3. Anna, baptized at 
Framlinghani, September 3, 1622, married, 
about 1644, Matthew Bridge, of Cambridge, 
ancestors of Hon. Anson Burlingame and 
other distinguished men. 4. Thomas, bap- 
tized at Framlinghani. November 20, 1623, 
first register of deeds in Middlesex county, 
treasurer of Harvard College, judge, gover- 
nor. 5. Lydia. baptized, at Framlinghani. 
May 24, 1625,. 6. Rev. Samuel, baptized at 
Framlinghani. October 17, 1626. member of 
the second class that graduated from Har- 
vard College. 1643. was ordained assistant to 
the "Apostle to tlie Indians" Rev. John Eliot, 
of Roxbury, Se])tember 24, 1650; a man of 
great ability and virtue. 7. Jonathan, bap- 



tized at I'Vamlinghani, March 2. 1627-28, 
mentioned below. 

(VI) Captain Jonathan Danforth, son of 
Nicholas Danforth (5), was born in Framling- 
hani. England, iu 1628, and i)aptized .March 
2, 1627-28. At an early age he became inter- 
ested in the movement to settle what is now 
Billerica, Massachusetts, and the house he 
built there stood until 1878. He was a lead- 
ing citizen of Billerica. selectman, town clerk, 
representative to the general court, captain 
of the military company. He became a land 
survevor and laid out farms, towns, highways, 
and in the book of land grants at I3illerica 
alone his discriptions fill two hundred pages. 
He made his will April 23, 1712: it was proved 
October ij. 1712. He married (first) at Bos- 
ton, November 22, 1654, Elizabeth Poulter, 
daughter of John Poulter, of Billerica, who 
came from Rayleigh, England, about 165 1 ; she 
was born in Rayleigh, September i, 1633, and 
died in Billerica. October 7. 1689. Captain 
Danforth married (second). November 17, 
1690. Esther Champney. daughter of Elder 
Richard Champney, of Cambridge, and 
widow of Josiah Converse, of Woburn; she 
died April 5, 1713. The graves of Jonathan 
and his wives are marked with stones legibly 
inscribed in the Billerica graveyard. Chil- 
dren of Jonathan and Elizabeth Danforth: I. 
Mary, born January 29, 1656. married. June 
4, 1678. John Parker, of Chelmsford. 2. 
Elizabeth, born May ij . 1657. married Simeon 
Haxward. of Concord. 3. Jonathan, born 
February 18, 1659, mentioned below. 4. 
John, born January 23. died February 7, 
1660-61. 5. John, horn February 22, died 
June 4. 1661-62. 6. Lydia, born June I, 1664, 
married Edward Wright, of Concord. 7. 
Samuel, born I'ebruary 5. 1663-66. 8. .Anna, 
born March 8. 1667-68. married Ensign Oli- 
ver Whiting. 9. Thomas, born .\pril 29, died 
July 31. 1670. 10. Nicholas, born July i, 
1671, died March 8, 1694. n. Sarah, born 
December 23. 1676, married (first) William 
I'Vench and (second) Ebenezer Davis, of Con- 
cord. 

(\TI) Ensign Jonathan Danforth. son of 
Jonathan Danforth (6). was born at Billerica, 
Massachusetts. February 18, 1638-59. died 
January 17. 1710-ir. Married, June 27, 1682, 
Rebecca Parker, daughter of Jacob Parker, 
of Chelmsford, born • May 29, 1661. died 
March 23. 1754. She married (second) Joseph 
Foster, his third wife. Danforth lived east of 
Long street in Billerica. opposite his father's 
l^lace. Children: i. Rebecca, born June 30, 



i66 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



1683, married, December 31, 1702, Thomas 
Parker, of Chelmsford. 2. Thomas, born 
March 17, 1685-86. 3. Jonathan, born March 
22, 1688-89. 4- Ehzabeth, born August 31, 
1690, died January 11, 1766; married Chris- 
topher Osgood, of Andover and Billerica. 5. 
Samuel, born September 16, 1692, mentioned 
below. 6. Nicholas, born August 17, 1695, 
died March 10, 1748, at Billerica. 7. Jacob, 
born February 6, 1698. 8. Sarah, born Aug- 
ust 18, 1700, married Solomon Keyes. 9. 
John, born June 3, 1703. 

(VIII) Samuel Danforth, son of Jonathan 
Danforth (7), was born in Billerica, Septem- 
ber 16, 1692. Married, August 5, 1714, Dor- 
othy Shed, daughter of John and Sarah 
(Chamberlain) Shed. She was born January 
14, 1691-92. He died about 1749, and admin- 
istration was granted August 17, 1749, to his 
son Samuel Danforth, Jr. Children : i. Dorothy, 
born June 27, 1715, married Walter Pollard. 
2. Rebecca, born March 15, 1716-17, married 
Ephraim Davis, of Bedford. 3. Samuel, born 
March 29; died May 5, 1719. 4. Joseph, born 
June 30, 1720. 5. Samuel, born June 24, 1722. 
6. Thomas, born May 11, 1724. 7. Benjamin, 
born July i, 1726. 8. Sarah, born April 14, 
1728, married her cousin David, son of Chris- 
topher and Eliazbeth (Danforth) Osgood. 9. 
John, born February 14, 1729-30, mentioned 
below. 10. Joshua, born February 24, 1731- 
32. II. Lucy, born April 5, 1734, married 
Joseph Ross. 12. Jonathan, born T"ne 14, 
1736. 

(IX) John Danforth, son of Samuel Dan- 
forth (8), was born at Billerica, February 14, 
1729-30. He removed to Andover, Massachu- 
setts. Married, March 6, 1755, Elizabeth Wil- 
son, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Wilson, 
of Billerica. She was born October 10, 1732. 
Child : John, Jr., born July 23, 1756, mention- 
ed below. 

(X) John Danforth, son of John Danforth 
(9), was born July 23, 1756, died August 16, 
1796. Married, September 14, 1779, Hannah 
Bancroft, who was born May 17, 1755, and 
died April 12, 1806. He was a soldier in the 
Revolution, a private in Captain Jonathan 
Stickney's company. Colonel Ebenezer Bridge's 
regiment, in 1775. He enlisted in the Conti- 
nental army for three years, giving his age July 
22, 1779, as twenty-two years, his stature as 
five feet six inches, and his residence Billerica 
(also given Tewksbury). He was in Captain 
Pollard's company. Seventh Middlesex Regi- 
ment; also private in Captain Pierce's com- 
pany. Colonel Michael Jackson's regiment, in 
1780, when his age was given as twentv-four. 



his stature as five feet seven inches, complexion, 
light ; hair, fair ; occupation yeoman, birthplace 
Billerica, residence Billerica. He may have 
also been in the service in 1782 in Captain 
Japheth Daniel's company. Lieutenant Colonel 
Calvin Smith's regiment. John Danforth, of 
Middlesex county, Massachusetts, aged sev- 
enty-eight years, received a pension in 1834, 
ninety-six dollars per annum. Child : John, 
born May 29, 1788, mentioned below. 

(XI) John Danforth, son of John Danforth 
(10), was born May 29, 1788, died May 31, 
1868. Married (first), April 24, 1814, Betsey 
Boynton Fowle, born June 4, 1788, died Sep- 
tember 4, 1847. He married (second), April 
26, 1849, Mrs. Dorothy Richardson, born June, 
1 79 1, died October 26, 1861 ; resided at Lynn- 
field, Massachusetts, where their children were 
born: i. John, born November 20, 1814, men- 
tioned below. 2. Hannah, born May 17, 1816, 
died September 28, 1820. 3. Nathaniel Ban- 
croft, born April 21, 1818, died October i, 
18 19. 4. Mary Taylor Bancroft, born Febru- 
ary 25, 1820, died September 23, 1820. 5. 
Nathaniel Bancroft, born September 24, 1821. 
6. Henry, born August 7, 1824. 

(XII) John Danforth, son of John Dan- 
forth (11), was born at Lynnfield. Massachu- 
setts, November 20, 1814, died November i, 
1880. Married, May 2, 1839, Sarah Hawkes 
Perkins, who was born August 3, 1820, and 
died November i, 1899, at Lynnfield Center. 
His farm was one of the largest and best in 
that agricultural town. He was during nearly 
twenty-five years the railroad station agent 
also, and served the town in the offices of se- 
lectman, assessor and overseer of the poor, his 
accounts being models of exactness. He rep- 
resented the town in the general court, and 
was one of the trustees of the Essex County 
Agricultural Society. In religion he was a 
L^niversalist ; in politics a Republican : he was 
a most useful and honored citizen. He was 
buried in the Forest Hill cemetery. Children: 
I. John Morton, born January i, 1840, mar- 
ried, June 7.. 1866, Emily Augusta Burditt, of 
Wakefield, born May 16, 1842; resides in 
Lynnfield. 2. George Forrest, born May 16, 
1841. married. June 5, 1872, Caroline Eliza- 
beth Atwood, born June i, 1848; no children. 
3. Sarah Ellen, born October 4, 1843. married 
Albert Richardson Bryant ; no children. 4. 
Mary Taylor, born November 25. 1845. men- 
tioned below. 5. Charles Henry, born April 
I, 1850, married Clara E. Hewes. Children: 
Raymond H., Arthur P., John, Helen E. 6. 
Hannah Bancroft, born July 28, 1854, married 
William E. Norwood, one child. Charles. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



167 



(XIII) Mary Taylor Danforth, daughter of 
John Danforth (12). was torn November 25, 
1845. Married. October 24, 1866, Samuel 
Augustus Clough, who was born in Al- 
fred, Maine, January 18, 1838. While very 
young he came with his parents to Boston, 
where he was educated in the public schools. 
At the age of fifteen, however, he entered the 
employ of (ieorge lUackburn & Company, cot- 
ton manufacturers. He remained with this 
firm imtil the Civil war, when he left to enlist 
in Company F.. F"orty-fourth Regiment, Mas- 
sachusetts \*oliuiteer Militia, for nine months. 
He served his time faithfully and returned with 
an honorable discharge and an excellent record 
to his former employers. George Blackburn & 
Company. He was industrious, active and 
zealous in the perfonnance of his duties, and 
from time to time received promotions until at 
length he was placed in charge of the business. 
He held this important position until the time 
of his death. January 26, 1904. He made his 
home in Wakefield, where he was highly re- 
spected by till classes as a good citizen, an up- 
right and estimable man. He was a member 
of H. M. Warren Post, No. 12, Grand .Army 
of the Republic. 

Children of Samuel .Augustus and Mary 
Taylor (Danforth) Clough : i. Nellie Dan- 
forth, born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Septem- 
ber 17. 1867, married Rodney .\. Young. 2. 
Cyrus Putnam, born July 22. 1870, married. 
May. 1906, Marion G. Stowell. of Rrimfield. 
Massachusetts. 3. Ernest .Allen, born .April 
16. 1873. 4. Mary Eloisa. born July 18. 1879. 
5. Leslie, born .April 17. 1S81. married. Feb- 
ruary. 1906. Beatrice i^mith. of Wakefield. 6. 
Bradley, born February 13, 1887. 



William Whittredge. im- 
^^'I^TTI\EDGE migrant ancestor, was 
lx>rn in England in 
1599. -At the age of thirty-six he embarked 
in the ship "Elizabeth," .\pril 11. 1635, with 
his wife Elizabeth, aged thirty, and his son 
Thomas, aged ten years. His home was in 
Beninden, county Kent, England. Nathaniel 
Whittredge, who was in Lynn in 1637, is be- 
lieved to be his brother. The name was spelled 
in the early records \\niitridge. Whitcridge. 
Whitered and Whitred. the origin of the sur- 
name being obviously from a locality named 
for some white ridge. 

William Whittredge settled in Ipswich, Mas- 
sachusetts, and had a house-lot on the farther 
end of High street as early as 1638. He was 



a soldier in the I'cquot war in 1637. In 1648 
his name appears among the subscribers to tlie 
Major Denison fund. He mortgaged a two- 
acre house lot October 17, 1640. to William 
Tinge, and February 4, 1646. he sold a house 
lot to Moses Pingree, a salt maker. In 1664 
as a tenant of John Perkins he had a share in 
Plum Island: February 11, 1^167. he had a five 
acre grant of land near Nicholas .Marble's farm 
to use during his life. He married (second), 
late in life. 1663, Susanna Colby, widow of 
-Anthony Colby. He died December 9, 1668, 
and his estate was settled July 2. 1669, by his 
eldest son Thomas, and administered in 1699 
by his grandson, Thomas Whittredge. Child : 
Thomas, mentioned below. 

(II) Thomas Whittredge, son of William 
Whittredge ( i ) . was born probably at Benin- 
den. Kent. England, in 1625. His parents lived 
there before coming to .America, and they came 
when he was ten years old. He settled in Ips- 
wich. His wife Frances died .April 26, 1658, 
and his second wife Florence died in 1672. 
Rev. William Adams gave a doleful report of 
her death in his diary, which was jiublished in 
4 Mass. Hist. Coll, i, 17. At that time his son 
was thirteen years old. He himself died also 
in 1672. making a noncupative will. His es- 
tate was appraised September 3, 1072, by Rob- 
ert Colburn. He bequeated to three sons. 
Children: i. -Samuel (twin), born March 31, 
1658, nothing further known of him. 2. Will- 
iam (twin), born ^larch 31. U>58. mentioned 
below. 3. Thomas, administrator of his grand- 
father : married Charity and had in 

Beverly four children : i. William, born June 
12. T''83 : ii. Charity, born March 10. 1684-85: 
iii. Thomas, born May 3. 1687: iv. Rebekah, 
born May 24, 1689. 4. Richard. 

(III) William Whittredge. son of Thomas 
\\"hittredge (2). was born at Ipswich, Massa- 
chusetts. March 31. 1658, died at Gloucester, 
.Massachusetts. .August 8. 1726. aged about 
seventy, according to T'.abson's account. He 
settled in Ciloucester. being undoubtedly a sea- 
faring man. He married there. March 4, 1684, 
Hannah Roberts. He had a tract of land 
granted him in 1692 in Gloucester in common 
right. His children: i. Hannah, horn 1685 
at Gloucester. 2. Samuel, born 1692, men- 
tioned below. 3. i^usanna. born 1697. 

( I\') .'samuel Whittredge. son of William 
Whittredge (3). was lx)rn in Gloucester in 
1692. and was drowned at Sable Island, May 
10. 1732, aged forty. He was also a mariner 
and probablv a fisherman. He married, in 
1720, Hannah Whiston. of Barnstable. Bab- 



i68 



AFIDDLESEX COrXTY. 



•son names on!}- one son, \\ illiani, nientioneil 
below. 

(\) William Whittredge, son of Samuel 
Whittredge (4), was born in Gloucester about 
1730. His father died when he was very 
young, and he was brought up by his mother 
probably in Gloucester. He married there, 
1755, Mary Saville. He removed after the 
"birth of three children to the Second Parish of 
Reading, Massachusetts, and was on the tax 
list and voting list there in 1771. Children: 
I. William, Jr., iMrn about 1760, mentioned 
below. 2. ( )liver Saville. 3. Mary. Atid 
perhaps other children. 

(VI) \\'illiam Whittredge, Jr., son of Will- 
iam Whittredge (5), was born at Gloucester 

about 1760. He married Hannah . 

They settled at Reading, where their children 
were born, viz.: i. Alden, born July 22, 1795, 
mentioned below. 2. Polly, born February 7, 
1798. 3. Daniel, born April 9, 1800. 4. 
Thomas Jefferson, born November 9, 1801. 5. 
Alford, lx>rn November 2, 1803. 

(VU) Alden Whittredge, son of William 
Whittredge (6), was born at Reading, July 
22, 1795. He settled in that town and married 
Mary . He is thought to be a descend- 
ant of John Alden through Hannah Whiston 
and perhaps other ancestors. Children: i. 
Mary Eliza, born July t, 1821. 2. William 
Austin, born May 4, 1823, mentioned below. 
3. Josepii Alexander, born May 26, 1825. 4. 
Henrietta, born June 27, 1827. 5. Joseph Alex- 
ander, September 18, 1832. 6. George Cook, 
born October 5, 1835. 

(Vni) William Austin Whittredge, son of 
Alden Whittredge (7). was born in North 
Reading, May 4, 1823. He was educated there 
in the common schools and learned the trade of 
shoemaker. He began manufacturing and car- 
ried on what was then deemed an extensive 
business. He opened the first general store 
kept in the village of North Reading. He was 
a very prominent man, a citizen of large in- 
fluence, and enjoying the fullest confidence and 
respect of his townsmen. He married, August 
18, 1835, .Mary Jane Skinner, who was born 
at Lynnfield, and died there November 20, 
1885. Children, born at Lynnfield: i. Ellen 
Marion, born May 26, 1836. 2. George My- 
ron, born May 8, 1838, died October 21, 1839. 
3. Elzina Florence, born March 29, 1840, mar- 
ried Colonel Thomas E. Barker : she was first 
national president of the Woman's Relief 
Corps, ( irand Army of the Republic. 4. My- 
ron Holly, born 1842. enlisted in Company 
E, Fiftieth Regiment, ^Massachusetts \'olun- 



teers ; died in 1907. 5. William Wirt, born 
■May 2^. 1844, mentioned below. 6. Alfrena 
W., born October 15, 1846, died in infancy. 
7. .Mfrein Jane, born February 22, 1849, mat- 
ron of Soldiers" Home at Togus. Maine. 8. 
]''remont, born August 5. 185 1. 9. Alfred 
Fremont, bom 1853. 

(IX) William Wirt Whittredge, son of 
William Austin Whittredge (8), was born at 
Lynnfield Center, Massachusetts, May 23, 
1844. He received his education in the public 
schools and at Pembroke (New Hampshire) 
Academy. At the age of fifteen he left school 
and began to learn the trade of shoemaking 
under the direction of his father, who was then 
a shoe manufacturer. His health failed after 
a few years and he went west by advice of his 
physician and made his home in Leavenworth, 
Kansas, and not content with resting and seek- 
ing health in idleness he established a whole- 
sale slioe business there. He prospered in 
business and improved in health at the same 
time. After five years he sold his Leaven- 
worth business, but retained his home there, 
and during the next five years carried on a 
wholesale shoe business in St. Louis. He then 
returned to his home in Massachusetts with 
health fully restored and settled in Wakefield, 
where he manufactured shoes until 1900, when 
he sold out his business and retired. Although 
not in the best of health he prefers an active 
life, and for several years has had charge of 
the gypsy moth commission work of Wake- 
field and has won great praise for his zeal and 
energy in prosecuting the work of destroying 
the pest. In religion he is a Universalist, 
liberal and tolerant in his views and chari- 
table to the extent of his means. He is a Re- 
publican in politics. He is a member of Golden 
Rule Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of 
Wakefield, Masachusetts, although he was 
raised a Mason in King Solomon Lodge, 10, 
of Leavenworth, Kansas. He is a member of 
Leavenworth Chapter, No. 2, Royal Arch 
Masons : Leavenworth Commandery, No. i, 
Knights Templars : Abadalah Temple, An- 
cient Arabic Order Nobles Mystic Shrine; 
past patron of the ( Ladies' Auxiliary) Eastern 
Star, of which Mrs. Whittredge is an active 
member. 

He married, January 31, 1863, Martha A. 
Hutchinson, daughter of William H. and 
Martha (Richardson) Hutchinson, of Wake- 
field. Their only child is Gertrude, born May, 
1874, at Leavenworth. Kansas ; married Earle 
V. D. Brown, of Concordia, where they now 
reside. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



169 



I he Dcadinan or Dailnuin 
DEADMAX laniily, said to be of Scotch 
ancestry, was represented 
in Xew I'.nuland as early as May ij . 1714, by 
Samuel Deadinan. nf I'raniinijhaHi, whi) mar- 
ried on that date Martha Jennini^s, daiiijhter 
of Stephen Jennintjs. His descendants may 
be found in the vicinity of I'Vaminghani yet. 
Just what relationship existed between the 
l'"ramin^liani and Stoneliani branches is not 
known. It is sit^nificant, hnwever, that in 
those towns wheie Deadnians are found we 
also find the Damon family, and the mis- 
spellini^'s of these names are sometimes alike: 
Demon, Dimond. Dedman, Dedmim, etc. 

(I) William Deadman, the first of this fam- 
ily of which definite record has been found, 
is said to be the son of William neadman, 
who settled in Salem and .'^^toneham, Massa- 
chusetts. William (li. was born about 1758. 
He settled in Stonchani and Beverly, later in 
Reading-. He was a soldier in the Revolu- 
tion in 1778. credited to Hubbardston though 
his residence was given as .Stoneham, in 
Cajjtain Adam Wheeler's com]iany. Colonel 
Thomas Xixon's regiment. Colonel Xixon 
was a Framingham man, and Deadman max 
have joined this regiment on account of rela- 
tionship with the PVamingham Deadmans. 
Possibly Samuel Deadmrm. the l-'ramingham 
settler, was his grandfather. In i77<) he en- 
listed for three years in the Fifth l^egiment 
(Colonel Nixon'sl. first under Captain P.en- 
jamin Heywood, then under Captain Peter 
Clayes, (also of a hramingham 'amily). His 
enlistment record shows that he was five feet, 
eleven inches in height, of dark complexion, 
and in i77<)-i78o was (about) twentv years 
old. .Another record belonging to him, or 
possibly to his father, shows William Dead- 
man a jirivate from Danver'^ in Captain Asa 
Prince's company. Colonel Danforth Keyes's 
regiment, enlisting August 22, 1777. dis- 
charged January 3, 1778. 

He married (first) (published August 29, 
I77<)) .Sarah Cressey, who was born Jaiuiary 
20, 1758. at Royalside, .Salem, now r)everly, 
daughter of Nathaniel Cressev (IV), Job 
(III), John (II), Mighill Cressey (I). 
She was probably the luother of Xancy. 
He married (second) Mary Green, daugh- 
ter of Captain Thomas Green. She died 
at Reading at the age of ninety-eight 
years, a very worthy and pleasant woman 
throughout her long life. W^illiam, his wife 
Mary, and children Mary, Xancy, William 
and Lvdia, were in Reading in 1790, coming 
from Salem, as the "warning" record shows. 



doubtless meaning Royalside as Lydia was 
born there the year before. Children: 1. 
Poll), born at P.everly, September 27, 1780. 
2. Sally, born at lleverly, October 21, 1782. 3. 
Captain William, born 17SS. mentiont'd be- 
low. 4. Lydia. born at lleverly. b'ebruary 4, 
ij^N). 3. .Xancy, married, Jul\- 31, 1803, 
(leo.ge W. \inol; (second) Fliab Parker. 
( See page 203, Reg. 1S77). .Vbout 1805 Dead- 
man purchased a small cottage that stood 
where now is the Headman house in .South 
Reading, and is part of the present Mrueture. 
The other part of the Deadman house was 
owned several years by Molly Parker, but was 
subse(iuently bought by Deadman who erect- 
ed the present building. The estate of Will- 
iam Deadman (or Dadmun) was administered 
in 1817 by his son-in-law, Fliab Parker. 

(II) Captain W'illiam Deadman. son of 
William Deadman (i), was born in Beverly, 
.Massachusetts, in 1788. lie came with his 
parents to South Reading, where in 1813 he 
married Sally Boutwell, daughter of James 
iioutwell. He was first captain of the Wash- 
ington Ritle Company of .South Iveading. .A 
man of high respectability, great mechanical 
ingenuity, excellent taste and skill in con- 
triving and arranging the useful and orna- 
meiUal surroundings of house, garden and 
field, lie was town sexton for many years 
and died in 1865, aged sevetity-seven years. 
He lived on the farm formerly owned by the 
Tottinghams in .South Reading. Children of 
Captain William and Sally Deadman : Will- 
iam, mentioned below. Henry. Sarah, mar- 
ried Josiah Tyzzer. .Mary, married John H. 
Emerson, lioth tlu' girls are living in Wake- 
field. 

(III) W'illiam Deadman, son of Ca])tain 
William Deadman (2), was born in South 
Reading about i8to. He was educated there 
in the conmnin schools, and like most of the 
boys of that vicinity learned the trade of shoe- 
making. He worked at this trade many years, 
but later entered the employ of the P>oston & 
-Maine Railroad Company and remained in 
the railroad business mitil his death. He was 
generous, manl\' and kindU in his disposi- 
tion, upright and honorable in character, and 
respected and esteemed by everybodv who 
knew him. He married Ruth .Sleeper, who 
was born at Canaan, New Hampshire. Their 
child. William Dexter, born July 22, 1843, 
mentioned below, 

(T\') W'illiam Dexter Deadman, son of 
William Deadman (3), was born in South 
Reading, now Wakefield, Massachusetts, July 
22. 1843. J'^' ^^'^'^ eflucated in the public 



170 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



schools of his native town, and at the age of 
fifteen he became a clerk in a meat 
and provision store, a position he held until 
the Civil war in 1861. He enlisted first for 
ninety days in Company E, of Wakefield, 
Fiftieth Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, 
served his term and was mustered out. He 
enlisted again in Company E, Eighth Massa- 
chusetts Regiment, for a hundred days and at 
the end of this period was again mustered 
out at Readville, Massachusetts. After the 
war he established himself in Wakefield as 
proprietor of a meat market, and has been in 
this business and very successful to the pres- 
ent time. He is interested in town matters 
and has aided to the extent of his ability 
everything intended to develop and benefit 
the town. He is a Republican in politics, but 
has not been active in party affairs, believing 
that a merchant should not mix business and 
politics. He is a member of the Wakefield 
Congregational church. He is an active 
member of Golden Rule Lodge of Free 
Masons, of which he is a past master. He is 
also a member of the Quannapowitt Council, 
Royal Arcanum. He is popular in both 
social and business circles, and an upright, 
honorable and honored citizen. He married 
Jane C. Fiske, of Lyneborough, New Hamp- 
shire, daughter of Ebenezer Fiske. Children: 
I. \\'illiam F., married Edith Colley, and they 
have one child, Ruth F. 2. Roy S., deceased. 
3. Alice .M., uiunarried. 



Elder John Strong, the immi- 
STRClNG grant ancestor of all the known 

families of this surname in New 
England, and virtually all in this country, was 
born in England at Taunton in 1605, son of 
Richard Strong. The family was originally 
located in the county of Shropshire, England, 
but one of the family married an heiress of 
Griffith, county Caernarvon, Wales, and went 
thither to reside in 1545. Of this Welsh 
branch was Richard Strong, who was born in 
the county Caernarvon in 1561, and in 1590 
removed to Taunton, Somersetshire, England, 
where he died in 1613, leaving besides his son 
John a daughter Eleanor. John Strong lived 
at London and Plymouth, and finally, having 
strong Puritan sympathies and convictions, he 
and his sister came to New England, sailing 
March 20, 1630, in the ship "Mary and John" 
and landing at Nantasket (Hull). They settled 
in Dorchester. The sister married Walter 
Deane, a tanner, of Tatmton, Massachusetts, 
previously of Taunton, England. 



In 1635 John Strong removed to Hinghani. 
He was admitted a freeman, March 9, 1636. 
He removed to Taunton before December 4, 
1638, when he was on the list of inhabitants 
and proprietors there and remained there until 
1645 or later : was deputy from that town to 
the general court in Plymouth in 1641-43-44 ; 
removed thence to Windsor, Connecticut, 
where he was appointed with four others "to 
supyerintend and bring forward the settlement 
of the place." He settled finally, however, in 
Northampton, Massachusetts, with which his 
name has been always associated since ; was 
one of the first and most active founders and 
for a full forty years a prominent and influen- 
tial citizen. He prospered in his business as a 
tanner and husbandman. His tanyard was on 
what is now the southwest corner of Market 
street near the railroad station. He owned 
some two hundred acres of land in and near 
Northampton. He was elected ruling elder of 
the church and ordained May 13, 1663. 

His first wife died on the passage or soon 
after landing in Massachusetts, and about two 
months later her baby died also. He married 
(second), in December, 1630, Abigail Ford, 
daughter of Thomas Ford, of Dorchester, 
Windsor and Northampton, and she died, the 
mother of sixteen children, July 6, 1688, aged 
aboiH eighty years. He died April 14, 1699, 
aged ninety-four years. He had at the time of 
his death one hundred and sixty descendants, 
among whom were eighteen children and at 
least thirty-three great-grandchildren. He 
made over his lands during his lifetime to his 
children. Children of first wife: i. John, born 
in England in 1626, died in Windsor, Febru- 
ary 20, 1698. 2. Infant, died in Dorchester in 
1630, Children of second wife : 3. Thomas, 
born 163 — . 4. Jedediah, born May 7, 1637, 
died May 22, 1733, aged ninety-six years, 
mentioned below. 5. Josiah, born about 1639, 
died young. 6. Return, born about 1641, died 
April 9, 1726. aged about eighty-five years. 
7. Elder Ebenezer, born 1643, died February 
II, 1729. aged eighty-six. 8. Abigail, born 
about 1645, married Rev. Nathaniel Chauncy; 
(second) Medad Pomeroy. 9. Elizabeth, born 
in Windsor, February 24, 1647, died May 12, 
1736; married Joseph Parsons. 10. Experi- 
ence, born in Windsor, August 4, 1650, mar- 
ried Zerubbabel Filer, of Windsor, ii. Sam- 
uel, born August 5, 1652, died October 29, 
1732. 12. Joseph (twin), born August 5, 
1652, died young. 13. Mary, born October 26, 
1654, at Windsor : married Deacon John Clark. 
14. Sarah, born 1656, at Windsor, married 
Joseph Barnard, of Hadley. 15. Hannah, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



171 



born May 30, 1659, married \\'illiam Clark. 
16. Hester, born June 7, 1661, married Thcimas 
Bissell. 17. Thankful, born July 25, 1663, 

married — Baldwin. 18. Jerijah, bom 

December 12. 1665, died April 24, 1754. 

(II) Jedediah Strong, son of Elder John 
Strong (i), was born Afay 7, 1637, and bap- 
tized April 14, 1639. Married. November 18, 
1662, Freedom Woodward, who was baptized 
at Dorchester in 1642, the daughter of Henry 
Woodward, later of Northampton. He was a 
farmer at Northampton until 1709, when at 
the age of seventy or more he removed to Cov- 
entry, Connecticut, where twenty-four years 
afterwards he died May 22. 1733. aged 
ninety-six. During the years 1677-78-79 he 
was paid eighteen shillings a year for blowing 
the trumpet on Sunday to summon the people 
to churcli. His wife Freedom died May 17, 
1681, and he married (second), December 19, 
1681, Abigail Stebbins. who was born Septem- 
ber 6. 1660. daughter of John and Abigail 
(Bartlett) Stebbins. She died July 15. 1689, 
and he married (third) Mrs. Mary (Hart) 
Lee, widow of John Lee. of Farmington, and 
daughter of Stephen Hart. His wife Mary 
died October 10, 1710. from an injury received 
the day previous by falling from a horse on 
which she was riding on a pillion behind her 
husband when just started well upon their way 
to Coventry to visit their children. The acci- 
dent happened at the ford at South Hadley. 
Children i. Elizabeth, born June 9. 1664. 2. 
Abigail, born July 0. 1666, married Thomas 
King. 3. Jedediah. born August 7. 1667. men- 
tioned below. 4. Ford, born September 2, 
1668, died November i. 1668. 5. Unnamed 
child, born October 11. 1669, died young. 6. 
Hannah, born February 3. 1671, married Ben- 
jamin Carpenter. 7. Thankful, born .A.pril 15, 
1672. married Deacon Thomas Root. Jr.. 8. 
John, born November 15. 1673. died same 
month. 9. Lydia. born November 9, 1675, 
married David Lee. 10. Mary, born May. 1677, 
died young. 11. Experience, born .August 19, 
1678, died September t6, 1678. 12. Preserved, 
born March 29. i68o. T3. John, born May 10, 
1681, died April 21. 1609. Child of second 
wife: 14. Mary born 1683. married Ebenezer 
Pixley. 

flTT) Jedediah .Strong. Jr.. son of Jedediah 
Strong (2). was born .August 7. 1667. 'Mar- 
ried, November 8. 1688. Abiah Tngersoll, born 
August 24. 1663. daughter of John Tngersoll. 
first of Hartford, then of Northampton, and 
finally of Westfield. Massachusetts, and his 
wife Abigail (Bascom) Tngersoll. Mr. Strong 
was a farmer at Northampton imtil August 



24, i(x)6. when he removed to Lebanon. Con- 
necticut, where there were at that time only 
four white families. He was killed by the In- 
dians at White Creek, New York, October 
12. 1709, aged forty-two: his wife died No- 
vember 20. 1732. Children: i. .Vzariah. born 
October 7, T689. died October 30, 1689. 2. 
Stephen, born November 24. 1690. resided at 
Lebanon. 3. David, born June 19, 1693, died 
May 2, 1712. 4. Eleazer, born September 7, 
1695. died 1779-80. 5. Supply, born October 
10, 1697. 6. Lieutenant Jedediah. born Jan- 
uary 15. 1700: mentioned below. 7. Ezra, 
born March 2, 1701-02. 8. Freedom, born 
May 16, 1704. married John Buell. of Leba- 
non. 

(TV) Jedediah Strong, son of Jedediah 
Strong (3), was born January 15, 1700. He 
was a captain of his militia company in the 
Indian wars. He married, December 4. 1722, 
Elizabeth Webster, who was born February 
26, 1700-01, daughter of Captain John, of 
Lebanon, and Grace (Loomis") Webster. Chil- 
dren : T. Captain John, born September 5, 
1723, mentioned below. 2. David, born May 
23. T724. 3. Elizabetli. born February 6, 1727, 
died March 28. T727. 4. Jedediah. born No- 
vember 8. 1728. 5. .Solomon, horn Octol)er 
6. T730. 6. Elijah, born August 11. 1733. 7- 
Renajah, born January 17, T734-35. 

(Y) Captain John Strong, son of Lieuten- 
ant Jedediah Strong (4). was born -September 
5. 1723, at Lebanon. Connecticut. He re- 
moved to Hartford, A'crmont. where he was 
livin!? from 1769 to 1772. and was town clerk 
and highway surveyor there. In T773 he and 
a few others began the settlement of the ad- 
joining town of Woodstock. \^crmont. With 
his son-in-law. Benjamin Burch, he put up a 
log house and opened the first tavern in that 
town. In 1775-76 he was one of the council 
of safety chosen for Ctmiberland coimty. and 
in 1776-77 captain of a company of Rangers 
under General Schuyler. He was several 
times chosen a member of the \'^ermont leg- 
islature, 1777-78-79-82. In T 778-79 he built 
a saw mill and grist mill. In t8o4, when 
eighty-one years old and poor, he removed 
with his grandson. Benjamin Burch. Jr., to 
.^rgentcuil, Canada, near Montreal, where he 
died two years later and his wife soon aftcr- 
ard. Captain Strong married twice. He 

married (first) : (second) Widow 

Mary TTossincton, Children: i. Sallv. mar- 
ried Benjamin Burch. 2. Freedom, born in 
Hebron. Connecticut. February. 1747. mar- 
ried, in 1762. Richard Ensrlish, 3. William, 
mentioned below. Probably other children. 



1/2 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(\"I) William Strong, believed to be son of 
Captain John Strong (5), certainly a near rel- 
ative, was born about 1760. He was in Cap- 
tain John ]]urt's company, Colonel Samuel 
Fletcher's regiment, in Vermont in 1779. 
Burt was of Hartford, Vermont. Strong was 
also in Captain Jesse Sanfords company of 
Rangers. Major Ebenezer Allen's regiment, 
in 1780 in \'ermont; also in Captain Joshua 
Hazen's company which marched to Piermont 
New Hampshire, probably from Woodstock, 
Vermont, in 1781. With him in this company 
was Solomon Strong and his son, Solomon 
Strong, Jr. Solomon was his father's brother 
and resided in Hartford, as did also another 
brother, Jedediah Strong. William Strong 
served in 1781 in Captain John Benjamin's 
company ; Captain Joseph Safiford's com- 
pany, Colonel Benjamin Wait's regiment. Just 
where William lived in his earlier days ap- 
pears to be uncertain. Until after the Revo- 
lution or near its close he was in eastern Ver- 
mont at Windsor or nearby. His sons re- 
sided in Western Vermont, in Hinesburg and 
Fayston, and it is likely that he settled there 
among the first. Margaret Strong, presuma- 
bly his wife, died at Fayston, Vermont, in 
1870, at the advanced age of ninety-eight 
years. His children are given by his grand- 
son as: I. William. 2. Samuel. 3. Marga- 
ret, married William English. 4. Jane, mar- 
ried Erastus Kingman. 5. John. 6. Rich- 
ard. 

(\^H) Samuel Strong, son of William 
Strong (6), was born about 1800. He came to 
this country about the year 1826 from Ireland, 
and was a true blue "Orangeman." He re- 
sided in Hinesburg and Fayston, Vermont, 
and w'as a farmer. He was active in church 
work, being at first a member of the Congre- 
gational church, in which he was a deacon, 
and later connected with the Covenanters. 
He married Ann Black, who died in 1844, 
aged forty-four years. She accompanied her 
husband to this country. Children: i. Mary 
Jane, married Alexander McAlester. 2. Wil- 
liam Graham, born .September 19, 1826, men- 
tioned below. 3. Ann Eliza, died unmarried. 
4. Luke. 5. Mathew, married and was the 
father of four children: Clarence, Minnie, 
Samuel and Gertrude. 6. Harriet E., mar- 
ried George Warren, had one son, William 
H., professor in chemistry' in St. Louis, Mis- 
souri, 

(VIII) William (iraham Strong, son of 
Samuel Strong (7), was born in Hinesburg, 
Vermont, September 19, 1826. He lived dur- 
ing his early youth at Fayston, Washington 



county, Vermont, near his native town, and 
went to school there. He went to work on a 
farm at an early age, then learned the trade 
of carpenter and joiner. He left Vermont af- 
ter he had worked a few years at his trade 
and located first at Methuen, Massachusetts. 
In 1848 he settled in Wakefield, and four 
years later in partnership with one Preston 
started a blind and sash shop there. In 1859 
he sold out to George L. Hawks and took a 
position with George T. McLoughlin as sales- 
man and traveled for that concern several 
years. When his employer died he was chos- 
en to settle the estate. A corporation was 
formed to continue Mr. McLoughlin's busi- 
ness and Mr. Strong was made the president, 
a position he has filled to the present time. 
The office of the company is at 120 Fulton 
street, Boston. Notwithstanding his advanced 
age Mr. Strong attends to his business afifairs 
as regularly as ever. They manufacture en- 
gines, the Hoadly Portable, also elevators, 
both electric and belt, and fireproof doors and 
shutters. 

In politics Mr. Strong is an active and 
sterling Republican. He has been a member 
of the finance committee for the town of 
Wakefield; was on the board of overseers of 
the poor in 1881, and has had to decline for 
business reasons various other positions of 
trust and honor. In religion he is a Baptist, 
and an active 'and liberal supporter of his 
church. He makes his home m Wakefield, 
Middlesex county, Massachusetts. He is held 
in the highest respect and esteem by his 
townsmen. Of good sense and ability, of the 
highest character, personally agreeable and 
popular, Mr. Strong is a man of wide influ- 
ence, many friends and large usefulness as a 
citizen. He ranks easily as one of the leading 
men of Wakefield. 

He married, November 29, 1853, EHzabeth 
Buckley, daughter of James and Ann (Brier- 
ly) Buckley. Children: i. Annie E., born 
April 21, 1857. 2. William C, born 1859, 
married Elizabeth Nagle; no children. 3. 
Hattie Ellen, died young. 4. Carrie Etta, 
born 1866, married Lyman C. Newell, of 
Pawtucket, Rhode Island: no children. L. C. 
Newell is professor of chemistry in Boston 
Universitv. 



The family of Aborn is of Eng- 
ABORN lish origin. In the days of 

Colonial simplified spelling the 
following methods of spelling were found on 
record: Aberne, Aberon, Abon, Abron, 




[j ^M^^ ^( 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



173 



Abiirn, Aburne. Eaboan, Eaborne, Eabourn, 
Eabourne. Eaburn. Eaburne, libborn. V.h- 
bonie. Rborn. Ebcirne, Ebouni and Ebourne. 
Doubtless many more may be (Uscovered by 
further research. In America the family lo- 
cated early at Tolland, Connecticut, and 
Lynn, Massachusetts. A branch was estab- 
lished at Oxford, Massachusetts, but the fam- 
ily has lived cliielly in the vicinity of the home 
of the first settler in Essex count\ . Massachu- 
setts. 

(I) Samuel .\.born, the inuuigrant ancestor. 
was born in England in 161 1. He and Thom- 
as Aborn, probably his father or a brother, 
settled early in Salem. Thomas was admitted 
a freeman May 14, 1634, and was a resident of 
Salem in 1642. after which there is no record 
of him. Sanuiel made his home in Salem 
village, later Danvers. and was admitted a 
freeman in 1665. He was a member of the 
Salem church as early as 1636. He deposed 
November 12, 1666. that his age was about 
fifty-two. and in 1661 that he was fifty years 
old. His wife Katherine was admitted to the 
church, July 2t,, 1648. He married Katherine 
Smith, daughter of James .Smith, of Marble- 
head, who mentions in his will dated 1661 his 
daughter and her children, Mary, Rebecca, 
Moses. Hannah. James and Sarah Aborn. 
Samuel .\born died in the winter of 1699- 
1700. His will was dated July 20, 1699, '^''t 
was not allowed. .Administration was granted 
instead February 5. 1699- 1700. His widow 
was living in 1701. Children: i. Samuel, born 
1639, baptized August 6. 1648, eldest son. 2. 
Josejjh. husbandman, was in Salem in 1708. 3. 
Moses, born 1645-46, mentioned below. 4. 
Man,-, baptized .August 6, 1648, in First 
Church. Salem: married, before 1699, Dr. 
George Jackson. 5. Rebecca, baptized 
March 23. 1650-51, at First Church. Salem; 
married, December 10. 1680, Thomas Bell. 6. 
Hannah, born about 1653: married Joseph 
Houlton, of ."^alem Milage, before 1699; he 
died 1732; she 1743. 7. Sarah, baptized June 
15, 1656. at First Church, Salem; married 
Benjamin Home (or Orne) before 1699 and 
was living 1713. 

(H) Moses .Aborn. son of Samuel .Aborn 
(i), w-as born in 1645-46, baptized at the First 
Church, .Salem, August 6. 1648. He was a 
husbandman at Marblehead in 1666-67, and 
at Salem until about 1678, when he removed 
to I^ynn wliere he lived the remainder of his 
days. He died 1735-36, and was "stricken in 
years" when he made his will. May 8, 1723. 
It was proved February 17, 1735-36. He mar- 
ried (first) Sarah Haines, September 9, 1671. 



She died at .Salem, November. 1676. and he 
married (second) .Abigail (iilbert. of Ipswich, 
who was living in 1723. Children of .Moses 
and Sarah .Aborn: i. .Moses, born at Salem, 
bebruary 14, 1672-73. 2. Joseph, born .April 
24, 1674, at Salem. 3. .Sarah, born at Salem, 
October 26, 1676. Children nf .Moses and 
-Abigail .\born: 4. .Miigail. born .May 7, 
1680, in L\nn, married Kaliam Bancroft, of 
L\-mi (published November 2, 1717) and was 
his widow in 1723. 5. Thomas, born at Lynn, 
January 26, 1682. 6. Hannah, born at Lynn, 
.August 26, 1684, married, }'"ebruary 3, 1708- 
09, Edward Twiss. of Salem: resided at Bil- 
lerica 1737. 7. Mary, born .April 19, 1686, at 
Lynn, married, December 22, 1714, Daniel 
Twiss, of Salem. 8. James, born in Lynn, 
A])ril 21, 1688, cooper at Salem, 1711, Mar- 
blehead and Lynn later. 9. John, born at 
Lynn, .Ajiril 17, 1690. 10. Samuel, born at 
Lynn, May 19, 1692. ir. Ebenezer, born 
January 31, 1694. mentioned below. 

(III) Ebenezer .Aborn, son of Moses .Aborn 
(2), as born at Lynn, January 31, 1694. He 
was a yeoman, residing in Lynn. His will is 
dated September 4, 1778, and was proved Oc- 
tober 5, 1778. He married (second) Margaret 
.Moulton, of Lynn. July 7, 1734, and she sur- 
vived him. Children of Ebenezer by the first 
marriage: i. James, baptized July, 1722, ii. 
Lynnlield. 2. Benjamin, (non compose), re-' 
sided in Lynnfield. 1798. 3. Ebenezer, Jr., 
baptized .March 22. 1724, in Lynnfield. 4. Jo- 
seph, baptized in Lynnfield, Sejitember 26, 
1725. 5. Dr. John, baptized April 9, 1727, 
mentioned below. 

(IV) Dr. John .Aborn, son of Ebenezer 
.Aborn (3), as born in Lynnfield and baptized 
there April 9, 1727; died November 8, 1768. 
He was a prominent physician, living in Lynn 
and practicing in that section. He married, 
November 22, 1758, and she married (sec- 
ond), about 1773, Thomas Dodge. She died 
June 20, 1798. aged sixty-four years. Chil- 
dren of Dr. John and Rebecca Aborn: i. 
John, born June, 1759, died June 26, 1759, 
aged three weeks. 2. John, born August 5, 
1761, in Lynn, died March 2, 1769. 3. Sam- 
uel, born January 27, 1764. mentioned below. 
4. Rebecca, born November 4, 1766, mar- 
ried. T786, James Gould, of Reading. 5. Eliz- 
abeth, born December 9, 1768, died July 2, 
1770. 

(V) Deacon Samuel .Aborn, son of Dr. 
John Aborn (4), was born at Lyim, January 
27, 1764. He was also a yeoman, and for 
many years was deacon of the Church at 
Lynnfield, Massachusetts, where he settled. 



174 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



He was a prominent and much honored citi- 
zen. He married (pubhshed March 6, 1788) 
Mary FUnt, of Danvers. She died at Lynn, 
November 28, 1851, aged eighty-one years, 
and he died there May 19, 1844, aged eighty 
years. Children: i. John, mentioned below. 
2. Samuel, had son John, born at Lynnfield, 
July 13, 1815. Samuel Octavius, born in 
Charlestown, March 5, 1817. George, born 
February 8, 1819. 3. Frederick, of Reading. 

(VI) John Aborn, son of Deacon Samuel 
Aborn (5), was born about 1790 in Reading 
or Lynnfield. He was a farmer at Reading. 
He married Elizabeth (iould, born 1794, 
daughter of John (iould. She was a success- 
ful school teacher in her yoimger days. John 
Gould was born in 1758, married, 1785, Mary 
Sweetser, daughter of Phineas (See Sweetser 
family sketch in the work), and lived on the 
Pierce farm in Stoneham; was a shoemaker; 
first town clerk of South Reading; on first 
board of selectmen and often afterward ; went 
to general court in 1816; died 1835, aged 
seventy-seven years. His brother, James, 
married Rebecca Aborn, daughter of Dr. 
John Aborn, mentioned above. His father, 
William Gould, son of Major Gould and de- 
scendant of Zaccheus Gould, came to Read- 
ing before 1749. The children of John and 
Mary Gould: i. John, born 1786, settled in 
Baltimore; ii. Charles Gould, born 1790, sol- 
dier; iii. Mary Gould, born 1793, unmarried; 
iv. Elizabeth Gould, married John Aborn, men- 
tioned above; v. Nancy Gould, born 1799, 
died June 8, 1865, unmarried; vi. Sophia 
Gould, born 1801, school teacher. The chil- 
dren of John and Elizbeth (Gould) Aborn: i. 
John Gould, born in Reading, November 23, 
1822, mentioned below. 2. Joseph W. 3. 
Elizabeth Jeannette, rnarried Daniel Walton. 
4. Maria, married Thomas Winship; chil- 
dren: Frank and Nellie Winship. 5. Henry, 
born 1831, enlisted August 12, 1862, in the 
Second Massachusetts Cavalry; killed at the 
battle of Resaca, Georgia; married Elizabeth 
Bancroft; child, Alice. 6. George Washing- 
ton, born May 24, 1834, enlisted as sergeant 
of Company E, Fiftieth Regiment; taken pris- 
oner at the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, 
and confined in military prisons at Richmond, 
New Orleans and Salisbury. 7. Helen Vic- 
toria, married Ouinn Parker; married (sec- 
ond), Daniel Hurley; now a widow; her 
daughter, Helen, married Dr. R. MofTet. 

(VII) John Gould Aborn, son of John 
Aborn (6), was born in Reading, November 
23, 1822. The family removed to Lynnfield 
when he was an infant, and he began his edu- 



cation in the public schools there. At the age 
of nine years he was sent to .\ugusta, Maine, 
where he resided for more than four years 
with his father's brother, l^'rederick .Aborn. 
Upon returning to Wakefield he resided with 
his father, who then occu])ied the old Tweed 
estate on the north side of Salem street. He 
attended the public schools at Augusta and 
finally the South Reading .Academy. At an 
early age he began to learn the trade of shoe- 
making, and in 1844 entered the employ of 
John White, who at that time was one of the 
leading manufacturers of tliat section. Short- 
ly after his marriage, 1845, Deacon Aborn 
was admitted to partnership by Mr. White 
and the firm name became John White & 
Company. In 1858 Mr. White retired and Mr. 
Aborn conducted the business alone until 
1870, when Henry Haskell, Jr., was admitted 
to the firm, and twelve years later Mr. Aborn 
retired, selling to his partner. The firm man- 
ufactured a high grade of goods, carried on 
an extensive business that increased from 
time to time, and from the first had an envia- 
ble reputation for reliability and honor. Many 
years ago Mr. Aborn realized the possibilities 
of real estate development at Magnolia, and 
early anticipated what has since proved to be 
a successful business venture at ^Magnolia, 
Massachusetts. In 1899 he built the house 
known as "The Aborn" in connection with 
his cottages, the building of which had 
proved profitable to him. His real estate ven- 
tures have been uniformly successftil. The 
large estate left by Mr. Aborn's father-in-law 
was ably and judiciously managed by him. 
His keen business foresight and prudence 
characterized a long and very successful bus- 
iness career. 

To the First parish and the Congregational 
church. Deacon Aborn proved a valuable 
friend and supporter for many years. He not 
only gave liberally of his means to the build- 
ing fund of the beautiful stone edifice, being 
the largest individual contributor, but he took 
an active part in the committee work and the 
task of raising funds and planning for the 
church. He was chosen a deacon for life in 
i860 and served with faithfulness, zeal and 
earnestness to the time of his death, a period 
of forty-six years. For several years he was 
also superintendent of the Sunday school, and 
was active in all branches of the church and 
charitable work. Deacon Aborn was for 
many years interested in the welfare of the 
Wakefield Savings Bank and of the Wake- 
field Real Estate and Building Association. 
He had little inclination for politics and pub- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



lie office, but did liis duty as a citizou and 
taxijaycr. and faitlifully attended and took 
part iu town meetings and public s^athcrings. 
even in his last years, when health permitted. 
Everything, in fact, that was of interest to 
his townsmen, having a worthy object in 
view, secured his support and approval. He 
was generous in response to tiie calls of char- 
ity to the deserving, was a friend of the poor, 
the sick and helpless. He was imbued with 
a proper public spirit and lent his aid and in- 
fluence invariably to movements for the pub- 
lic welfare. He aided with money and work 
the raising of troops for the L'nion during the 
Civil war. He was deeply interested in theol- 
ogy and religion, and read extensively and 
wisely on these subjects. He was a good con- 
versationalist and knew how to ex])ress his 
thoughts well. He represeiued withal the 
highest type of christian citizenship in mod- 
ern .\mericau life. I'or some time before his 
death Deacon .Aborn had not been in his us- 
ual health, but his death came as a surprise to 
those who knew his strength and vitality, 
though he was nearly eighty-four years of 
age. He died November 13. iqo6, at his 
home on Main street. Lakeside, in Wakefield. 
He married, October 23. 1845. J'^fary E. 
White, daughter of John White, then his em- 
ployer and subsequently his partner, and their 
happy matrimonial career extended over a 
period of sixty-one years. Having no chil- 
dren of their own. Deacon and Mrs. Aborn 
bestowed parental care on two daughters of 
relatives, who were left motherless, Mrs. 
Henry Haskell and Mrs. E. L'. Gleason, and 
to them and their families evidences of love 
and devotion have been made manifest. Mrs. 
Aborn survives her husband. 



l^alph Twombly, immigrant 
TWOMBLY ancestor, was living in Dov- 
er, New Hampshire, as ear- 
ly as 1656. He was undoubtedly born in Eng- 
land. He was taxed first in Dover in 1656 
and had land laid out to him there October 4, 

1656. He married Elizabeth . His son 

John was executor of his will. His will was 
dated February 28, 1684-85, and proved Oc- 
tober 7, 1686. The five youngest children 
were minors at the time of their father's 
death. Children: i. John, mentioned below. 

2. Joseph, born 1661. 3. Mary, married 

Tebbets. 4. Ralph, mentioned below. 5. 
Elizabeth. 6. Hope. 7. Sarah. 8. Esther. 
9. William. 

(H) John Twombly, son of Ralph Twom- 



bly (i), was born in l)(jver. New Hampshire, 
abmU 1666. He married (first!. .April 18, 
1(87. Mary Kenney, daughter of Thomas 
Kemiey or Lanney, I)over. He married (sec- 
ond). October 3, 1692. Rachel .\llen. His 
will was made July 18, 1724. Children: I. 
John. 2. Joseph. 3. Samuel, mentioned be- 
low. 4. Benjamin, settled in Somersworth. 5. 
William, made will September 14, 1763; mar- 
ried -Mary Ricker, daughter of (jeorge. 6. 
Saraii. 7. Mary. 8. Raciiel. 9. Estiier. 10. 
Hannah. 

(III) .Samuel Twomljly. son of Jnhn 
Twomblv (2), was boni iu or near Dover. 
New Hampshire, March 10, ifMjg. He ma:'- 
ried, November 26, 1723. Judith Hanson, 
daughter of Tobias and .\nii ( Lord) Hanson. 
She was born .September :_'. 1703, and died 
June 23, 1793. .Samuel Twombly dieil .No- 
vember, 1769. Children: 1. .\nn. born .Au- 
gust 15, 1724, married James N'ock (Knox). 

2. Samuel, Jr.. born .March 18. 1726. married 
Sarah Wentworth. daughter of T'bi'nezer and 
Sarah (Roberts) Wentworth; Samuel died 
March 12, 1794; some of his children resided 
at Berwick, Maine. 3. Jonathan, born Octo- 
ber 21. 1727, married ])eborah ^\'entworth. 
4. Tobias, born December 24. 1728. 5. Ju- 
dith, born September 25, 1730. married Cap- 
tain John Gage. 6. Lsaac. born May 23, 
1739. died 1824. 

(IT) Ralph Twombly, son of Ralph Twom- 
bly (i), had two sons: i. William mentioned 
below. 2. Ralph, Jr. Many of their de- 
scendants have lived in Barrington, Roches- 
ter and vicinit\-, New Hampshire. 

(HI) William Twombly, son of Ralph 
Twombly (2), was born about 1700. He set- 
tled in Madbury, .New Hampshire, but about 
1735 removed to the adjacent town of Bar- 
rington. Children: i. Moses, mentioned be- 
low. 2. Nathaniel. 3. Jo.shua. 4. John. And 
probably others. 

(IV) Moses Twombly, son of William 
Twombly (3), was born about 1735, probably 
at Barrington. New Hampshire. He married 
Elizabeth Holmes, sister of Kphraim Holmes 
who married Sarah Wentworth. a descendant 
of Governor Benning Wentworth. Children: 
I. .Samuel, born 1766, married Olive Hunt- 
ress: was a farmer at Strafford, 2. .Anthony. 

3. William. 4. James. 5. Hannah. 6. De- 
borah. 7. Phebe. 8. Epliraim. 

(V) Ephraim Twombly, a descendant of 
Ralph Twombly, was born at Berwick, Alaine, 
about 1770. He may have been son of Moses 
(iv) or Ezekiel Tw^ombly, of Berwick. He 
settled in North Berwick on a farm, and 



176 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



owned large tracts of land there. He was an 
invalid during his later years. He married 
(first), December 27, 1792, Joanna W'ent- 
worth. He was then living in Rochester, 
New Hampshire. She was of Berwick, Maine. 
He married (second) Hannah Guptill, daugh- 
ter of Stephen and Sarah (Barnes) Guptill, of 
Berwick. He married (third) Mary Chad- 
bourne, of Berwick. Children of Ephraim 
and Joanna Twombly: i. Moses Nock, born 
January 23, 1793, mentioned below-. 2. John. 
Children of Ephraim and Hannah Twombly 

3. Mercy. 4. Mary. 

(VI) Moses Nock Twombly, son of Eph- 
raim Twombly (5), was born at Berwick, 
January 2^, 1/93, died April 26, 1841. He re- 
ceived his education in the district schools of 
Berwick, living w'ith an uncle who brought 
him up, -Vt his uncle's death the farm came 
to him. It was situate on the Salmon Falls 
river in the west part of the town and con- 
tained sixty acres. He followed farming un- 
til within two years of his death, when he 
sold out to a Mr. Emery and removed to the 
center of the village. He was active in the 
militia and was known generally as Captain 
Twombly. He was a Universalist in religion, a 
Democrat in politics. He married, March 20, 
181 7, Phebe Fogg, who was born May 11, 
1798, daughter of Joseph and Phebe (Hayes) 
Fogg, of Berwick, her father was a farmer 
and carpenter. Their children: i. Sarah 
(Sally), born December 26, 1818, married 
Henry Bowers, of Chelsea; children: i. Julia 
Elizabeth Bowers, married C. H. Swords: ii. 
William Henry Bowers. 2. Joanna, born 
June 2, 1820, inarried Luther Calvin Tebbetts, 
who was born June 26, 1820; children: i. 
Frank J. Tebbetts; ii. Luther Calvin Tebbetts; 
iii. Hattie E. Tebbetts; iv. Anna Tebbetts. 3. 
Julia Hilyard, born October i, 1822, married 
Joseph Huntress, of Portsmouth, Maine; no 
children. 4. William Henry, born October 
31, 1824, died July 22, i860. 5. John Fogg, 
born December 29, 1826, married, February 

4, 1857, Mrs. Susan (St. John) Chapman, of 
Sharon, Connecticut; children: i. William 
Hayes Fogg, born August i, 1858; ii. Cyth- 
era, born August 10, 1862, died October 7, 
1862. iii. John Fogg, Jr., born February 2, 
1870; iv. Frances Cythera, born January i, 
1872. 6. Albion King, born November 13, 
1827, died May 11, 1853 (twin). 7. Horatio 
(twin), born November 13, 1827. 8. Phebe 
Jane, born March 26, 1833, mentioned below. 
9. Joseph F., bom August 7, 1835, died May 
-9' 1853. ID. James Madison, born August 



8, 1837, died December 9, 1857. 11. Howard, 
born August y, 1840. 

(\'1I) Phebe Jane Twombly, daughter of 
Moses Nock Twombly (6), was born at Ber- 
wick, Maine, March 26, 1833. She married, 
November 7, 1858, Luther Calvin Tebbetts, 
whose first wife was her sister Joanna. She 
resumed her maiden name and her children 
were named Twombly also. Children: i. 
Minnie Ella Twombly, born March 2^, i860, 
married, August, 1903, Dr. Charles F. Mills, 
of Framingham, Massachusetts, now practis- 
ing and residing in Ning Po, China; no chil- 
dren. 2. Alice Twombly, born May 21, 1863, 
married, June 30, 1904, James I. Hamilton, of 
Framingham; no children. 3. Horatio F., 
born January 30, 1865, mentioned below. At 
this date (1907) Mrs. Twombly is visiting her 
daughter, Mrs. Mills, in China. 

(VIII) Horatio F. Twombly, son of Phebe 
Jane Twombly (7), was born at Salisbury, 
Connecticut, January 30, 1865. When an 
infant he came to Framingham with 
his mother and was educated there in 
the public schools. He graduated from 
the Framingham high school in 1882 
and for a time afterward worked at 
home. He organized the Bay State Manu- 
facturing Company, making all kinds of 
leather goods, and he continued this business 
successfully for about ten years. He then 
sold out and devoted his attention to the erec- 
tion of various buildings for investment, in- 
cluding the Twombly Block and the one ad- 
joining, and the Hollis Block. Besides car- 
ing for this real estate Mr. Twombly is con- 
nected with the Boston of^ce of the Equitable 
Life Insurance Company, though he con- 
tinues to reside in Framingham. He also has 
large property interests at Lynn, Massachu- 
setts. He is a member of the Framingham 
Baptist Church and treasurer of the parish, 
superintendent of its Sunday school and a 
member of the church finance committee. In 
politics he is a Republican, and active in town 
affairs. He represented his district in the 
general court in 1899. He is a member of 
Alpha Lodge, Free Masons, at South Fram- 
ingham; of Concord Chapter, Royal Arch 
Masons ; of the Order of the Eastern Star ; 
of Garfield Council, Royal Arcanum; 
Framingham Lodge. Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows and Waushacum Encampment; 
of the Baptist Social Union; of the Framing- 
ham Board of Trade. For six years he 
has served as a member of Framingham 
school board, and is one of the building com- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



177 



niittee in charge of the erection of the new 
hijjh school buihHng-. lie married. January 
30, 1895. lulith Carter, who was born July, 
iS(>y, daughter of I'Vancis and Sarah (Kins- 
nianj Carter, of Keene. Xew Ilanip.shire. 
Their only child: Francis Horatio, born De- 
cember 4, 1898. 



William Ham, the immigrant an- 
il. \M cestor, was according to family 
tradition of Scotch ancestry, but he 
came to New England from Plymouth, Eng- 
land, in June, 1635, in a company sent out by 
Robert Trelawny, a merchant of that city, who 
was granted land and rights in Maine by 
Gorges. This grant included Richmond's 
Island and several thousand acres on the main- 
land between Sperwick river and Cape Eliza- 
beth just below Portland. Trelawny belonged 
to an ancient family whose seat was at Ham 
or Hame in Devonshire. It is surmised that 
the Ham family took its name from this place, 
but no records are found to substantiate the 
assumption. Trelawny sent the first company 
to Maine in 1632 in charge of John Winter, to 
hunt, fish and trade with the Indians. Ham 
came with Nares Hawkins and others in June, 
1635, working for Trelawny on shares and 
wages. Hawkins was the chief colonist in 
charge in the absence of Winter and in a letter 
dated June 29, 1636, he names six men who 
came with him, viz. : Lander, Ham, Bellin, 
Clark, William Prey the and Simmons (Sim- 
onds). These men were dissatisfied, claiming 
that Winter and Hawkins had cheated them. 
In June, 1636, they left Falmouth and went 
westward to Portsmouth. W"inter wrote, report- 
ing their leaving June 28, 1636. Their names 
were : William Ham, Oliver Clark, John Bel- 
lin, William Freythe and John Simmons 
(Simonds). The latter was a servant of John 
Mason, the proprietor of New Hampshire, and 
in 1635, after Mason died, found employment 
with Winter. 

Ham was in Exeter as early as 1646. In 
1652 he had a grant of fifty acres of land in 
the adjacent town of Portsmouth, where he 
probably lived most of his life after 1636. His 
homestead was at Freeman's Point, called 
Ham's Point until 1833, when the widow of 
Benjamin Ham sold the remainder of the 
homestead to Peyton R. Freeman. This point 
is just above the Portsmouth Bridge, on the 
road to Kittery, Maine, a place of beautiful 
scenery. Ham built a house which is now or 
was lately standing on the Point. He owned 
Noble's Island, also called after him Ham's 



Island until recently. He had in his home lot 
sixteen and three-quarter acres of land and he 
was assigned to the first squadron in the divi- 
sion of inhabitants into garrisons in 1653. 
Irmn i()58 to 1666 he was a subscriber to the 
fund lor maintaining the minister. He died 
January 26, 1672, aged seventy-two. His 
will was proved at Exeter. His son Matthew 
died before the will was' made, and in it he 
bequeathed to his daughter, Elizabeth Cotton, 
wife of William Cotton ; to his grandsons, 
William, Thomas and John, the children of 
Matthew Ham. The relationship between 
William Ham, of Portsmouth, and John Ham, 
of Dover, remains undiscovered. John was 
nephew, brother or cousin of William. Will- 
iam married Honor . Children of Will- 
iam Ham: 1. Mathew, born 1626, mentioned 
below. 2. Elizabeth, married William Cotton ; 
she w-as born in 1629, died 1678. 

(II) Mathew Ham, son of William Ham 
(i), w-as born we are told in the Isle of Man, 
England, in 1626, and died in 1664, and proba- 
bly came to New England some years after his 
father. In 1654 he had a lot of land granted 
adjoining his father's homestead at Ports- 
mouth ; in 1660 he had twenty-five acres 
granted between the Point farm and the pres- 
ent main road "to be laid out at the ne.xt con- 
venient time." In 1656 he with others filed 
his cattle mark (brand) at Portsmouth : A 
capital "H."' He subscribed to the ministerial 
fund from 1658 to 1666. In accordance with 
his father's will the property was entailed to 
the eldest son through four or five generations. 
Mathew's widow survived him. Their chil- 
dren: I. William, born about 1651, executor 
of his father's estate ; heir of his grandfather's 
entailed estate in 1672; his eldest son Samuel 
succeeded him there as early as, 1700, and his 
grandson William, born 1712, had the entailed 
estate ; leaving seven sons, Samuel, who had 
the estate, Timothy, George, William, Eph- 
raim, Nathaniel and Benjamin, and one 
daughter, who married Captain John Tucker- 
man ; the last-named, Samuel, broke the en- 
tailment and the property was finally sold. 
2. Thomas, born about 1653, mentioned in 
grandfather's will, mariner, went to Rhode 
Island. 3. John, born about 1660, mentioned 
below. 4. Matthew, cooper by trade ; no 
traces of descendants. 

(III) John Ham, son of Mathew Ham (2), 
was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
about 1660. He was a fisherman and doubt- 
less followed the sea during his active life. He 
died at Portsmouth in 173 1, aged seventy-one. 
He had a farm at Newington and a part of the 



ijS 



.MIDDLESEX CCJUNTY. 



lK)iiu'stca<l al rortsniDUlli, the latter of which 
he called his hoineplacc. lie was industrious, 
prosix;rous and ac(|uired a handsome property, 
and had a large family. He inherited land 
from his grandfather in JO73 and lived on that 
place part of the time, giving it finally lo his 
sons Willani and 'Jhomas in 1725 and Will- 
iam Iniilt himself a new house and settled on 
it. Jle married (first) Lisson ; (sec- 
ond) Judith ritman, of Oyster River, Janu- 
ary S, 1715. Children nf first wife: 1. Eliza- 
lielli, lioiMi 1O91, married. July JJ, 1713. 2. 
Mary, horn i()y3, married. I )ei-iniber i(), 1723, 
Koljcrt llond. 3. Dorcas, ln.rn I'x/j, married. 
December 1, 1723, John Remick. 4. William, 
born i6ij8, married, 1719, JCli/.abeth Staples. 
5. Thomas, horn 1702, married, 1723, 6. 
John, born iMay 13, 1705, mentioned below. 
Children of second wife: 7. ijenjamin, born 
October 10, [71(1. settled in ISath. 8. Tobias, 
born .Xovrmher 23, 1717, married Abigail 
Smith. I). Ki'uhen, born April 25, 1720. jo. 
Nathaniel (twin), born April 19, 1723, 11. 
Samuel (twin), born April 19, 1723, married 
Elizabeth liickford. The last five named were 
baptized at Newington, August 18, 1728. 

(IN) Jolm Ham, son of John Ham (3), 
was horn at I'ortsmouth, May 13, 1705, died 
at the age of one hrmdred years, seven months 
and fifteen days, at Shapleigh, Maine, Decem- 
ber 1 8, 1805. We are told by the newspapers 
that "the intellects of his mind remained unim- 
paired until a few days previous to his death. 
He was born in Portsmoutii and well remem- 
bered wdien he was the only trader in that 
town, now a large and flourishing commercial 
town," ( See Cobnnbian Sentinel of Boston, De- 
cember 28, 1805). lie resided in Portsmmith. 
where his children were born and grew up, hut 
he spent the last of his life with his son Samuel, 
who with wife and five children settled in 
Shapleigh in the spring of 1782. He and his 
brother Samuel were soldiers in the French and 
Indian war in 1748, and earlier, under Captain 
Job Clement. From this venerable sire sprang 
many of the illustrious branches of the family. 
Three or four of his sons were soldiers in the 
Revolution — Benson, John, George, Samuel 
and William. He was a man of high charac- 
ter and great piety. He married, March 7, 
1728-29, Anna Searle, of Portsmouth. Chil- 
dren, born at Portsmouth: i. Benson, born 
November 15, 1730, died 1802, aged seventy- 
two, before his father. 2. John, born about 
1733, settled at Barrington, New Hampshire. 
3. George, born 173^^. 4. Samuel, born Octo- 
ber 3, 173S. mentioned below. 5. Thomas, 
born 1740. <^- \\'illiam, l)orn 1741-44, 7. 



Anna, liorn 1744-47. 8. I-^lizaheth, born 1747- 
50. 9. Mary, born 1750-52. 

(\ ) Samuel Ham, son of John Ham (4), 
was burn in I'ortsmouth, October 3, 1738. He 
was a soldier in the Revolution, in the same 
com])any with his brothers George, William, 
and Ephraim Ham, in 1780, Captain Jewell's 
Company, Colonel P)artlett's regiment. Sam- 
uel was in the service earlier in 1778 and in 
Captain John Drew's company. Colonel 
Evans's regiment, in 1776. He is the hero of 
a story of the battle of Bunker Hill. W'hen 
the American powder gave out and it became 
necessary to retreat, Ham's captain found him 
shooting away from the shelter of an apple 
tree. The retreat sounded, and Ham remon- 
strated with the captain: "No, just hold on 
captain, the p-p-picking here is too d-d-dam 
g-g-good." He stuttered in his speech and 
his comrades were never tired of relating his 
eagerness to use up his ammunition on the 
liritish. When he was married, he drove with 
his bride to the neighboring town of Green- 
land, where they were married by Rev. Dr. 
McClintock, chaplain later at the battle of 
r.uuker Hill — the "Fighting Parson." Ham 
married, September 21, 1773, Elizabeth Sher- 
burne, who was born October 13, 1750, and 
died m Shapleigh in 1836, daughter of 
Nathaniel Sherburne (4), whose lineage was 
— John (3), (2), (i), a well-known New 
JIampshire family. 

George Ham, brother of Samuel, was the 
fifth settler of the town of Shapleigh, in the 
year 1775. .Samuel left Portsmouth April 30, 
1782, and located in Shapleigh, where he 
cleared his farm and brought up a large family 
of children, viz.: i. William, born March 8, 
1774, married Esther Mildrum. 2. Jacob, 
horn June 22, 1775, married Betsey Abbot. 
3. Thomas, born December 6, 1777, married 
Patience Penny. 4. John, Ixirn December 25, 
1779, married Mary Patch. 5. Elizabeth, 
born February 10, 1783, unmarried. Born at 
Shapleigh : 6. Abigail, born February 10, 
1784, married Ivory Lowe. 7. Anna, born 
January 5, 1786, married Edward LittlefieUf. 
8, Samuel, born February 13, 1788, married 
Nancy Thompson. 9. Benjamin, born June 
23, 1791, married Phebe Davis. 

(VI) Jacob Ham, son of .Samuel Ham (5), 
was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
June 22, 1775, and died at Shapleigh, October 
19, 1859, at an advanced age. He was a far- 
mer at Shapleigh, living about a mile from the 
village center. He married Betsey Abbott, 
who was born at Shapleigh in 1783, and died 
there May 15, 1855. Children, born at Shap- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



179 



liigii : 1. Li.\i, born August 9, 1804, imii- 
tioiicd below. 2. Jane, born 1806, married 
William Ferguson. 3. Susan, born 1808, 
married .\braham Dodge. 4. Nathaniel, mar- 
ried .Mary ."^heldon. 5. Statira, died young. 
6. .\nna, married Hradley Sayward. 7. Leb- 
beus. born 1814, married Dorcas Worcester. 

8. < )rijlia. i)orn 1818, married Darling Ross. 

9. Dorcas, born 1820 or 1824, married (i. VV. 
-Manning. 10. Mary, born 1823. 11. Jacob, 
died young. 

(\'Ilj Levi Ham, son of Jacob Mam (6), 
was Ixjrn at Shapleigh, .August 9, 1804, and 
died July 20, 1883. He was educated in the 
public schools of his native town, attending 
the winter terms until he was twenty years 
old, and working in the summer on his 
father's farm. .\t the age of twenty-three he 
came to Danvers, Massachusetts, and secured 
employment in Putnam's brick yard. .After 
his first year he was foreman, and after three 
years he returned to Shapleigh. buying a farm 
of about a hundred acres, near the center of 
the town, a part of his father's homestead and 
building a house there. In 1856 he bought 
the remainder of his father's homestead of his 
brother and conducted it until 1868, when he 
sold it to his son, Fernald E. Ham, who owned 
it until his death, January 21, 1907. Levi 
Ham lived with his son Fernald for two years 
at Burlington, removing thence to Wenham, 
Massachusetts, where he lived on a small place 
that he bought, imtil his death. July 20, 1882. 
He was a member of the Baptist church at 
Shapleigh. In politics he was a Whig, later 
a Republican. He was a member of the start; 
militia when a young man. 

He married, December i, 183 1, Sarah F. 
Fernald, who was lx>rn at Shapleigh, July 26, 
1807, and died May 28, 1893, the .laughter of 
Robert and Betsey (Ferguson) Fernald. 
(Children: I. Jane F., born May i, 1833, died 
June 15, 1858. 2. Fernald Elliot, born .\pril 
2, 1835, mentioned below. 3. Edwin Jacob, 
born March 24, 1840, married, September 18, 
1864, .Addie L. Hobbs, of Boston: children; 
i. Carrie E., born September 2, 1865 ; ii. 
Flora J., .April 15,^ 1868; iii. Edwin M. 
(twin), February 26, 1875; iv. Elroy E. 
(twin), February 28, 1875; v. Waldo M., 
March 24, 1880. 4. Martin Luther, born Feb- 
ruary 2, 1842, married, Novemlier 22, 1883, 
Jane S. Day, of Boston ; children : i. Roscoe 
Conklin, born May 1,1885; •'■ Roderick,Octo- 
ber 6. 1886, died -April 10, 1898; iii. Uriel 
-Stephens, September 26, 1891 ; iv. Elizabeth 
Irene, -April 21, 1897. 5. Benjamin Adams, 
born -August 23, 1846, married, April 7, 1875, 



Louise Andrews, of Waterboro, -Maine; chil- 
dren: i. Guy Andrews, born July 8, 1878; 
ii. Harry Howard, March 16, 1883; iii. Ever- 
ett /\dams, October 14, 1894. 

(IX) Fernald Elliot Ham, son of Levi 
Ham (8), was lx)rn at Shapleigh, Maine, 
.\\m\ 2, 1835, and was educated in the com- 
mon schools of that town. Being the eldest 
he was obliged to begin work at an early age 
and assisted in the support of the family. 
When he came of age he went to Danvers, 
Massachusetts, and found employment in the 
shoe factories of that town and later worked 
at farming for hrank Dodge and also for 
-Major (iidden. .\fler working eight years 
and saving his first thousand dollars, he en- 
gaged in teaming in I'.oston on his own ac- 
count and built up a thriving business. He 
was employed largely by the .Spencer Repeat- 
ing Rifle Company and the Chickering I'iano 
Company. In 1868 he lx)ught a farm of fifty 
acres at Burlington, Massachusetts, known as 
the Cumston i'lace, where the old tavern on 
the turnjiike from Lowell to Boston was lo- 
cated, and he engaged in general farming and 
market gardening, sending his produce to 
I'.oston. He had an excellent dairy, having 
some thirty-five head of Holstein cattle. He 
stocked the old Ham farm at Shapleigh, which 
he owned, with his high-grade cattle. One 
notable result of his study to perfect his work 
was the originating by him of a new variety of 
sweet corn, which, bearing his name, is upon 
the seed market of to-day, rated second to 
none. His products were invariably of high 
grade. He acquired a competence and ranked 
high among the business men of his com- 
munity. 

He was a member of the Baptist church of 
Lexington, and at the time of his death, Janu- 
ary 21, 1907, was a member of the Tremont 
Temple of Boston. He was one of the trus- 
tees of the Lexington church. In pf)litics he 
was a Republican and served as delegate to 
various nominating conventions. He was on 
the board of health of Burlington. He was a 
I'ree Mason for forty years, a member of 
.\delphi Lodge of South Boston, He was a 
member of the Boston Market Gardeners' 
-Association and of the Boston Horticultural 
.Society. The Burlington .Agricultural .So- 
ciety, an organization which conducted several 
eminently successful agricultural fairs, owed 
much to his energetic co-operation. He was 
actively interested in Grange work, being a 
member of Lexington Grange, Patrons of 
Husbandry, and for a time its treasurer. His 
many interests never made him forget his 



i8o 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



youthful home in his native town, and he re- 
tained ownership of the homestead and erected 
in the old church in Shapleigh a memorial 
window to his father. One who knew him 
well wrote of him : "Fernald Elliot Ham was 
a typical New Englander, strongly imbued 
with the homely sense, the keenness, shrewd- 
ness and sagacity of the early settlers. Oft- 
times blunt of speech — it was the bluntness 
born of innate honesty of thought and pur- 
pose. His was a kindly heart; open to every 
righteous appeal making for the moral uplift 
of his fellows. His judgment men valued. 
His opinions men built upon, because it was 
conceded that they were safe and sane, the 
result of careful consideration, and not im- 
pulsive, undisgested utterances. His word 
was his bond. In him dwelt the characteris- 
tics men honor. Vigorous and progressive to 
the last, his life was a lesson — his memory 
an inspiration." 

He married (first), October 25, 1866, at 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Sarah F. 
Wyatt, who was born in Portsmouth, April 7, 
1831, and died June 23, 1879, the daughter 
of Ebenezer Wyatt. He married (second), 
October 17, 1880, Helen Almeda Huff, who 
died May g, 1882, the daughter of Captain 
James and Martha C. (Gove) Huff. He mar- 
ried (third) Martha W. Huff, sister of second 
wife. Children of Fernald Elliot and Sarah 
F. Ham: i. Hattie Cumston, born May 5, 
1868, died August 23, 1877. 2. Alice Currier, 
born December i, 1870, married, January 20, 
1892, George H. Rupert, of Charlestown, 
Massachusetts; children: Fred H. Rupert, 
born December 16, 1892; ii. Harold Tryon 
Rupert, March 17, 1902. 3. George Elliot, 
born July 10, 1872, mentioned below. 

(X) George Elliot Ham, son of Fernald 
Elliot Ham (9), was born in Burlington, Mas- 
sachusetts, July 10, 1872, and was educated 
there in the public and high schools. He re- 
mained at home, working on his father's farm 
until he was of age, when he entered the em- 
ploy of Avery & Waldron as clerk in their 
wholesale produce establishment, 10 Mercan- 
tile street, Boston. He continued with this 
firm until 1901 when the firm was reorganized 
as Waldron & Sheppard, and he has continued 
with the concern to the present time as sales- 
man in charge of the commission business. 
The firm has a wholesale and retail trade in 
fruits and produce. Mr. Ham resides at 43 
Rogers avenue, Somerville, where he owns a 
beautiful double apartment house, recently 
purchased. He is a member of the Lexington 
Avenue Baptist Church. In politics he is a 



Republican. He was made a member of Soley 
Lodge of Masons at Somerville, February 20, 
1905 ; of Somerville Chapter of Royal Arch 
Masons, December 21, 1905; of Lexington 
Grange, No. 233, Patrons of Husbandry, of 
Lexington. He is a member of the Mercantile 
Market Relief Association of Boston. He 
married, December 7, 1898, Agnes Lillian 
Chase, who was born at Fall River, Massa- 
chusetts, December 3, 1878, the daughter of 
Ambrose P. and Eunice Ellen (Johnson) 
Chase, of Rutland, Vermont. They have one 
child, Fernald Elliot, born November 12, 1901. 



John Boit, the progenitor of the 
BOIT American family of this surname, 

was born in 1733. It is not 
known whence he came, but family tradition 
says that he was a Huguenot and came from 
France to Boston when a young man. He 
was a West India merchant and became a 
man of property. Paul Revere mentions him 
as one of the well known citizens of his time. 
He was a member of King's Chapel parish 
and for many years was the owner of Pew No. 
64, formerly the property of Samuel G. Jarvis. 
I'loit's-name appears in the list of pew owners 
as early as 1775. He died intestate in Boston, 
December 28, 1798, and is buried in King's 
Chapel Burying Ground. He married, in 1762, 
Hannah Atkins, of Boston, (See Suffolk Wills 
— 21,000). Their children: i. Henry, born 
July 3, 1763. 2. Hannah, born July 3, 1765^ 
married, 1789, Crowell Hatch, of Boston. 3. 
John, Jr., born March 8, 1767, mentioned be- 
low. His mother died at his birth and the infant 
was afterward adopted by a Mr. Williams, of 
Lexington, Massachusetts. John Bolt's sec- 
ond wife was Sarah Brown, of Boston. They 
were married by Rev. Andrew Eliot, August 
3, 1769, children : 4. Sarah, born April, 26, 
1772, married, 1790, John Duballet, of Boston. 
5. John, Jr., born October 17, 1774, (will proved 
at Boston, 1829). 6. Mary, born May 12,1776. 
(The appearance in this family of two of the 
name of John, Jr.. is explained by the fact 
that the first John, Jr., was adopted by a Mr. 
Williams, but he always gave his name as 
John Boit.) 

(II) John Boit, Jr., son of John Boit (i), 
and his first wife, Hannah Atkins, was born 
in Boston, March 8, 1767. After the death of 
Mr. Williams, his foster father, he removed 
from Lexington to Peterboro, New Hamp- 
shire. He followed farming for an occupation 
first at Peterboro, then at Groton, Massachu- 
setts. He married Rebecca Wesson, of Cam- 





\JtA-i) J6ai.l- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



i8i 



bridge, Massachusetts. She died at Groton, 
August 25, 1835. Their first child was 
bom at Peterboro, the others all at 
Groton. Children: i. Eliza W., born 
May 12, 1800. 2. John Williams, born 
January 25, 1806. 3. Sarah, born June 26, 
1808. 4. Helen Clarissa, born September 17, 
181 1. 5. Timothy W., born January 12, 1813. 
6. Harriet W., born March 16, 1817. 7. 
Rebecca W., born March 24, 1822. 8. James 
Henry Stuart, born Aug-ust 13. 1824, men- 
tioned below. 

(HI) James Henry Stuart Boit, son of 
John Boit, Jr. (2), was boni at Groton, Massa- 
chusetts, .\ugust 13, 1824. He was educated 
in the public schools and worked in his youth 
on the homestead. He removed to Boston, 
and finally to Xewton Lower Falls, Massa- 
chusetts. He learned the trade of stationary 
engineer, but at Xewton Falls engaged in 
paper manufacturing. In later life he was for 
twenty years in charge of the Hamilton 
School Building at Newton Lower Falls, and 
also for many years sexton of Saint Mary's 
Protestant Episcopal Church. He married, 
May 7, 1846, Amanda Church Berry, born 
1824, in Bridgeton, Maine, and they lived to 
celebrate their Golden Wedding in 1896. Mr. 
Boit died January 16, 1899; his wife, April i, 
1899. Their si.x children, all daughters, were 
born in Newton: i. Julia .\manda, born 
April 12, 1847, died March 15, 1861. 2. EHza- 
beth Eaton, born July 9. 1849. mentioned be- 
low. 3. Clara Rebecca, born February 3, 
1851. married, October 20, 1870, George W. 
Morse, of Xewtonville. Massachusetts. 4. 
Harriet Maria, born August 11, 1853, mar- 
ried, March i, 1881, Clarence A. Wiswall, 
and resides at Reading. Massachusetts. 5. 
Helen Augusta, born November 28, 1859, mar- 
ried, June 26, 1882, Dr. F". W. Freeman, of 
Newton Lower Falls; they reside at Lynn- 
field, Massachusetts. 6. Susan Henrietta, 
born Januarv- 31, 1864, died April i. 1886. 

(IV) Elizabeth Eaton Boit, daughter of 
James Henry Stuart Boit (3), was born at 
Newton, July 9, 1849. She pursued the ele- 
mentary studies in the Xewton public schools, 
and after her graduation from the grammar 
school took a two years course at Lasell Sem- 
inary, .A^uburndale, Massachusetts. When she 
was eighteen years old she accepted the posi- 
tion of timekeeper in the sewing or finishing 
department of the Dudley Hosiery Knitting 
Mill, Xewton. of which H. B. Scuddcr was at 
that time the agent. The able and thorough 
manner in which she performed her duties 
soon caused her promotion to the position of 



assistant forewoman, from which she was 
soon adanced to the position of forewoman, 
and within five years was given full charge 
of the finishing department. When Mr. Scud- 
der established the Allstun .Mills at Allston, 
Massachusetts, for the manufacture of hosiery 
and children's scarlet-wool goods, she be- 
came the superintendent of the mills, a posi- 
tion she filled until the property was sold five 
years later. 

Desiring to enter business for herself she 
formed a partnership with Charles N. Win- 
ship, formerly of the Dudley .Mill, and later 
foreman of the knitting department of the 
.Allston Mill, under the firm name of Win- 
ship, Boit & Company, and established the Har- 
vard Knitting Mill at Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, in 1888. The business was removed to 
Wakefield in the following year, occupying 
one floor of the Wakefield Block, .\lthough 
the capital of the firm was small at first, the 
partners had a thorough knowledge of the 
business and from the first commanded suc- 
cess. Miss Boit was in charge of the finances 
of the company as well as having charge of 
the finishing department, while Mr. Winship 
attended to the knitting and other branches of 
the business. The excellent quality of the 
goods made in the Han'ard Mill created a 
large demand and made them popular every- 
where in the country. The firm made a speci- 
alty of knit underwear. .A^s the business in- 
creased the company was able to enlarge its 
facilities and production, and at length was 
compelled to erect a spacious building for 
its own use. 

Miss Boit is the only woman in the United 
States known to be actively engaged in con- 
ducting a textile manufacturing concern. .Al- 
though her numerous business duties are ex- 
acting, she finds time for various social and 
charitable organizations with which she is 
connected. She is a member of the Ladies' 
.Aid Society of Massachusetts. She was for a 
time treasurer of the .Aged Women's Home, 
and also of the Kosmos Club, a literary so- 
cietv. She is especially interested in the wel- 
fare of young girls, particularly those in the 
emplov of her firm, and avails herself of every 
opportunity to further the progress and well- 
being of the wage-earners of her sex. 



Thomas Bird, immigrant ancestor 
BIRD of the family was born in England 

about 161 3. He settled in Dor- 
chester. Massachusetts, as early as 1640, 
when he was one of the proprietors of the 



I82 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



town, and joined the church in 1642 under 
Rev. Richard Alather. He was a tanner by 
trade. His home was on what is now Hum- 
phrey street and his tanyard was nearly op- 
posite, to the northeast of the residence now 
or late of Thomas Groom and as late as 1871, 
perhaps later, traces of the yard and pits were 
to be seen. Jonas Humphreys and his son 
James were also tanners thereabouts. Bird 
was a citizen of good standing and was town 
bailif? in 1654. He died June 8, 1667, aged 
fifty-four years; his widow Ann died August 
21, 1673. His will was proved July 17, 1667, 
giving one-third of his estate to wife Ann; his 
son Thomas to have ten pounds more than 
the other children, deducting the fifty pounds 
promised at his marriage, part of which is 
paid; naming also sons John and James, and 
daughter Sarah. Children: i. Thomas, men- 
tioned below. 2. John, born March 11, 1641, 
died August 2, 1732. 3. Samuel, baptized 
April, 1664. 4. James, baptized April, 1647, 
died September, 1723. 5. Sarah, baptized 
August 12, 1649, died April 24, 1669. 6. 
Joseph, born September 26, 1665. 

(II) Thomas Bird, son of Thomas (i) and 
Ann Bird, was born in Dorchester, Massa- 
chusetts, May 4, 1640, died January 30, 1709- 
10. He married, February 2, 1665, Thankful 
Atherton, born 1664, died April 11, 1719, 
daughter of General Humphrey Atherton. 
He was admitted freeman April 18, 1690. The 
inventory of his estate showed property 
valued at five hundred and seventy pounds, a 
large estate for his day. The heirs agreed on 
a settlement of the estate March 8, 1710-11. 
Children: i. Joseph, born October i, 1666, 
died March 9, 1711-12. 2. Tliankful. born 
February 6, 1667, married, 1700, Lieutenant 
Jeremiah Fuller, of Newton, Massachusetts. 
3. .Sarah, born October 24, 1669, married, 
April 7, 1709, Jonathan Jones. 4. Anne, born 
November 8, 1671, married, April 16, 1697, 
John Clark, of Newton. 5. Thomas, born 
August II, 1673, lost his Hfe in the Expedi- 
tion to Canada in 1690, Captain John With- 
ington's company. 6. Mary, born January 
26, 1674. 7. Submit, born May 13, 1678. 8. 
Mercy, born February 6. 1679. 9. Patience, 
born November 19, 1681, died December, 
1728. 10. Patience, born November 27, 1683, 
died December 11, 1757. ti. Benjamin, men- 
tioned below. 

(III) Benjamin Bird, son of Thomas (2) 
ahd Thankful (Atherton) Bird, was born 
in Dorchester, Massachusetts, .A^pril 13, 1686, 
died there March 29, 1757. He was at one 
time a wharfinger in Boston and in his day 



was an important citizen of Dorchester. He 
was constable of that town 1725 and 1727; 
selectman and assessor 1728, 1732; deputy to 
the general court 1729 to 1733 inclusive and 
1737. He and his son, Samuel Bird, were very 
prominent in opposition to the church and pas- 
tor. Rev. Jonathan Bowman, but a council of 
churches, 1746, sustained the latter. Bird had 
a thousand acres of school land in Lunen- 
burg, bought March 4, 1733-34, for four hun- 
dred pounds. He married at Ipswich Johan- 
nah Harris (intentions dated January 30, 
1710). Children: I. Mindwell, born March 
8, 1711-12, married, May 10, 1739, Ebenezer 
Parker, of Newton. 2. Mary, born July 4, 
1713. 3. Anne, born November 27, 1714. 4. 
Sarah, born October 4, 1716. 5. Benjamin, 
born January 15, 17 17, had land in Ashburn- 
hani. 6. Elizabeth, born July 2'/, 1721, died 
September 12, 1736. 7. Thomas, born Sep- 
tember 29, 1722, died October 27, 1722. 8. 
Samuel, born March 27, 1724. 9. Abigail, 
born June 20, 1725, died September 24, 1725. 
10. Hannah, born September 29, 1726, mar- 
ried .\orman Clark, of Newton. 11. John, 
mentioned below. 12. Ruth, born May 16, 
1730, died September 15, 1730. 13. Susannah, 
born March 20, 1731-32, married Enoch 
Glover. 14. Joseph, born June 9, 1733, died 
December 24, 1733. 15. Jonathan, born Janu- 
ary I, 1734-35- 

(IV) John Bird, son of Benjamin (3) and 
Johannah (Harris) Bird, was born in Dor- 
chester, April 22, 1729, and died in Needham, 
Massachusetts, August, 1810. He resided in 
Ro.xbury and Nee'lham. He married. May 
-I- I75S- i^Iary Lyon, of Roxbury (by Rev. 
Benjamin Bird). He was a farmer. He was 
a soldier in the Revolution, a private in Cap- 
tain Robert Smith's company. Colonel Will- 
iam Heath's regiment in 1776; also in Captain 
Hopestill Hall's company. Colonel Lemuel 
Robinson's regiment, at Roxbury. He en- 
listed in the Continental army in the sum- 
mer of 1780, the descriptive list giving his 
age as fifty-one years, his complexion ruddy, 
stature five feet, ten inches and his residence 
Needham. He was in the company of Cap- 
tain .\bner Howard. Their children, all born 
at Needham w'ere: i. Mary, born March 9, 
1756, died March 10. 2. Mary, born Feb- 
ruary 8, baptized February 13, I7.S7- 3- 
Hannah, born February 28, 1759, baptized 
March 4, 1759. 4. Sarah, born August 25, 
1761. baptized .\ugust 30, 1761. 5. Abigail, 
born .\pril 28, 1765. 6. Kata, baptized April 
16, 1769. 7. Ebenezer, mentioned below. 8. 
Benjamin, baptized October 24, 1773. 9. 



MinDLESEX COUNT Y. 



183 



Kutli, baptized August 11, 1775. 10. Jolin, 
baptized Se])tember 6, 1778. 

( \') Ebcnezcr Bird, son of John (4) and 
Mary (Lyon) Bird, was born at Ncedham, 
March 30, 1771. and was baptized in the 
Xeedham church, line 9, 1771. He (hed at 
Asiiby, Massachusetts, May 2. 1847. He be- 
gan liis career on the hcimestead at Xeedham, 
hclj)ing his father witli the farm, and he was 
educated there in the jJubHc schools. The 
Bird homestead was on the Boston turnpike 
in Xeedham. The overflow from the Bird 
Spring on the old farm feeds the Xeedham 
Water Reservoir. The farm contained several 
hundred acres. Kbenezer moved to Warwick, 
Massachusetts, but finally settled in .\sbby. He 
was active in public affairs, and for a time was 
tax collector of Xeedham. He married, at 
Xeedham. Julia Smith. Children: i. William 
Smith, married Elizabeth Gardner, a native of 
England. 2. Ebenezer, Jr.. mentioned below. 
3. Amanda. 4. Julia, married Jeremiah An- 
drews, of Eitcliburg, and had son, George 
Bird. 5. Mary, married Charles H. Crosby, 
of Boston, no issue. 

(\'I) Ebenezer iiird, Jr., son of Ebenezer 
(5) and Julia (Smith) Bird, was born at 
Needham, Massachusetts, .-Vpril 19, 1802, He 
worked on the homestead at Xeedham and at- 
tended scIkxjI there. He went with the family 
to Warwick and worked on the farm there 
with his father. He moved to .Vsliby with his 
wife when his father went thither and bought 
in that town the farm of Lewis Richardson, in 
the northern part ot the tf)\vn. The farm 
consisted of eighty acres of land. He lived on 
it until 1847, when he sold it and Ixjught the 
present Bird farm at Framingham of F-llijah 
Cloyes. He conducted this ])lace until 1856, 
when he deeded it to his son Samuel. Ebene- 
zer then removed to Leominster, Massachu- 
setts, in 1859, and bought a home in which he 
lived until his deatli, .\pril 25, 1884. He was 
a L'nitarian in religion, a Wliig and Republi- 
can in politics. He was active in town affairs 
in Framingham and held several offices. He 
was a member of the Ashby militia company. 
He married, October 28, 1824, Sally Knowl- 
ton. born .\pril 8, 1805, died July 5, 1846, 
daughter of Elias and Pamelia (Fi.ske) 
Knowlton, of W'arwick, Massachusetts. Chil- 
dren: I. Ebenezer Dwight. born March 23, 
1826, died June 8, 1827, 2, I'amelia Fiske, 
born May 2, 1828, died December 4, 1828. 3. 
William Smith, born October 19, 1829, died 
in California, 4. Samuel Bradford, mention- 
ed below. 5. Sarah Elizabeth, born August 
3, 1834, died January 5. 187 1. fi. Francis 



Dwight. born .August 27, 1838, married, Aug- 
ust 27, 1885, Mrs. Lottie F'ields, 7, Charles 
Herbert, born April 12, 1842, died March 6, 
1901 : married, June, 1867, Celia F". Chase, of 
Kingston, New York, 8. Henry Alfred, born 
Jvnc 21, 1846, died Xovember 26, 1901 ; mar- 
ried, .September 9, 1881, Maria Dampf, of 
Bavaria, Germany. Ebenezer Bird married 
(second), .March 4, 1847, Elizabeth Child, 
born in Warwick, January 26, 1810, died July 
20, i860, daughter of Fhinehas Child, of War- 
wick. Ebenezer Bird married (third) Decem- 
lx;r 16. 1861, Mrs. Abigail (Stanwood) Bar- 
ron, of Lisbon. Maine, born March 24, 1813, 
died April 9, 1899. 

(\'n) .'^amuel Bradford Bird, son of 
Ebenezer (Ci) and Sally (Knowlton) Bird, 
was Vjom at .\shby, Massachusetts, September 
3, .1831, died at Framingham, February, 11)07. 
He attended the public schools of his native 
town until sixteen years old, when his parents 
removed to Framingham, where he attended 
school also for a short time, taking a course 
later in a Lowell school. He taught school 
for six years, the first term in Fitchburg, the 
second in .\shby, and four in Southboro.'gh. 
He was successful in his profession, winning 
the love and confidence of his i)upils while 
giving them instruction and training. .Mr. 
I'lird returned to the homestead of his father 
at I'Vamingham. which he purchased in 1856, 
and where he macre his home until his death. 
The farm is in the western part of the town 
and consists of the original estate less seventy- 
five acres, which were taken by the Metropoli- 
tan Water Board in connection with the water 
supply of Boston and suburbs. Mr. Bird was 
for many years local representative of the firm 
of J. L. Xason & Company, of Boston, real es- 
tate brokers. He was called uj>nn constantly as 
an appraiser of real estate in Framingham, 
Marlborough. Xorthlxirough and vicinity, and 
has Ixnight and sold real estate extensively. 
Mr. Bird was one of the most active and prom- 
inent citizens in public life in Framingham. 
He was assessor from 1869 to 1881, and chair- 
man of the l>iard nine years, finally declining 
re-election. He was elected on the board of 
selectmen in 1 87 1 and served ten years, dur- 
ing five of which he was chairman of the 
board. He was a member of the school com- 
mittee fifteen years, and town treasurer five 
years and a half, the first six months being the 
unexpired term of bis predecessor. In 1886 
and 1887 he represented Framingham in the 
general court, serving on the committee on 
public health, and as clerk of the committee 
on atrriculture. He was road commissioner 



i84 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



several years. He was moderator of the town 
meeting in 1875 and had the extraordinary 
record of one hundred and nine elections as 
moderator of Framingham town meetings. 
Such a testimony of confidence by one's 
townsmen is probably unparalleled in the state. 
His gifts as a presiding officer, his good judg- 
ment, his knowledge of town affairs and of 
parliamentary practice, his success in hand- 
ling difficult meetings made him in many re- 
spects the foremost citizen of the town, equally 
trusted and esteemed by men of both political 
parties. He was a director of the Framing- 
ham National Bank for eighteen years, resign- 
ing in 1905, was trustee of the Town Library 
for twelve years, was the treasurer of the first 
corporation of the Framingham Union Street 
Railroad, being a trustee and financing the 
company. In religion he was a LTnitarian, and 
a life member of the American Unitarian As- 
sociation and of the First parish at Framing- 
ham, of which he was the treasurer. He was 
one of the original members of the Middlesex 
South Agricultural Society. 

He married, November 28, 1861, Sarah A. 
Howe, who was born May 2, 1841, died Janu- 
ary 17, 1872, daughter of Ashbel and Laura 
(Nichols) Howe, of Southborough, Massa- 
chusetts. Ashbel Howe was a farmer. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bird had no children. 



The Parker family in England 
PARKER can be traced back to the 

earliest records. The name is 
derived from the Latin, Parcus, meaning a 
picketed enclosure or park, an enclosure for 
domestic cattle or a game preserve. The sur- 
names Parcus and De Parco are found in the 
Domesday Book. The name was spelt Parker 
as early as goo. Geoffrey Parker is noted in 
the reign of Edward I (901-925), living at 
Bexley on the eastern coast. From him de- 
scended a numerous posterity, including prob- 
ably the American progenitor, Thomas Parker. 
The family seat is at Berkshire, England. 
There are numerous Parker coats-of-arms, but 
that supposed to belong to the family of 
Thomas Parker, mentioned below, is: Gu. a 
Chevron, between three Stags, faces or. The 
early generations of this family in Massachu- 
setts were usually prosperous, prominent and 
devout. .\ careful study of the early records 
reveals no unworthy action. 

(I) Thomas Parker, immigrant ancestor of 
this family, was born in England, coming 
thence to New England on the ship "Susan 
and Ellen," sailing from London, March 31, 



1635. He settled in L\nn, .Massachusetts, in 
1635, and was one of the founders of the 
twelfth church in the ^Massachusetts Bay col- 
ony. He was admitted a freeman. May 17, 
1637, and was a proprietor of Lynn in 1638. 
He was one of the first settlers of the adjacent 
town of Reading, and was elected deacon of 
the church there and was one of the foremost 
citizens. He was selectman in 1661 for five 
or more years. He was a man of property and 
had difficulty in establishing the bounds of his 
estate. His homestead was within a radius of 
thirty rods of the town hall at Wakefield, 
formerly South Reading. He died August 12, 

1683, and was buried in the burial ground at 
the east side of the Common in Reading. His 
will dated August 3, was proved December 
18. 1683, bequeathing to his wife Amy : sons 
John, Thomas, Nathaniel andHananiah ; daugh- 
ters Mary and Martha ; grandchildren, Samuel 
and Sarah Parker ; to John "a great Bible that 
Boniface Burton gave me." His widow. Amy, 
died in Reading, January 15, 1690. Children: 
I. Thomas, born at Lynn, 1636, died July 17, 
1699. 2. Hananiah, mentioned below. 3. John, 
born at Reading, 1640, married, November 13, 
1667, Hannah Kendall. 4. Joseph, born 1642, 
died 1644. 5. Joseph, born 1645, died 1646. 
6. Mary, born December 12, 1647, married 
Sami;el Dodge, of Beverly. 7. Martha, born 
March 14, 1649. 8. Nathaniel, born May 16, 
163 1, married, September 24, 1677, Bethia 
Polly. 9. Sarah, born September 30, 1653, 
died October 26, 1656. 10. Jonathan, born 
May 18, 1656, died June 10. 1680. 11. Sarah, 
born May 23, 1658. 

(II) Lieutenant Hananiah Parker, son of 
Thomas ( i ) and Amy Parker, was born at 
Lynn, Massachusetts, about 1638. and died 
March 10, 1724. He settled in Reading on 
land bordering his father's farm on the main 
road from Lynn to Lowell, now Lowell street, 
Wakefield. He was assessed there in 1667 for 
a house and farm ; was admitted a freeman, 
October 15, 1679. He was ensign of the Read- 
ing Military Cortjpany in 1680; lieutenant in 

1684. In 1679 he and two others were elected 
a committee to have charge of the construc- 
tion of a new meeting house. He served the 
town in many offices of trust and honor ; was 
town clerk for a long period ; school commit- 
teeman, selectman and representative to the 
general court. He was a farmer. 

He married (first), September 30, 1663, 
Elizabeth Browne, who was born in Reading, 
December 10, 1647, died February 27, 1697, 
daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth Browne. 
The children of the marriage were: i. John, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



185 



mentioned below. 2. Samuel, born October 
24, 1666, married .Martha Hrown, of Cam- 
bridge. 3. Elizabeth, born June, 1668, mar- 
ried, November 17, 1695, Samuel Cowdrey, of 
Reading. 4. Mary, married Samuel Poole, of 
Boston. 5. Sarah, born Eebruary 20, 1672, 
•died October 2, 1673. 6. Hananiah, born No- 
vember 2, 1674. died January 3, 1677. 7. 
Ebenezer, born I-'ebruary 13, 1676, marrievl 
Rebecca Newhall, of Reading. X. Hananiah, 
born April 30, 1681, died August 7, 1681. 
Lieutenant Parker married (second), Decem- 
ber 12, 1700, Mrs. Mary (Bursham) Bright, 
daughter of William Bursham, widow of Dea- 
con John Brigiit. of W'atertown. She died 
January 4, 1736. Lieutenant Parker died Jan- 
uary 4, 1736, aged eighty-seven years. 

(III) John Parker, ^on of Lieutenant Han- 
aniah (2) and Elizabeth (Browne) Parker, was 
born at Reading. Massachusetts, .August 3, 
1664, died January 22, 1741. His life coverea 
an interesting period of the early growth of 
the colonies. He was a joiner by trade and 
built a shop where he made farm implements, 
furniture and various useful articles of wood. 
He taught his trade to all his sons and they 
in turn to theirs. The Parkers of Lexington 
were all skillful wood workers. John Parker 
was constable of Reading, fence viewer in 
Lexington in 1714, tythingman in 171 5 and 
1721, and was amcmg the most important 
men of the town, as shown by his seat among 
the foremost in the meeting lioiise. He and 
his family removed to Lexington in the spring 
of 1712 and settled on the homestead that 
ever since has been occupied by his family 
and descendants. He married. ( )ctober 2, 
1689, Deliverance Dodge, of Beverly, Massa- 
chusetts, born Marcli 10. 1661, daughter of 
John and Sarah Dodge. She died .March 10, 
1718. Children: I. Sarah, born July 5. 1690, 
died July 9, 1690. 2. Hananiah, born Octo- 
ber 10, 1691, died 171 1 ; was in the service in 
Queen .Anne's war, in the Annapolis Expedi- 
tion. 3. Andrew, born February 14. 1693, 
married Sarah Whitney, of Lexington. 4. 
Josiah. born .April 11, 1694, married .\mia 
Stone, of Lexington, 5. Mar\'. born Decem- 
ber 4, 1695, died 1709, aged fourteen years. 
6. John, born and died 1696. 7. Edie, born 
August 19, 1697, died 1702, aged twelve 
years. 8. John, mentioned below. 

(IV) John Parker, son of John (3) and De- 
liverance (Dodge) Parker, was born at Read- 
ing. Massachusetts, November 8, 1703. When 
nine years old he moved with his parents to 
Lexington and in 1730 to Shrewsbury. He 
and his wife were admitted to tlie .'^hrewsburv 



chinch, 1732, and in 1738 to the I'Vamingham 
churcb. He'was a selectman of I'Vamingham 
and also overseer of the poor and of the work- 
house. He was a private in the company of 
Captain Henry Eames during the i'Yench and 
Indian Wars. Of his seven children only two 
lived. He left a will. He died at Framing- 
ham. I'ebruary 23, 1783. He married, at 
.Shrewsbury, I-'ebruary 18, 173 1. I'.xperience 
Cloyes, born at I'Vamingham, November 19, 
1702. died at Framingham, October 13, 1780, 
daughter of Peter and Mary (Preston) Cloyes. 
Children: i. John, born January 22, 1732. 2. 
Experience, born October 8, 1733. 3. Hana- 
niah. baptized September 21, 1735. 4. .Abi- 
gail, born December i, 1736. 5. Peter, men- 
tioned below. 6. Submit, born December 3, 
1742, married Thomas Bent, Jr., of Framing- 
ham. 7. Nathan, baptized March 2, 1746. 

(\') Peter Parker, son of John (4) and Ex- 
perience (Cloyes) Parker, was born at Fram- 
ingham. October 3, 1738. He succeeded to 
the homestead at F"ramingham and in addi- 
tion to farming followed his trade of shoe- 
maker. He became one of the leading citi- 
zens of the town, and was on the committee 
of correspondence during the Revolution and 
also one of a committee of the town to pro- 
vide for the families of the soldiers. He was 
on a connnittee to fix prices of labor and 
country produce, manufactured goods and inn 
holders' charges and was one of a committee 
of fifteen to examine the new constitution, 
May, 1780. He owned nuich real estate in 
the vicinity of Salem End. Framingham, and 
built a house on the same site where Peter 
Parker now resides. He and his wife were 
admitted to the church in 1763. He was se- 
lectman from 1777 to 1782 inclusive; town 
treasurer in 1783 and 1786: constable and tax 
collector. He was a member of Captain 
Fames company of .Alarm men in the French 
and IndiaTi war in 1757. He died November 
5. 1803. 

He married, December 8, 1761, Ruth 
Eaton, born in Framingham, February 16, 
1744, daughter of Noah and Hannah Vin- 
ton Eaton. Children of Peter and Ruth 
(Eaton) Parker were: i. John, born No- 
vember 16, 1762, married Deborah Lamb, 
of Framingham. 2. Nathan, mentioned 
below. 3. Abigail, born December 15, 
1766, married, June 8, 1803, Lovell Howe, of 
Marlborough. 4. Ruth, born January 8. 
1769, married. November 8. 1785. Joseph 
Bigelow, Jr., of Holliston. 5. Experience, 
horn February 19. 1771. married Luther Hav- 
en, of Framingham. 6. Patty, born .April 15. 



1 86 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



1773. married. Xoveiiilier i, 1793, Eleazer 
Bullard. 7. Sally, born May 25-. 1775. .mar- 
ried. April 21, 1800, William Eames, of Hol- 
liston. 8. Peter, born March 16, 1777, died 
December 17. 1784. y. Josiah, born April 26, 
1779, married. April 8, 1804, Olive Stone, of 
Framingham. 10. Artemas, born December 
20, 1781, died August 28, 1825; married, Jan- 
uary 21, 1806, Almy Clark, of Framingham. 
II. Ann, born April 25, 1784, died January 
8. 1785. 12. Peter, horn Julv 10, 1787. died 
May 7, 1788. 

(\T) Nathan Parker, son of Peter (5) and 
Ruth (Eaton) Parker was born at Framingham, 
October 23, 1764, died August 17, 1826. He had 
the Parker homestead at Framingham and 
was a farmer. He was admitted to the First 
Church at the same time as his wife, in 1792. 
He served on the side of the government in 
suppressing Sliav's Rebellion. He was a 
member of the Framingham artillery ir. 179'), 
one of the original members. He married, 
in Newton, March 17, 1791, Catherine 
Murdock, born in Newton May 2, 1765, 
daughter of Aaron and Lydia (Ward) 
Murdock. His wife died November i. 
1836. Children: i. Harriet, born October 
10, 1793, married. March 20. 1821, Josiah 
Bigelow, of Framingham. 2. Preston, born 
May 10. 1796, drowned October 10, 1798. 3. 
Maria, born April 16. 1799, married. Decem- 
ber 9, 1819. Ahijah I-"ay. of Southborough. 4. 
Preston, born November 4, 1802. died August 
20, 1804. 5. Peter, mentioned below. 6 
Catherine, born .August 21. 1806. died C>cto- 
ber 30, 1842. 

(VH) Dr. Peter Parker, son of Nathan (6) 
and Catherine (Murdock) Parker, was born at 
Framingham, June 18, 1804, and died at his 
residence at Washington, D. C, January ic, 
1888. He worked on the homestead and at- 
tended the public schools in his youth, fitting 
for Yale College where he was graduated in 
the class of 1831. He then studied theology 
in Yale Divinity School and was licensed to 
preach August, 1833, but chose medicine as a 
profession and was graduated from the Yale 
Medical .School in 1834. He was appointed 
by the American Hoard a medical missionary 
to China, and was ordained in the ministry by 
the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, May 
16, 1834. He embarked for China, June 3, 
1834, and reached Canton, October 29, fol- 
lowing. Soon afterward he went to Singa- 
pore to study the Fuhkeen dialect, returning 
to China, August, 1835, and November 4 fol- 
lowing opened the Opthalmic Hospital in 
Canton, orig-inallv intended for the treatment 



of eye diseases, but it soon became by force 
of circumstances more general in its scope. In 
1837 he visited Loochoo and Japan on the 
ship "Morrison" in order to return to their 
homes some shipwrecked Japanese sailors. 
He was one of the founders of the Medical 
Missionary Society of China and for many 
years was its president. The work of his hos- 
pital was interrupted by the breaking out of 
the Opium \\'ar between England and China 
after upwards of twelve thousand cases had 
been treated at the hospital. Dr. Parker re- 
turned to America, visiting friends also in 
England and Scotland, and as a direct result 
of his efforts a wide spread interest in his 
work developed, auxiliary societies were 
formed and the sum of six thousand dollars 
raised for his medical work. 

Dr. Parker married at Washington, D. C, 
March 29, 1841. Harriet Colby Webster, 
daughter of John and Rebecca Guild (Sewall) 
Wet)ster, of .\ugusta. Maine. He returned 
with his wife to China in 1842 and slie had the 
distinction uf being the first foreign white 
woman to reside in Canton. In 1844, with the 
consent of the prudential committee of the 
.Vmerican Board, he accepted the appoint- 
ment from the Hon. Caleb Cushing, United 
States Minister to China, of the position of 
secretary and interpreter to the Legation. He 
rendered important service to his country and 
Christianitv in this position. The draft of a 
treatv had been prepared liy Minister Cush- 
ing and translated into Chinese prior to the 
arrival at Canton of the Imperial Connnis- 
sioner Ki Ying. This treaty was referred to 
deputies appointed b}- each of the two com- 
missioners to be examined in detail. One of 
the Chinese deputies was Pwan Tze Shing, 
son of Pwan Ting Kwa, a Hong Kong mer- 
chant, a former patient of Dr. Parker, who 
was an .\nierican deputy. Dr. Parker had 
successfully removed a large polypus from 
each nostril and later had had the merchant's 
wife, the deputy's mother, also as his patient. 
So when in the progress of the work, the dep- 
uties came to the seventeenth article which 
granted to Americans the right to rent sites 
and construct "homes, places of business and 
hospitals and cemeteries," Pwan Tze Shing, 
evidentlv as a graceful tribute of acknowl- 
edgm,ent of the services of the physician a^ 
well as a public recognition of the claims of 
the Christian religion, proposed to add ".And 
temples of worship." The amended clause was 
adopted by the deputies, accepted by the 
conmiissioners, and became a part of the 
Treaty, ^^'hether the prompting of a per- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



187 



sonal gratitude, or of a broader motive, this 
provision of the treaty opened the way for 
the Imperial Rescript of December 28, 1844, 
grantine: toleration to the Christian religion 
throughout the Chinese Empire. It was un- 
der the provisions of another clause of this 
treaty (and also to be attributed to Dr. Park- 
er's influence) that the Inited States troops 
during the lioxer rebellion of iQcx) were per- 
mitted to land on Chinese soil and to march 
to Pekin to the relief of United States Minis- 
ter Conger and others who were within the 
walls of the American Legation. In 1845 Dr. 
Parker was apjjointed by the .\nierican gov- 
ernment secretary of legation and interjjreter, 
and his connection with the .\merican iioard 
ceased, tiiough he continued his labors at the 
hospital until 1855. \vhen an aggregate of fif- 
ty-three thousand patients had been treated 
there. He returned to America, but soon af- 
terward was appointed United States commis- 
sioner W'ith plenipotentiary powers to revise 
the Treaty of 1844. He reached China in 
December, and after two \ears of service re- 
turned in 1837. making his home in Washing- 
ton, but spending the sunnner months at the 
homestead in I'ramingham. Dr. Parker was 
made a corporate member of the .\merican 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions in 1871: was elected Regent of the 
Smithsonian Institution in 1868: was ap- 
pointed by the Evangelical .\lliance one of 
the delegates to Russia to memorialize the 
Czar in behalf of the religious liberty of the 
Baltic Provinces. The only child of Dr. Peter 
and Harriet Colbv (Webster) Parker is Peter. 
(\'III) Peter Parker, only son of Dr. Peter 
(7) and Harriet C. (Webster) Parker, was 
born at Washington, D. C, June 13, 1859. He 
was educated in the Washington schools, at 
Pliiilips .Academy at .\ndover. Massachusetts. 
the Xewton (.Massachusetts) high school and 
at Yale College, .\fter a tour abroad, in 1881, 
he entered the service of the Unite 1 States 
Fish Commission, .\fter his father's death. 
Peter Parker resigned his position and devoted 
his attention to the estate which he inherited 
at Framingham. an eighty acre farm at what 
is known as Salem End, owned by his ances- 
tors since 1693. Mr. Parker, it should be said, 
is a descendant also of Rebecca Xoursc, the 
victim of the Salem Witchcraft Delusion, 
through her daughter Rebecca, who married 
Thomas Preston, and became the mother of 
Mary Preston, wife of F'eter Qayes or Cloyes. 
On his mother's side Mr. Parker traces his 
lineage to Judge Sewell, who sentenced Re- 
becca Xourse to death. Mr. Parker is a Re- 



publican in politics. He is a member of the 
Massachusetts Chapter, Sons of the American 
Revolution. 

He married, June 5, 1890, at \\'ashington, 
Fanny Stuart W ilson, torn at Washington. D. 
C, January 24, 1868, daughter of William Van 
Sycle and Marie Cecil (Stuart) Wilson, of 
Washington. William \'an Sycle W^ilson was 
a lawyer and editor of the newspaper. The Re- 
t'liblic. Mrs. Parker is related collaterally to 
Captain Stuart, of the "Constitution."' and she ' 
is the great-granddaughter of Captain James 
Hamilton White, of the United States navy, 
who was in charge of the navy yard when the 
"Constitution"' was first remodeled. The only 
child of Peter and Fanny .S. Parker was Re- 
becca. l)orn July 29, 1 90 1, died .May 7. i(p2. 



Jonathan Butler, the immigrant 
PiL'TLFR ancestor of this family, was 
born about 1700 in the North 
of Ireland, came to New London, Connecticut, 
about 1724 and settled at Saybrook. where he 
died March 30, 1760. He married. December 
8. 1726, Temperance Buckingham, of Say- 
brook, born 1708. daughter of Daniel and 
Sarah (Lee) Buckingham, granddaughter of 
the famous Rev. Thomas and Hester ( Hos- 
nier) lluckingham. of Lebanon. Connecticut, 
and great-granddaughter of the immigrant. 
Thomas liuckingham, of Milford, Connecticut. 
It is said that they had ten children, seven of 
whom are given below. Three of the sons, 
Ezekiel, John and Charles, settled in the adja- 
cent town of Branford, Connecticut. His de- 
scendants are very numerous in New York 
state. The children of Jonathan and Temp>er- 
ance Butler were; I. Elnathan. born .April 18, 
1728. 2. Jonathan, Jr., born March 28. 1730; 
son John settled in New York. 3. Stei)hen, 
born February 26. 1732. 4. Ezekiel, mention- 
ed below. 5. Temperance, born March 24, 
1737. 6. John. 7. Charles, born 1745, died at 
Branford, December 17, 181 1, aged sixty- 
four; married Hannah .Atwater, who died De- 
cember 16. 1805. aged fifty-four. 

(IT) Ezekiel Ikitler, son of Jonathan ( 1 ) and 
Temperance ( I'uckingham) Butler, was born 
at -Saxbrook, Connecticut. .\()ril 12. 1734. He 
residefl in the adjacent town of Pir;inford. 
Connecticut, where he married. llinman 
gives the name of only one son, Ezekiel. men- 
tioned below. 

(Ill) Ezekiel Butler, son of Ezekiel Butler 
(2). was born at Branford, Connecticut, about 
■755- ^^^ \^'3s 'I soldier in the Revolution 
from I'ranford, enlisting h'ebruary k;. 1777. 



i88 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



He was in Captain Prentice's company in the 
Sixth Connecticut Line in 1778, and from 
1781 to the' end of the war. He was with his 
regiment at West Point in 1777; at White 
Plains in 1778-79 and later at Gedding in 
1778-79. He wintered in 1779-80 at Morris- 
town, New Jersey. He married Munn. 

Later he followed the sea and became a cap- 
tain. Hinman says he settled near Hudson, 
New York. In later years his home was 
broken up and his wife lived with the son, 
Abel. Children: I. Abel Munn, mentioned 
below. 2. Harvey, married Harriet Coe, 
of a well known Connecticut family ; chil- 
dren: James H., Nancy. 3. Electa, married 
Collins Crane; children: Francis, Malvina, 
Orinda, Rosina Crane. 

(IV) Abel Munn Butler, son of Ezekiel 
Butler (3), was born in 1790. He married 
Polly Morgan, who was born 1788, youngest 
of the eight children of Abijah and a niece of 
Jedediah Morgan. Her father, Abijah Mor- 
gan, born 1749, son of Abijah Morgan, Sr., 
removed from New London county, Con- 
necticut, about 1800, to Hamilton, Madison 
county. New York, and died at Scriba, Oswe- 
go county. New York, December, 1815. He 
married Anna Cone. Abijah Morgan, Sr.., 
born July 6, 171 5, was the son of Samuel 
Morgan, born September 9, 1669, who mar- 
ried. December 30, 1709, Hannah Avery. 
Captain John Morgan, father of Samuel, was 
born March 30, 1645, son of the immigrant, 
James Morgan ; married, November 16, 1665, 
Rachel Dymond. James Morgan was from 
Glamorgan county, Wales ; married Margery 
Hill. 

Abel M. Butler moved from Herkimer 
county. New York, to the town of Otto, Cat- 
taraugus county, at an early date. He volun- 
teered and served in the battle of Sacketts 
Harbor in the War of 1812. He sold his farm 
at Otto and settled finally at Harmony, Chaur 
tauqua county, New York, where he died 
December, 1872, just after returning from a 
visit to the home of his son in Spartansburg, 
Pennsylvania. He was eighty-two years of 
age. Children of Abel M. and Polly Butler: 
I. Ezekiel, born 181 5; married Betsy Brown, 
of Leon, Cattaraugus county. New York. 2. 
Hannah, born September 17, 1817, married 
Nelson Little, of Otto. 3. Betsey, born 1819, 
married Allan Campbell, of Otto. 4. Sallie, 
born 182 1, married Lemuel Woolman, of Otto. 
5. Newell, born 1823, married Lucy Randall, 
of Persia, Cattaraugus county. 6. Oscar, men- 
tioned below. 



(V) Oscar Butler, son of Abel Munn (4) 
and Polly (Morgan) Butler, was born at Otto, 
Cattaraugus county. New York, March 29, 
1827. He received his education in the com- 
mon schools of his native town, helping his 
father during his boyhood in the work of the 
farm. After coming of age he continued with 
his father; and in 1848 he and his father 
bought a tract of land in Harmony, Chautau- 
qua county. New York, which they made their 
home until Abel M. Butler's death in 1872. 
Oscar then became sole owner of the farm 
and conducted it until 1900, when he ex- 
changed it for property at Bear Lake, Penn- 
sylvania, a short distance from his former 
home, which he also owns. He recently moved 
to Conneaut, Ohio, where he resides with his 
daughter, Mrs. Ray Lewis. He is a Demo- 
crat in politics and a veteran of the Civil war. 
He enlisted August 30, 1862, in Company F, 
One Hundred and Twelfth New York Vol- 
unteer Infantry, and went into camp with his 
regiment at Jamestown, New York, starting 
for the front September 12 following, landing 
at Norfolk, Virginia, and camped at Suffolk 
on an old Confederate campground. The lo- 
cation was bad, being on the very edge of the 
Dismal Swamp, and much sickness prevailed. 
Mr. Butler was taken with typhoid, followed 
with partial paralysis, and was not able to re- 
sume his duties until February. Their forti- 
fied camp was attacked by Cieneral Longstreet 
i:n the spring, but was repulsed by General 
Dix. In July, 1863, he went with his 
regiment to Charlestown, South Carolina, 
landing on Folly Island in the harbor. After 
the capture of Fort Wagner and Fort Green, 
Mr. Butler with many others received fur- 
loughs, and in the fall of 1863 came home, 
returning to the camp at Folly Island for the 
winter. In February, 1864, the regiment went 
to Florida, camping at Jacksonville for two 
months, and then returned to Virginia. After 
a march to Hanover Junction and back to 
White House Landing, the regiment marched 
all night to take part in the battle of Cold 
Harbor, June i, 1864, and suffered heavy 
losses. From thence to Petersburg they pro- 
ceeded, losing men daily in skirmishes. After 
Fort Fisher was taken the regiment was sent 
to Wilmington, North Carolina, and there 
Mr. Butler was sent to the hospital as ward 
master. Four or five days later he was taken 
with a malignant type of typhoid. After four 
weeks there he was taken to New York on a 
hospital ship and landed in the Davids' Island 
Hospital (now Fort Slocum) in Long Island 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



189 



Sound, April 10, 1865. He was linally dis- 
charged May 31, 1865, with the rank of ser- 
geant. 

Oscar Butler married, September 6, 1847, 
Hannah Randall, born November 2, 1829, 
died February, 1907, at Conneaut, Ohio, 
daughter of Elisha and Amy (Brown) Ran- 
dall, of Brookfield, New York. Elisha was a 
farmer. Children of Oscar and Hannah 
(RandallJ Butler: i. Ennna S., born July 4, 
1849, married, March i, 1871, William Tay- 
lor, of Clymer, New York ; children : i. ISertha, 
born April 15, 1874; ii. Alson, }ilay 15, 1875. 
2. Clarence La\'erne, mentioned below. 3. 
Eugene Henry, born December 8. 1852. mar- 
ried, January 29, 1879, Lulu Randall, of Har- 
mony, New York. 4. Alson Merriam, born De- 
cember 20, 1854, married, January 25, 1881, 
Mrs. Jennie Lind (Drown) Osborne, of Mc- 
Kean, Pennsylvania, who was born July 15, 
1855: children: i. Ruby D., born January 21, 
1890; ii. Rollo John, September 21. 1890: iii. 
Hazel Julia, June 6, 1895. 5. Julia .\lida, born 
April 2^, 1856, married, September i, 1875, 
Gaylord ]\Iillard, of Conneaut, Ohio; children: 
i. Clyde, born June 12, 1876; ii. Carl, August 
27, 1882. 6. Ernest Clayton, born near 
Panama, New York, June i, 1858, married 
(first), October 9, 1878, Lois A. Foster, who 
died May 18, 1894; married (second), May 
15. 1902. Addie Austin, both of Hamilton, 
New York; children: i. Ethel Ernestine, 
born May 9, 1879, married Dillon B. Smith, of 
Hamilton, June, 1900; ii. Gladys Teresa, May 
9, 1880: iii. Lois Ada, .\ugust 30, 1884; iv. 
Oscar Spencer, May 2. 1892 ; v. Louis La- 
Verne, May 18, 1894; vi. Eugene Thomas 
(the child of Ernest and Addie Butler), April 
18, 1904. 7. Lillian Estclle. born September 
I, i860, married, February 24. 1885, George 
Wellman, of Harmony ; children : Maida, 
Merle, George. 8. Edith May, born Decem- 
ber 15, 1870, married, August 31, 1889, Ray 
Lewis, of Conneaut, Ohio; child: Mildred 
Lewis, born November 21, 1895. 

(VI) Clarence LaVerne Butler, son of 
Oscar (5) and Hannah (Randall) Butler, was 
born at Harmony, Chautauqua county. New 
York, January 22, 1850. He attended the pub- 
lic schools at Panama, New York, and entered 
the .'\cademy of Design, New York City, 
studying under Frost Johnson, an artist of 
note. -Vfter completing his art studies he 
taught in the Ladies' Seminary at Hamilton, 
New York, for eight years, durng which time 
he took special courses in Colgate University 
in Hainilton. He left Hamilton to teach in the 
Osgood .^rt School, New York City, .^.fter 



two years he opened a siudiu ui L'lica, New 
York, where he was located for the next two 
years, when he returned to the Osgood Art 
School for a time and in 1892 went to Paris, 
where he studied in the Julian Academy of 
Art. He made a special study of oil painting 
from life, and in tlrawing in black and white. 
.\niong his instructors were Bougereau, Per- 
rier, Bromtot and Doucet, acknowledged mas- 
ters of their art. After completing his course 
in the academy he opened a studio at Ville Du 
Pont, Paris. After being there three years 
he located at Rue Chateau Brient, where he 
remained three years. After eighteen months 
spent in travel and study, and two years in 
retirement in Boston with some work in his 
studio, he removed to Framingham, Massa- 
chusetts, September, 1905, where he purchased 
the old Colonial homestead formerly of the 
Stone family and later called the Haven place, 
which he remodeled and made it one of the 
picturesque and attractive homes of Massachu- 
setts. The original fireplace is a striking 
feature of his studio. In 1904, while in Hol- 
land. Mr. Butler matle many very interesting 
studies of Dutch interiors and landscapes. His 
work has been exhibited at the Paris Salon for 
a number of years, an honor that will be better 
appreciated when it is understood that of about 
eight thousand subjects offered, only three 
hundred are selected for the exhibition. Land- 
scape painting is his specialty. -Mr. Butler is 
interested in the study of Christian .Science, 
although not a member. In politics he is a 
Republican. He is a member of Hamilton 
Lodge, No. 120, of Free Masons, Hamilton, 
New York ; of the D. K. E. fraternity of Col- 
gate University and was formerly a member 
of the New York .State National Guard. 

He married, January 15, 1895. Hattie E. 
Wells, bom I'ebruary 22, 1850, daughter of 
Robert and Laura (Richardson) Wells, of 
Madison county. New York. Her father was 
a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Butler have no chil- 
dren. 



William Reed, immigrant ancester, 
REED is believed to be the son of Thomas 

and Mary Reed, of Brocket Hall, 
England. He was born in 1587, and was one 
of the oldest of the Puritan immigrants in Mas- 
sachusetts. He came in the ship "Defense," 
Captain Edward Fosdick, sailing July 3, and 
arriving October 6, 1635. He settled first in 
Dorchester and was admitted a freeman, 
March 4, 1638-39. He sold his land in Dor- 
chester in August, 1639, to Thomas Clark, and 



190 



illDDLESEX COUNTY. 



removed to Scituatc, ^Massachusetts, where in 
1644 he was town constable. He sent his wife 
to Dorchester on horseback with her infant 
child Israel in 1644 to have him baptized in 
the church of which they were members. He 
returned to Muddy River (Brookline) and 
bought of his brother Esdras a farm, on which 
he lived until 1648, when he bought a place 
of Nicholas Davis at Woburn. He is progeni- 
tor of a very numerous family living in the 
vicinity of Woburn, Lexington, Bedford and 
Burlington. He died in 1656 while in Eng- 
land at Newcastle-on-Tyne. His will dated 
April 9, 1656, was proved in London, Octo- 
ber 31, 1656, and recorded also at Charles- 
town, Massachusetts. Administration was 
granted to widow Mabel. He bequeathed to 
his wife : to the four youngest children ; to his 
three children that are married in New Eng- 
land, viz. — George, Ralph and Michael (sic). 
He married first (or second) Mabel Kendall, 
who was born in 1605. She married after 
Reed's death Harry Summers, of Woburn, 
November 21, 1660. She died, a widow, at 
the home of her son George, with whom she 
had been living, June 5, 1690, aged eighty-five 
years. Children: i. George, born in England, 
1629. 2. Ralph, born in England, 1630. 3. 
Justice (afterwards called Abigail), born 1633. 
And those born in America: 4. Bethia, mar- 
ried John Johnson. 5. Israel. 6. Sarah, mar- 
ried Samuel Walker, September 10, 1662. 7. 
Rebecca, married Joseph Winn. No trace of 
the son Michael named in the will is found in 
America. 

(II) Ralph Reed, son of William Reed 
( i), was born in England in 1630, died Janu- 
ary 4, 171 1. He married Mary Pierce, daugh- 
ter of Anthony Pierce or Pers, of Watertown, 
the first marriage recorded at Woburn, March 
31, 1654. His farm was the homestead that 
his father bought of Nicholas Davis, of Char- 
lestown, and he afterwards owned and occu- 
pied the farm called later the Sylvanus Wood 
Farm. Children, born at Woburn: i. John, 
born 1660; mentioned below.. 2. Joseph. 3. 
William, born 1658. 4. David. 5. Daniel. 
6. Timothy, born February 14, 1664, died Jan- 
uary 12, 1729. 7. Jonathan, died May 5, 1710. 
8. Mary, married Benjamin Pierce. 

(III) John Reed, son of Ralph Reed (2), 
was born in Woburn in 1660, died March 9, 
1733. He married, March 21, 1682, Eliza- 
beth Holden. He was a weaver by trade. He 
bought a lot of land January i, 1700, of Henry 
Baldwin, near the Billerica line in Woburn. 
He settled there and the farm is still owned 
and occupied by lineal descendants. He mar- 



ried (second), December 4, 1705, Abigail 
Baldwin. His will was dated July 20, 1732. 
It mentions the children, viz.: I. John, born 
March 23, 1684. 2. Ralph, September 5, 1686, 
mentioned below. 3. Elizabeth, February 25, 
1690. Children of the second marriage : 4. 
Susanna, March 13, 1706. 5. Henry, 1708. 

6. Amos, May 25, 1710. 

(IV) Ralph Reed, son of John Reed (3), 
was Ixjrn at Woburn, September 5, 1686, died 
there August 23, 1769. He married, 1709, 
Mary Pierce. He also settled in Woburn. 
Their children, born in Woburn: i. David 
(twin), born May 3, 1710. 2. Jonathan 
(twin). May 3, 1710. 3. John. August 14, 
1712, died January 14, 1756. 4. ^Maria (twin), 
November 30, 1714. 5. Mary (twin), No- 
vember 30, 1714. 6. Abigail, May 25, 1717. 

7. Jonathan, ]\Iarch 9, 1722, lived at Billerica. 

8. Joshua, June 18, 1724, mentioned below. 9. 
Ahios, March 13, 1728. 

(V) Joshua Reed, son of Ralph Reed (4), 
was born at Woburn, June 18, 1724, died 
there in the precinct now called Burlington, 
July 19, 1786. He married, July, 1742. His 
farm was where his grandson Isaiah lived 
later, and a group of buttonwood trees now or 
lately marked the site of the old house. He 
was a licensed innholder. It is difficult to 
determine from the records the Revolutionary 
service of the various Joshua Reeds of this 
section. His service seems to be : Private in 
Captain Jonathan Fox's company at the fight 
at Concord and Cambridge, April 19, 1775; 
lieutenant in Captain Jonas Richardson's com- 
pany. Colonel James Frye's regiment (the 
first) in 1775 ; also captain in Colonel Var- 
num's regiment, engaged January i, 1776. 
Children: i. Joshua, Jr., born December 14, 
1742, also a soldier in the Revolution. 2. 
Hannah, April 2, 1745. 3. Esther, born at 
Billerica, February 14, 1746. 4. Elizabeth, 
born at Billerica, April 23, 1749. 5. Lucy, 
November 25, 1754. 6. John, March 29, 1757. 
7. James, April 14, 1759. 8. Jonathan, Feb- 
ruary 13, 1761, mentioned below. 9. Mary, 
May 24, 1763. 10. Judith, March 6, 1768. 

(VI) Jonathan Reed, son of Joshua Reed 
(5), was born February 13, 1761, died August 
17, 1820. He married Ruth Tay, of Woburn, 
October 14, 1790. She married (second) Jesse 
Deane, February i, 1827, and she died Feb- 
ruary II, 1834. His home was on the old 
Reed place left to him by his father ; it was in 
that part of the town set off as Burlington. 
Children, all born at Burlington: i. Jonathan, 
born October 26, 1792. 2. Isaiah, April 3, 
1795, mentioned below. 3. Abigail, married 



; 







jU^ 



.\1I1)|)LI':SKX COLNTY. 



Jacob Saunders. 4. Moses Ahhot. 5. Joshua. 
.\pril 3. 1801. 0. Eliza. 7. I-ianklin. 8. 
JNlary Ann. 

(N'llj Isaiali Reed, sun ut Jonathan Reed 
(D), was born at BurHngton. .Massachusetts. 
April 3, 1795, died there Xoveinber 16, 1881. 
He spent his b<:)yhot)d on his father's farm, 
and attended the brief terms of the district 
school. For some years before marriage he 
was an officer in the state prison, Charlestown, 
and a sword cane that he carried is in the pos- 
session of his family. He carried on the old 
Stoddard l'"arm for several years after his 
marriage. The old Reed farm in liurlington 
that has descended from one generation to 
another in the Reed family was his home. He 
bought, after his father's death, the rights of 
his ))rothers and sisters, and conducted the 
farm until his death. In religion he was an 
Orthodo.x Congregationalist : in politics a 
\\'hig and later a Republican. In his youthful 
davs he helongetl to the militia company of his 
town. He married, i'"ebruary 26, 1815, Sally 
]-llls worth, who was lx>rn February 17, 1785, 
at Deering, New Hampshire, died May 27, 
1878. Their children : i. Isaiah, born July 7, 
1816, mentioned below. 2. Charlotte Lucretia, 
born December 25, 1817, married, September 

19, 1839, John F. Snow. 3. Jonathan Ells- 
worth, born January 10, 1819, died January 
12, 1888: married, April 12, 1846, Deborah 
R. Hunt. 4. Joseph Wyatl, born April 26, 
1820, died .Vpril 17, 1898; married, April 
25, 1844, Mehitable C. Wyman. 5. Josiah 
Thomas, born November 11, 182 1, died Aug- 
ust I, 1893; married, April 20, 1848, Lydia 
M. Symmes, died March 28, 1876. 6. Will- 
iam Abbot, born November 8, 1823, married 
(first), October 5, 1848, ^lary Ann Skilton ; 
(second), Febraury 26, 1857, Andora G. 
Loucks, resided in Philadelphia. 7. Nancy 
Lowell, born March 24, 1825, died September 

20, 1895 ; married, April 27, 1845, Charles D. 
Partridge, who died December 11, 1877. 8. 
Franklin Oliver (recorded Oliver Franklin), 
born July 3, 1826, married (first), November 
6, 1850, Mary Charlotte Roberts, who died 
November 12, 1883; (second), .-\bbie Roberts; 
(third) Frances Hawkins. 9. Levi Houghton, 
born November 18, 1829, died September 13, 
1896; married (first), September 15, 1853, 
Jane Cook; (second), October 3, 1864, Octa- 
via Marshall. 

(\''ni) Isaiah Reed, son of Isaiah Reed 
(7), was born at Burlington, July 7, 1816. 
He was educated in the district schools of his 
native town and at Warren .Academy in the 
same village. He learned the trade of currier 



191 

under K. i-". Thompson, of \\ nichester, and 
worked at this trade to ihe time of his mar- 
riage in 1837. Then he bought the old Con- 
verse place of Revolutionary fame, and had 
a teaming business in addition to his farming. 
When the Boston (!t Lowell Railroad Coni- 
pau}- built its second line of tracks V^ was em- 
ployed throughout the period of construction. 
Afterward he worked again for Mr. Thomp- 
son. At length he and his brother Jonathan 
bought the homestead of their father. .\ few 
years later Isaiah lx)ught out his brother and 
became the sole owner. He added i)y pur- 
chase a portion of the adjoining J'iske farm, 
originally part of the Reed tract. In winter 
he carried on a large business in w(X)d and 
lumber. He established in a small way the 
business now conducted by his son, T. I. Reed, 
beginning in a room twenty feet square to 
cure hams and bacon. He followed the busi- 
ness of curing hams, at which he was an ex- 
pert, until the time of his death and the bi;si- 
ness grew to large proportions. He associateil 
his son with him in the business and the son 
succeeded him as proprietor. He was a mem- 
ber of the Congregational church and was on 
the parish committee, being a leading citizen 
of the town as well as prominent figure in the 
church. He was active in tentperance move- 
ments, an able and convincing advocate of 
temperance. In politics he was first a Whig, 
then a Reiniblican. He was highway surveyor 
of the town, member of the school committee 
and held other positions of trust and honor. 
He was instrumental in getting through what 
is known as the new road in Burlington, he 
carrying the chain for the surveyor. The road 
was built by Asa Shildon, of Wilmington. 

He married, November 28, 1837, at Loudon, 
New Hampshire, Mary Blake Wales, who 
was born January 8, 1814, died January 17, 
1893, daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Bab- 
cock) Wales, of Loudon; children: i. George 
Wales, born July 28, 1840, died April 20, 1848. 
2. Thomas Isaiah, born July 14, 1846, men- 
tioned below. 

(IX) Thomas Isaiah Reed, .son of Isaiah 
Reed (8), was born at Burlington, July 14, 
1846. He was educated in the public schools 
and at Warren Academy, Woburn. He work- 
ed on the farm in his youth. He left home 
first to accept a postion with the firm of F. O. 
Reed & Company, Charlestown, remaining 
from May to September. His father, sustain- 
ing a compound fracture of the leg, which 
incapacitated him for work for some time. 
Thomas I. returned to Burlington and as- 
sumed charge of his father's farm, remaining 



192 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



for one year. He then resumed his position 
with F. O. Reed & Company, Charlestown, 
which he held a year, at the expiration of 
which time the name was changed to Reed, 
Sawin & Company, and F. O. Reed & Com- 
pany purchased a store in Boston. Mr. Reed 
remained with the first company a year after 
the name was changed, and then accepted a 
position with F. O. Reed & Company in 
Boston, remaining two years, and having a 
one-fourth interest. In 1870 he returned to 
his father's farm in Burhngton and was em- 
ployed there until 1874, when he leased the 
farm of his mother, his father having previ- 
ously died, and conducted business in his own 
name. The present extensive business was 
established at this time. After his mother's 
death the entire property came to him. Year 
by year the business of curing hams has been 
enlarged and has grown more prosperous. 
From the early days of the beginning, when 
he began with one hundred hams, there has 
been a great change in the volume of business. 
Mr. Reed buys and sells by the carload. His 
Burlington hams and bacon are known far 
and wide; they are famous for their excel- 
lence, and while his trade extends all over 
New England his own townsmen are his best 
customers. He has some foreign trade also; 
for five years he had the contract to supply all 
the ham for the Robert College of the Ameri- 
can Board of Foreign Missions at Constanti- 
nople. He has one of the best plants in the 
country. It is located on the old Reed farm, 
has a floor area of ten thousand square feet, 
including three large smoke houses and large 
vaults capable of holding four hundred thou- 
sand pounds of the product under process of 
curing. Nothing is lacking to the complete- 
ness of this curing plant, and even the tearns 
used in transporting his goods are models in 
every respect. In addition to his other busi- 
ness he deals extensively in wood for fuel and 
has a large retail trade in Winchester, Med- 
ford and Boston. A busier man than Mr. 
Reed would be hard to find and he devotes 
himself exclusively to his business, knowing 
every detail and neglecting nothing. His two 
sons aie employed with him in business and 
are receiving careful and thorough training. 
Mr. Reed is a member of the Congrega- 
tional church at Burlington, and has been dea- 
con for several years, superintendent of the 
Sunday school since 1871 to the present time, 
member of the parish committee since 1881 
and has been treasurer of both the church and 
parish a number of years. He has been in- 
tensely interested in the growth and welfare 



of the church, and it is to his efforts largely 
that the best entertainments for the amuse- 
ment and instruction of the people have been 
provided in the church and town. He has 
broad views of life and a practical knowledge 
of human nature that have made him a very 
useful servant of the Lord, as the good old 
phrase of the Fathers would have described 
him. He was chairman of the committee that 
raised the funds and remodeled Chirst's 
Church. In politics he is a Republican, and 
has often been chosen delegate to important 
nominating conventions. He has been on the 
Republican congressional committee since 
1902 ; has served the town of Burlington on 
the school committee and has been elected to 
various other town ofSces which he was ob- 
liged to decline. Mr. Reed is at present pro- 
moting the establishment of an electric light- 
ing plant in the town of Burlington to fill a 
very evident need and demand. He is a mem- 
ber of Crystal Fount Lodge, No. 9, Indepen- 
dent Order of Odd Fellows ; of the Burling- 
ton Agricultural Society, of which he was the 
second president, serving for a number of 
years, and its marshal annually at the fairs. 
He was formerly president of the Boston & 
Lowell Street Railway Company, resigning 
March 21, 1904. He is a member of the \Vo- 
burn Five Cents Savings Bank. 

He married, May 17, 1870, Margaret Ellen 
Dadmun, who was born at Groton, Massachu- 
setts, July 24, 1846, daughter of George Alex- 
ander and Almira (Young) Dadmun, of 
Groton. Their children: i. Grace Wales, 
born February 10, 1871, died May 23, 1877. 
2. Carrie Florence, born October 10, 1876, 
married, October 28, 1896, Rev. Alexander P. 
McDonald, of Bath, Maine ; children : i. 
Ralph Reed McDonald, born July 4, 1897; 
ii. Marguerite Ellen McDonald, November 5, 
1898; iii. Malcom McDonald, August 16, 
1903- 3- Guy Ellsworth (twin), born June 
18, 1888. 4. Ernest Young (twin), born 
June 18, 1888. 



Alexander Dennett and his 
DENNETT brother, John Dennett, were 

early settlers in Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, and each is the progenitor 
of many American families. Dennett is an 
ancient English surname dating back to the 
days of Hugh Dermett, who came to England 
from Normandy with the Conqueror. One 
important line is found in the Isle of Wight; 
another has the Manor Woodmancote, Sussex, 
consisting of six hundred acres, which have 





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MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



193 



been in the family for several centuries. The 
present or recent owner was John Leighton 
Wade Dennett. Alexander was born alx)ut 
1639, probably in England, and died at New- 
castle, New Hampshire, in 1698. The chil- 
dren of John Dennett : John, born December 
15. 1675; Amy, April 9, 1679; Joseph, July 
19, 1681, married Elizabeth Meed. (See Old 
Eliot Monthly for John's descendants.) John 
was made a freeman May 15, 1672, died May 

1, 1709, aged sixty-three years. Alexander 
had a son Alexander, mentioned below, and 
probably Moses, who was in Portsmouth. 
1727, a taxpayer. 

(II) Alexander Dennett, Jr., son of Alex- 
ander Dennett (i), was born in Portsmouth. 
New Hampshire, about 1670, and died there 
in 1733. He settled in what is now Eliot in 
1681 and had a grant of land there in 1694. 
He was a ta.xpayer in Portsmouth in 1727. 
He married Mchitable Tetherly, daughter of 
Gabriel Tetherly. Their children: I. Moses. 

2. Samuel, mentioned below. 3. Ebenezer, 
resided in Kittery. 4. Mehitable, married 

Stewart. 5. Elizabeth, married 

Sanborn. 6. Sarah, married Joshua Wey- 
mouth. 7. Susanna, married Joshua Down- 
ing, of Newington, New Hampshire. 

(III) Samuel Dennett, son of .Alexander 
Dennett (2), was born in Portsmouth or 
vicinity about 1700. He was a blacksmith and 
resided in Portsmouth. An account book that 
he used in his business is in the possession of 
James V. Dennett, of Framingham, Massa- 
chusetts. There is also a sword, two books 
and other articles said to have been brought 
from England by the two brothers. The 
books are: "Saints Everlasting Rest." Lon- 
don, printed for Francis Tyton and Jane Un- 
derbill and are to be sold at the Sign of the 
Three Daggers in Fleet Street and at the .An- 
chor and Bible in Paul's Churchyard. 1662. 
The other: "A Description of the New-Ix>rn 
Christian," printed 1620. The Dennetts proba- 
bly came to .America about 1665. The chil- 
dren of Samuel Dennett, all born at Ports- 
mouth, were: i. David, mentioned below. 2. 
Charles, April 21, 1729. 3. Lydia. .April 
15, 1731. 4. Hannah, August 2, 1733. 5. 
Elizabeth, December 20, 1735. 6. Moses, 
January 19, 1737. 7. Lydia. February 23, 
1738. 8. Mary, July 31, 1740. 

(I\') David Dennett, son of Samuel Den- 
nett (3), was born at Portsmouth. New 
Hamp.shire. March 15, 1727. He was a fanner 
and owned a farm in Portsmouth, whence he 
removed October 3, 1768, to Scarborough. 
Maine, where he also had a farm. He was a 

i— 13 



soldier in the Revolution. He marched first 
I'"ebruary I, 1776, and during the remainder of 
that year was in the service at Falmouth, now 
Portland, then Cumberland county, Massa- 
chusetts, now Maine. He enlisted in the Con- 
tinental army and was mustered in at Boston, 
February 16, 1777, in Captain Thomas's com- 
pany, Colonel Marshall's regiment. The offi- 
cial pay-rolls show that he died in the service 
January 20, 1778. The family records indi- 
cate that he left home for the last time January 
18, 1776. He married Dorothy Downing, of 
Newington, New Hampshire ; she died at 
iUixton, .Maine, where her son lived, Decem- 
ber, 180C). Children: 1. Lydia, born April 
25. 1753- 2. Samuel (twin), April 25, 1756, 
died young. 3. Ebenezer, April 25. 1756, died 
young. 4. Elizabeth, January 17, 1758, died 
.\ugust 16, 1775. 5." John, June 13, 1760, 
died at Buxton, February 15, 1847. 6. Clem- 
ent, mentioned below. 7. Sarah. May 7, 1766. 
married Lemuel Nutter, who died at Buxton; 
she died at Buxton, July 26, 1836. 8. Mehit- 
able, January 7, 1768, died May 2, 1847. 

(V) Clement Dennett, son of David (4) 
and Dorothy (Downing) Dermett, was born at 
Scarborough. .Maine, January 10, 1763. He 
received his education in the district school of 
his native town and followed the occupation of 
farmer. In December, 1786, lie made his 
home in Buxton. .Maine, where he bought a 
farm and where he continued to live the re- 
mainder of his life. His mother and brother 
John also settled at the same time in Buxton. 
Clement's farm was called "Seven Hundred 
-Acres." He died at Buxton, .August 10, 1841. 
He married. January 3, 1793, Mary Leavitt. 
born July 14, 1769, died July 28, 1863, daugh- 
ter of Samuel Leavitt, of Buxton, Maine. 
Their children, i. Edmund Phinney, born 
May 19, 1796, married Ann Libby and Mary 
Leavitt. both of .Saco. 2. Olive, lx>rn Novem- 
ber 3, 1799, died February 25, 1821. 3. John, 
born April 27, 1802, married Fidelia Fogg and 
Sophia Stevenson ; he died November 10, 
1852. 4. .\lvan. born October 3, 1804, mar- 
ried Hannah Flaley, of Hollis ; died at Porto 
Bello, South America, July 29, 1838. 5. Dan- 
iel, mentioned below. 6. Oren, born January 
4. 181 1, married Olive Woodman, of Buxton. 
7. Stephen, born October 23. 181^, died .April 
18. 1822. 

(\T) Daniel Dennett, son of Clement (5) 
and Mary (Leavitt) Dennett, was born at 
rUixton. Maine, May 31. 1807. He received 
the common school education provided for the 
farmer's son of his day and was brought up 
on the farm, following his father's occupation 



194 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of farming through Hfe. He married Abigail 
Gilpatric, of Biddeford, Maine. She was 
born January 21, 1815, daughter of Joseph 
and Abigail (Cousins) Gilpatric, of Bidde- 
ford. Their children : Liberty B., infant, 
James C, died 1865, aged eighteen years, Lora 
D., Samuel C, Dr. Roscoe Gilpatric, men- 
tioned below. 

(VTl) Dr. Roscoe Gilpatric Dennett, son of 
Daniel (6) and Abigail (Gilpatric) Dennett, 
was born at Buxton, Maine, February 10, 
1835. He received his preparatory education 
at the Limerick and Standish academies, 
Maine, and began the study of medicine under 
Dr. J. A. Berr}'. He entered Bowdoin Medi- 
cal School, from which he was graduated with 
the degree of M. D. in 1862. He began imme- 
diately to practice medicine at Saco, Maine, 
and continued successfully and creditably to 
practice until his death, July 3, 1877. He was 
respected and esteemed by all who knew him ; 
a gentleman in every sense of the word ; a 
thorough scholar, eminently successful in his 
profession. He was city physician in Saco 
in 1868; alderman 1873; niember of the board 
of health in 1874-75-76-77. He was president 
of York Institute. He was a Free Mason of 
prominence, member of Saco Lodge, No. 9, 
of Saco, and of the Royal Arch Chapter there. 
He married, September i, 1863, Annie Olivia 
Berry, born February 19, 1839, daughter of 
Dr. J. A. and Olivia (Donnell) Berry, of 
Saco. Their children: i. James Vaughan, 
mentioned below. 2. William Hartley, Sep- 
tember 15, 1870. 3. Bessie Greeley, June 13, 
1875, died December 14, 1878. 

(Vni) James Vaughan Dennett, son of 
Roscoe Gilpatric (7) and Annie Olivia 
(Berry) Dennett, was born at Saco, Maine, 
September 26, 1867. He received his early 
education in the public schools. In 1886 he 
left the high school and followed the sea for a 
year. Returning from a voyage to the East 
Indies he fitted for college, and in 1889 en- 
tered the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology, Boston, but at the end of three years 
had to give up study on account of ill health. 
Again he went toi sea for two years. After 
returning from his sea trip he, with others, 
organized the Aberthaw Construction Com- 
pany for the construction of re-inforced con- 
crete, with offices at 12 Pearl street and other 
locations in Boston, and for some time he was 
superintendent of construction. The present 
office of the company is at 8 Beacon street, 
Boston, and Mr. Dennett is on the board of 
directors, though not in active management of 
aflfairs. In May, 1906, Mr. Dennett bought a 



farm at Framingham, Massachusetts, and is 
now residing there. His farm is the old Gates 
homestead. He has remodeled and restored 
the old dwelling house, and erected on the 
place a large workshop of pleasing design 
where he makes furniture of antique styles, 
and has developed an interesting and artistic 
business, finding a large demand for furniture 
to match old pieces or to complete the furnish- 
ing of houses or rooms requiring furniture of 
antique design. Mr. Dennett has a special 
liking for his unique avocation, and while he 
gratifies an artistic and antiquarian taste finds 
profitable occupation for his time. A feature 
of Mr. Dennett's residence is a stately elm 
measuring twenty- five feet in circumference 
at the trunk with a spread of one hundred and 
forty-two feet. This is said to be the largest 
elm in New England and is evidently a sur- 
vivor of the primeval forest. Mr. Dennett 
is Unitarian in religion. Republican in politics. 
He is a member of the Beta Chapter of the 
Chi Phi Fraternity in the Institute of Tech- 
nology. 

He married, September 16, 1895, Ellen 
Bowers, who was bom July 4, 1869, daughter 
of Wilder T. and Hannah (Brown) Bowers, 
of Lynn, Massachusetts. Children: i. Elliot 
Vaughan, born August 28, 1898. 2. Dorothy, 
(twin), born September 29, 1901. 3. Barbara 
(twin), born September 29, 1901. 



John Webster, the immigrant 
WEBSTER ancestor of the Webster 
family, came from Ipswich, 
Suflfolk county, England, to Ipswich, Massa- 
chusetts, before 1634, when he was a proprie- 
tor. He was admitted a freeman March 4, 
1634-35, and was clerk of the bonds in 1642. 
By vote of the town he was made a commoner 
February 28, 1644-45. He died before No- 
vember 4, 1646, when the court gave adminis- 
tration on his estate to his widow Mary. At 
her desire division was made to the eight 
minor children thus : to the eldest son John, 
the farm, he paying the youngest son Nathan 
five pounds or a quarter of the value of the 
farm ; Mary, Stephen and Hannah to have 
equal shares in the island bought of Widow 
Andrews ; Elizabeth, Abigail and Israel to 
have twenty nobles apiece ; all at twenty-one 
years of age. Mr. Webster married Martha 
Shatswell, sister of John Shatswell, and she 
married (second), October 29, 1650, John 
Emery, who with his son John Emery was ap- 
pointed guardians of Israel Webster, aged 
eighteen, and Nathan aged sixteen, in 1662. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



195 



The family removed to Newbury, where she 
■died April 28, 1694. Children of John and 
Alary Webster: i. John, born 1633, married, 
June 3, 1653, Anna Batt, daughter of Nicholas 
Batt. 2. Mary, born October 2, 1648, married 
John Emery, Jr. 3. Hannah, married, April 
15, 1657, Michael Emerson, and had daughter 
1 lannah. who married Thomas 1 )uston, and 
was the heroine of the Indian captivity. 4. Eliz- 
abeth, married -Samuel Sinimons. 5. Abigail, 
married Abraham Merrill. 6. Stephen, tailor, 
removed to Haverhill before 1660; married 
Hannah Ayer. 7. Israel, born 1644, married 
(first) Elizabeth Brown and (second) Eliza- 
beth I.unt. 8. NathaUj born aljout 1645, men- 
tioned lielow. 

(II) Xatlian Webster, son of John Webster 
(i), was Ix^rn about 1645. Married, January 
30, 1673, Alary Hazeltine, who was born De- 
cember 9, 1648, daughter of John Hazeltine, 
of Haverhill, Massachusetts. He removed to 
Bradford, Massachusetts, where he died 1694; 
his wife died March 27, 1735. Children: i. 
Nathan, born March 7, 1678-79, mentioned 
below. 2. Israel, lx>rn 1686. 3. Sanuiel, born 
September 25, 1688. And probably daughters. 

(III) Nathan Webster, son of Nathan 
\\'ebster (2), was born at Bradford, Massa- 
chusetts, March 7, 1678-79. He settled in 
Chester, New Hampshire, between the years 
1728 and 1732. He was grantee of two lots, 
Nos. 71 and 72, and he lived on the latter. He 
acquired much land. His homestead was north 
of the home now or lately owned by Lewis 
Kimball at Chester. Webster died September 

19, 174^). He married Martha , who 

was the mother of all his children ; married 
(second). August 31, 1738, Mrs. Mary (Stev- 
ens) (Sargent) Godfrey, daughter of Deacon 
Thomas and Alartha (Bartlett) Stevens, of 
Amesbury, Massachusetts, widow of Thomas 
Sargent and again of Peter Godfrey. She 
died May 24, 1766. Children: i. Daniel, Ix^rn 
October 26, 1712, married Map»' Blaisdell. 2. 
Nathan, born July i, 1715, married Martha 
Blaisdell. 3. Stephen, born February 18, 
1717-18, mentioned below. 4. Abel, born July 
2, 1726, married Hannah Emerson. 5. Mar\', 
married Benaijah Colby. There may have been 
two other children. 

(IV) Stephen Webster, son of Nathan 
Webster (3). was born at Haverhill, Massa- 
chusetts, February 18, 171 7- 18. He was well 
educated and in early manhood was a school- 
master. He removed to Candia, an adjoin- 
ing village, and was one of the petitioners for 
incorporation. He lived also a few years at 
Hollis, New Hampshire. He was selectman 



in Ilollis in 1762-63-65, and had been select- 
man of Chester in 1758-59. He was one of the 
grantees of the town of Plymouth, New 
Hampshire, whither he came in 1765, liis son 
David having preceded him there. He became 
a proprietor through the purchase of one of 
the town rights, and was the (irst town clerk 
and selectman from 1766 to 1778. He was an 
intelligent and useful citizen, zealous patriot, 
serving the cause of freedom on the committee 
of safety. He comman<led the respect and 
esteem of the entire community. He died 1798. 
He was deacon of the Congregational (ortho- 
dox) church from 1767 to 1798. He married 
(first) Rachel .Stevens, who died January 3, 
1754, daughter of Samuel and Rachel ( Heath) 
Stevens. Rachel Webster was admitted to 
the church January 14, 1728, and dismissed 
from the Second Church in Amesbury to the 
church in Chester, May 10, 1739. Mr. Web- 
ster married (second) Mrs. Sarah (Baker) 
Clough, born January 25, 1720-21, daughter of 
William and Elizabeth (Heard) Clough, of 
Salisbury, Massachusetts. Children: 1. David, 
born December 12, 1738, menti<ineu below. 2. 
Stephen, Jr., born July 7, 1741. 3. Lydia, 
born January 24, 1742-43, married (first) 
Samuel Cummings ; (second) Captain Jere- 
miah Mar.ston. 4. Sarah, born July 9, 1744, 
died January 23, 1754. 5. Amos, born Janu- 
ary 5, 1748. 6. Daniel Qough, born 1757. 7. 
Rachel, born January 15, 1759, married. Octo- 
ber 10, 1775, Paul Wells ; had eight children. 
(V) Colonel David Webster, son of 
Stephen Webster (4), was born in Chester, 
New Hampshire, December 12, 1738. He en- 
joyed the training of good parents and ac- 
quired the elements of education in what was 
called a district school while his own father 
was the schoolmaster. David rather preferred 
sports such as hunting and fishing to study 
and books. Of a robust constitution and great 
physical strength, he became popular with his 
fellows in the little lK)rder community, and by 
his courage and manliness won the respect and 
admiration of his elders. In 1757 he enlisted 
in Captain Hazen's company of Rangers in 
the Seven Years war. He returned to his 
home in Chester, April 20, 1 76 1, and married 
I^lizabeth Clough. He removed to Hollis in 
1763 and to Plymouth. New Hrmipshire, No- 
vember 1764. .'\fter exploring the new settle- 
ment there he returned to Hollis for the com- 
ing winter's provisions and his furniture, and 
in the fall of 1764 drove an ox-tcam to Ply- 
month and cleared a spot for his cabin. His 
wife and two year old son came on horseback 
later. He soon became active in public affairs ; 



196 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



was on a committee to build roads, bridges, 
mills, etc., and connected with the settlement 
of the proprietary lands. He evinced great ac- 
tivity and good judgment. In 1765 he raised 
an independent company of foot for the royal 
service and was commissioned ensign May 14, 
1765; captain 1773; major 1774. He declared 
himself with the Whigs early in the movement 
for Independence. In September, 1775, he 
was commissioned by the Provincial congress 
of New Hampshire lieutenant colonel of the 
Eleventh Regiment and served throughout the 
Revolution. He was in the Northern army 
under Gates at Saratoga, October, 1777. He 
was promoted to the command of his regiment. 
He served on the committee of safety in Ply- 
mouth, and had charge of the supplies for the 
army and of raising troops by enlistment and 
draft in his vicinity. 

He bought a town right of Abel Webster, 
April 13, 1764, and another of Colonel David 
Hobart, April 30, 1764, in Plymouth, and after 
the war devoted himself to farming. He was 
constable of the town in 1766, sheriff of Graf- 
ton county in 1779 and afterward until 1809, 
when he resigned and retired. He was enter- 
prising, brave and useful, retaining a remark- 
able degree of health and vigor until the very 
end of his long life. He died May 8, 1824, 
aged eighty-six years, and was buried in the 
churchyard at Holderness. His two slaves, 
Cisco and Dinah, whom he bought in the early 
seventies, were buried near him. His great- 
granddaughter has in her possession the orig- 
inal bill of sale of the two negroes. 

Colonel Webster married, April 20, 1761, 
Elizabeth Clough, who was born September 

23, 1745, and died May 22, 1809, daughter of 
Daniel and Sarah (Baker) Clough, of Kings- 
ton, New Hampshire. He married (second), 
September 3, 1809, .Susanna Chase, who was 
born 1749 and died April 6, 1821. Children of 
the first marriage: i. Sarah, born February 3, 
1762, died November 23, 1762. 2. David, born 
November 30, 1763. 3. Eliphalet, born June 

24, 1766. 4. William, born January 9, 1771, 
died February 22, 1771. 6. Son, born and 
died April 8, 1772. 7. Elizabeth, born July 8, 
^71 }» married Moore Russell. 8. George 
Washington, born October 21, 1775, mention- 
ed below. 9. Ralph, born January 21, 1779, 
died June 11, 1780. 10. Sarah, born July 14, 
1782, died August 27, 1782. 11. Daughter, 
born August 16, 1784, died next day. 12. 
Walter Raleigh, born January 10, 1786. 

(VI) George Washington Webster, son of 
Colonel David Webster (5), w^as born at 
Phanouth, New Hampshire, October 21, 1775. 



He had a common school education. During 
his boyhood he helped his father on the home- 
stead, and most of his active life was spent 
farming in Plymouth. He had one of the large 
farms of the town. In 1838 he removed to 
Concord, New Hampshire, where he died 
March 23, 1850. He was a Congregational- 
ist (Orthodox) in religion; a Whig in politics. 
He was deputy sheriff of Grafton county and 
belonged to the militia company of Plymouth. 
He married, August 2, 1794, Dorcas Wilson, 
who was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, 
April 26, 1773, daughter of David Wilson, of 
Holderness. Children, born at Plymouth: i. 
George Washington, Jr., born October 6, 1795, 
mentioned below. 2. Adeline, born January 
2, 1799, married, July 22, 1824, Henry Mer- 
rill, of Rumney, New Hampshire. 3. Elmira, 
born March 23, 1804, died unmarried at Low- 
ell, Massachusetts, April 6, 1859. 4. Albert, 
born October 30, 1806. 5. Dorcas Mary, born 
July 3, i8io, married, May 6, 1838, Elbridge 
Gerry Wilson: children — i. Arabella Amelia, 
born August 28, 1840; ii. Jenette Adelia, born 
November 26, 1842 ; iii. Idress Minerva, born 
February 25, 1846. 6. Nancy, born August, 
1813, died November 16, 1815. 7. Sheldon, 
born October 8, 18 17, died August 25, 1832. 

(VII) George Washington Webster, son of 
George Washington Webster (6), was born at 
Plymouth, New Hampshire, October 6, 1795, 
and died December 10, 1872. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools of his native town, 
and for some years taught school in various 
towns in the vicinity, working between terms 
of school on his father's farm. From 1820 to 
1829 he was engaged in farming at Campton, 
New Hampshire. He returned to Plymouth 
and followed farming there until 1837, when 
he settled permanently in Campton where he 
owned a large and productive farm. He died 
there December 10, 1872. He was a man of 
sterling character, respected by his townsmen 
and often chosen by them to jK>sitions of honor 
and responsibility. He was a justice of the 
peace and magistrate, member of the school 
committee, road commissioner and for several 
years selectman of the town. He was a Whig 
in his younger days ; a Republican after the 
formation of that party. He was a member of 
Plymouth Congregational (Orthodox) Church. 
He was active in the militia; ensign in 1816; 
lieutenant in 1817 of the Plymouth Light In- 
fantry, Fourteenth New Hampshire Regiment. 

He' married (first), December 7, 1820, Sally 
Hobart, who was born December 13, 1800, 
died November 26, 1826, daughter of David 
and Tamson (Johnson) Hobart, of Plymouth, 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



197 



New Hampshire. He married (second), 
April 23, 1828. .Ann Walker, wlio was born 
May 30, 1794, died September 15. 1881, 
daughter of Peter and Bathsheba (Johnson) 
\\'alker, of Plymouth. Children of George 
W. and Sally Webster: i. Nancy Russell, 
born June 2, 1822, married, January 5, 1842, 
John Gibbs, of Saxonville, Massachusetts; 
children : i. Frank W^ebster Gibbs, born May 
30, 1845, died October 19, 1859; ii. Frances 
Loretta Gibbs, born July 19, 1849, married 
(first), November 12, 1882, Charles K. Tal- 
bot: (second), November 13, 1889, Francis 
Murphy. 2. Sarah Hobart. born February 2. 
1824, died January 22, 1827. Children of 
George W. and Ann Webster: 3. George 
A\'ilson, born November 25, 1829, mentioned 
below. 4. Charles Augustus, born July 28, 
1831, married, November 13, 1S58, Matilda 
Ann Nutting: children: i. .Sarah .Searle, 
born .August 18, 1859; ii. George .Albert, born 
-August 16. 1876. 5. Sarah .Annette, born 
October 18, i832,at Campton.New Hampshire, 
married, 1856. Obadiah W. Richardson, of 
Dracut, Ala.ssachusetts : children: i. Helen 
Frances Richardson, Ixirii .A])ril 25, 1857: ii. 
.Annie Isabel Richardson, born January 21, 
i860, died .August 21, 1878; iii. .Alice Luella 
Richard.son, born December 26, 1863, died 
-August 21, 1878: iv. Jennie .Allen Richard- 
son, born March 17, 1867, died 1877; v. 
George Webster Richardson, born .April 5, 
1869, died January i, 1871. 6. Peter Walker, 
born September 29. 1834, married, September 

23, 1865, -Augusta C. Chamberlain: children: 
i. George .A., born July 7, 1866, died Septem- 
ber II, 1867; ii. Elmore W'., born September 

24, 1870: iii. Elw\m .A., born -August 4, 1876. 
Helen Frances is unmarried, living in .Som'er- 
ville. -Alice Luella married, in Lowell, No- 
vember 5, 1885, William Louis Hyde, of 
Spring Creek, California, at present living in 
Alelrose, Massachusetts. Their children : 
\\'ray Mallory, born in LowelK September 6, 
1886: Louis Robinson, Lowell, November 25, 
1887: Helen .Anderson, ^lelrose, December 
21. 1894: Alarion Webster, Melrose, Tnlv 8, 
1896. 

(\TII) George \\'ilson Webster, son of 
George Washington Webster (7), was lx>m 
at Campton, New Hampshire, November 25, 
1829. He attended the public schools there 
and the New Hampton Institute at New 
Hampton, New Hampshire, helping his father 
on the farm in the meantime. ?Te was em- 
ployed on a farm at Plymouth at the age of 
sixteen and afterward worked for his uncle, 
Albert Webster, who had a grocery and pro- 



vision store at Concord, New Hampshire. At 
the age of twenty he took charge of a farm at 
Plymouth for William W. Russell and re- 
mained there two years, removing then to 
Lowell, -Massachusetts, where he found em- 
ployment as night watchman for the Merrimac 
Corporation for eighteen months. Later he 
came to Saxonville, ^Massachusetts, where he 
was employed as night watchman for the New 
England Worsted Company and also worked 
in the yard. He remained in the employ of 
this concern several years. He was for three 
years in charge of the card room. .After his 
marriage he bought a dry goods and inillinery 
store, of which his wife had had charge be- 
fore marriage. In 1858 he went on the road 
through the New England states selling Yan- 
kee notions. He found this business remun- 
erative and followed it for a period of eighteen 
years. He sold his business in 1876 to a mer- 
chant at North Easton, Massachusetts, and 
retired from active business. He bought his 
present homestead in 1872, and since his re- 
tirement has found occupation in caring for 
his fifteen acres of land and various tenement 
houses belonging to his wife at Waltham, 
Massachusetts. Mr. Webster attends the 
Congregational church at Saxonville and has 
served on the parish committee. In politics 
he is a Republican, and has represented his 
party as delegate in various conventions. He 
is a member of the Framingham Hospital Cor- 
poration. In early life he was a member of 
the Plymouth Light Infantry. 

He married, January 12, 1854, Sarah Han- 
nah Searle, who was born 1827 and died 
March 16, 1891, daughter of Nathaniel Coggs- 
wcll and \'easie Searle, of Saxonville. They 
had no children. 



George Purrington, the 
PURRINGTON innnigrant ancestor, was 
born in England, and set- 
tled as early as 1640 in York. Maine. He was 
deputy to the general court in 1640 for the town 
of York. He died about 1^47. His widow 
was licensed to sell wine in that jurisdiction 
in 1649. His will was dated June 25, 1647 
but was not presented for probate until 1695- 
96. It mentions his wife Mary and five chil- 
dren ; also "my brother" Robert Purrington, 
The name of both Robert and George was 
often spelled Puddington. Robert Purring- 
ton, 1>rotlier of Gcfirge. 'married .Amy Davis, 
and had children John and Robert : was land- 
holder of Portsmouth 1640 and 1657. Mary 
Purrington. widow of George, married (sec- 



198 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ond), before 1661, Captain John Davis, of 
York; she was living in 1690. Children: i. 
John, mentioned below. 2. Elias, was living 
in 1698. 3. Mary. 4. Frances. 5. Rebecca. 
One of the daughters married John Penwell. 

(II) Lieutenant John Piirrington, son of 
■George Purrington (i), was born about 1640, 
was a fisherman. Married Mary Scammon, 
and removed from York to Cape Porpoise, 
where he lived until 1678. He took the oath 
of allegiance in 1680, and had a grant of land 
in 1 68 1, was town clerk and selectman until 
the town was abandoned in 1690. when lie left. 
He died a few years later. Cliildren : i. John, 
house carpenter, removed to Salisbury. 2. 
James, mentioned below. 3. Joshua, married 

• Durrell ; a shoemaker, of Hampton. 

4. George. 5. Elizabeth, married John Con- 
nor, of Salisbury. 6. Mary, married Sanders 
Carr, of Salisbury. 

(Ill) James Purrington, son of John Pur- 
rington (2), was born about 1663. Married 

(first) Elizabeth ; (second) Lydia 

M'ussey. He was lost at sea in his fifty-fifth 
year. He was a member of the Society of 
Friends. He died July 12, 1718. His estate 
was administered October 2, 1718. Children: 
I. James, born July 8, 1693. 2. Elizabeth, 
born December 8, 1695, married Philip Row- 
ell. 3. John, born about 1 700, mentioned be- 
low. 4. Elisha, born 1698-1705. 5. Daniel, 
third son. 6. Mary, living in 17 19. 7. Han- 
nah, born .\pril 14, 1708, married Josiah Dow, 
son of Joseph and Mary Dow. 8. Ruth. 

( I\' ) John Purringfton, son of James Pur- 
rington (3), was born about 1700. He mar- 
ried Theodate . Child, James, born 

January 22, 1722-23. 

(\') James Purrington, son of James Pur- 
rington (4), was born in Salisbury, Massa- 
chusetts, January 22, 1722-23. 

(VI) Joseph Purrington, son of James 
Purrington (5), and descendant of George 
Purrington (i), settled in Epping, New 
Hampshire. He had brothers George and 
Joshua, also of Epping, heads of families 
there in 1790, according to the United States 
census. Joseph Purrington was also of Alton 
and Gilford, New Hampshire. The Purring- 
ton family is comparatively small. In the cen- 
sus of 1790 we find but few adults of the 
name. The largest settlement was at Dover 
and Weare, New Hampshire. At Weare we 
find Chase, Elisha, Elisha, Jr. and Hezekiah 
Purrington. Jonathan lived at Kensington. 
Zachariah lived at Dover; Elijah, Elisha, Tohn, 
Zaccheus, Winthrop at Weare and Henniker : 
James at Pittsfield, New Hampshire. He hid 



sons Joseph and James, mentioned below. 

(VII) Joseph Purrington, son or nephew 
of Joseph Purrington (6), was born at Alton 
or Gilford, New Hampshire, about 1780-90. 
When he was five years old his father died 
and he was taken by a Mr. Chase, of Alton. 
He received a common school education, 
working on the farm of Mr. Chase until he 
came of age. Fle then worked out for a few 
years and purchased with his savings a farm 
at .Mbany, near Conway, New Hampshire. 
He conducted this farm to the time of his 
death and was prosperous. He was a very 
quiet and domestic man, highly respected by 
his friends and neighbors. He was a Baptist 
in religion, a member of the state militia and 
served the town at one time as highway sur- 
veyor. 

He married, at Alton or Gilford, Sarah 
Edgerly, who was born in one of those towns. 
Children: i. Lucinda. 2. John, born at Al- 
ton Bay, New Hampshire, November 4, 1815, 
died 1865 ; married Harriet Atwood, of Sand- 
wich, New Hampshire ; children : i. Drusilla, 
born August 25, 1837, died 1905 ; ii. David 
H., March 26, 1839: iii. Charles D., August 
24. 1842 ; iv. Harriet Atwood, March 24, 
1845; V. Sarah J., October 7, 1848; vi. 
George L.. June 21. 1851; vii. Lucy A., 
.\pril 10. 1853; viii. Alpheus N., March 11. 
1856. 3. Ruth, married Jonathan Mason, of 
Albany. 4. Betsey, married, had no children. 
5. Mary, born July 22, 1822, died March 5, 
1852 ; married, September 9, 1847, Christo- 
pher C. Chase, of Conway, New Hampshire ; 
children : i. .Andrew J. Chase, bom July 3,. 
1848, died June 21, 1902; ii. Celesta Chase, 
December 8, 1849; iii. John Chase (twin), 
November 29, 1851 ; iv. George W. Chase 
(twin), November 29, 185 1. 6. George, mar- 
ried Susan Moody. 7. Daniel, born at .Al- 
bany in 1830, married Charlotte Richardson, 
of Milan, New Hampshire; children: i. 
Frank, born September 5, 1858, married 
(first) in 1880, Mary E. Hatch: (second). 
.\pril 2, 1891, .-\nnie L. Murphy, (child of first 
wife : Arthur L. ; children of second wife : 
Alice M., born April 26, 1893 : Elmer C. 
.April 18, 1895; Julia E., August 31, 1898; 
Clarence E., June 30, 1904) ; ii. Willie E., 
March 17, 1861 ; iii. Joseph L.. December 9, 
1871, married Angle Holmes and had son 
Emerald, born August 10, 1900 ; iv. Flora B., 
September 9, 1879, married Frederick Coombs 
(children: Dorothy Coombs, born May i, 
T903 ; Leighton M. Coombs, July 28, 1906). 
8. Sarnh. 9. Joseph, born July 8, 1833, men- 
tioned below. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



199- 



(,\ HI) Joseph Purrington, son of Joseph 
Purrington (7), was born at Sandwich, New 
Hampshire, July 8, ICS33. At the age of five 
years lie i"eniovcrl with his parents to Albany. 
New Ilainpshire. where he attended the win- 
ter terms of the district school, and at other 
seasons worked on his father's farm until lie 
was sixteen years old. He remained on the 
liomestead until nineteen, when he went to 
Winchester, Massachusetts, and entered the 
emply of Wymaii Locke, driving his market 
wagon daily to Boston for four years. He 
became foreman of Loring F.merson"s market 
gardening business when he was twenty-three, 
and held that position five years. He returned 
to his home in Albany and Ixiught a farm of a 
hundred acres in the southern part of the 
town, known as the old Oliver Robbins place. 
.After three years there, he disposed of his 
farm to Samuel Drake and returned to Win- 
chester, and was foreman for Henry A. Emer- 
son for five years. In .April, 1870. he bought 
his present farm in the western part of \\in- 
chester, known formerly as the Frederick 
Marsh place, consisting of twenty acres of 
land, favorably located. Mr. Purrington is 
a successful and prosperous market gardener. 
He has associated with him in the business 
his three sons, Walter Scott, Charles Henry 
and (icorge Washington Purrington, in part- 
nership tmder the firm name of Joseph Pur- 
rington iS: Sons, market gardeners. They raise 
large quantities of celery, cabbage, squash, 
beets and parsnips, and are also engaged in 
cultivating fine species of pansies for the 
lioston market. His residence at 163 Cam- 
bridge street, is on the farm. His greenhouses 
are thirty by two hundred and fifteen feet and 
thirty by one hundred and sixty, and he uses 
many thousand square feet of glass in outside 
cultivation. He is thoroughly devoted to his 
business and home, and enjoys the esteem of 
liis neighbors and townsmen to an unusual de- 
gree. He was a I'aptist by training, but now 
attends the Methodist Episcopal church. He 
is a Republican. He was formerly a member 
of the P.o=toii .Market (iardeners' .Association. 

He married, November 26, 1856. Eliza .A. 
Moody, who was born October iTi. 1839, 
daughter of Edward and Mary ( Hutchins) 
Moody, of Albany, New Hampshire. Her 
father was a farmer. Children: i. Walter 
Scott, born March 14, 1858, married, ( )ctober 
20. 1881. Ida Eva Cross, of Orford, New 
Hamjishire: child, Newell W'alter, born May 
11, 1882. 2. Charles Henry, Ijorn October 3. 
1860. married. Octolier 3, 1886. .\nnie E. 
Harnilen. of Denmark. Maine; children; i. 



Sarah Eliza, born July 26, 1887, married, June 
10, 1905, Harold Perkins, of Denmark ; ii. 
Edith .Mary, born .August 8, 1889, married 
Tracy Lee Adams, of Denmark, Maine. 3. 
George Washington, born June 2, 1862, mar- 
ried. .April 17, 1885, Mary Isabel Erskin. of 
Winchester, Massachusetts; children; i. 
A label Lillian, born October 5, 1885, married, 
October 17, 1903, William H. Edwards, of 
Winchester, and have Ruth .Millicent Ed- 
wards, born August 28, 1904; ii. Mary Eliza- 
beth, August 18, 1887; iii. George Forsythe, 
September 11, 1890: iv. Clara Isabel. Feb- 
ruary 27, 1893: v. Walter Ellsworth. Sep- 
tember i(), 1899; vi. Ralph Lester, July 6, 
ujoi. 



There were three immigrants 
McIXTIRE of the family of Alclntire in 
New England among the 
early settlers. The first, Philip, will be men- 
tioned below. The second, Robert, was a wit- 
ness in a trial in the Essex court, November 
24. if^SS. stating his age as twenty-four and 
his place of employment as the Lynn Iron 
Works. He pn)l)ably went with his employers 
to Rhode Island, where the Iron Works were 
removed a few years later. The third was 
Micom or Malcolm, who settled about 1650 at 
A'ork, Alaine. and left many descendants in 
that section. Malcolm's house, which was 
used as a garrison in the Indian wars, is now 
or was lately standing; it is said that it was 
built in the Protectorate of Cromwell, the sec- 
ond story ])rojecting over the first m the old 
part of the house, and the whole built of 
heavv timbers. It is now owned by a wealthy 
descendaiU nankd jnhn Mclntire, and occu- 
pied by his sister. .\ stanza referring to the 
muscular and perhaps pugnacious ancestor of 
the Maine family reads; 

"Ani] tht're was Micum Mclntire 
With his preat foot and hand 
Hi.' Itirked and cuffed Sam Freathy so 
He could neither go nor stand." 

(See page 270. Gen. Rep.) 

Judge Mclntire, who wrote a sketch of the 
Charlton, .Massachusetts. family, says;: 
"These three .Mclntires were probably of the 
same family, ])erhaps -brothers, and exported 
to this country by Cromwell among the pris- 
oners of war taken at the battles of Dunbar 
and of Worcester, where over ten thousand 
Scotch Highlanders and other followers of 
Charles were captured and sent to the colo- 
nies." There is a tradition among the Maine 
families that Micom .Mclntire was "banished 
b\- Cnimwell." 



200 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(I) Philip Mclntire, the immigrant ances- 
tor, came when a youth from Scotland about 
1648. He was born probably in Argyle about 
1630; married at Reading, Massachusetts, 
August 6, 1666, Mary . His name ap- 
pears in the list of inhabitants of the town of 
Reading that drew land in the division of the 
■Great Swamp at Reading in 1666, and in that 
year he paid as his share of the ministerial tax 
the sum of ten shillings. In 1686 in a "coppie 
of a rate made to be payd in money to be payd 
to the Indians for the purchase of the town's 
land" we find him taxed, and in 1688 he ap- 
pears as a contributor of three pounds to a 
subscription for the new meeting house. 
Shortly before his death he conveyed his 
homestead by deed to his son David. He was 
a much respected citizen of Reading, where 
at an advanced age he died in December, 
1719. His estate was settled by his son David. 
Children: i. Philip, Jr., born March 15, 1667, 
mentioned below. 2. Thomas, born October 
15, and died October 24, 1668. 3. Daniel, born 
September 20, 1669, married Judith Putney, 
daughter of John and Judith (Cooke) Put- 
ney: he died at Salem, December, 1729. 4. 
Mary, born Jul)' 30, 1672, married Thomas 
Rich, of Salem, June 30, 1699. 5. Sarah, 
born about 1677, married Joseph Putney, May 
18, 1697 ; removed to Oxford, Massachusetts, 
in 1728. 6. John, born March 20, 1679, mar- 
ried, April 8, 1 701, Elizabeth Daniels, of 
Watertown. 7. Thomas, housewright by 
trade, born about 1680, married Mary Moul- 
ton, daughter of Robert and Mary (Cooke) 
Moulton ; he died probably at Salem. 8. Sam- 
uel, born 1682, married Mary Upton, of Read- 
ing, October 15, 1706. 9. Jonathan, bom 
1684, mentioned below. 10 David, born June 
12. 1688, married, September 4, 1712, died 
after 1720. 

(II) Philip Mclntire, son of Philip Mc- 
lntire (1), was born in Reading, March 15, 
1667. Married, February 20, 1695, Rebecca 
Williams, of Salem, Massachusetts. They re- 
sided in Salem Village, or Danvers, and their 
children were baptized in the north parish of 
Danvers. Children: i. Ebenezer, born De- 
cember I. 1695, died young. 2. Mary, bap- 
tized May 25, 1699.- 3. Rebecca, baptized 
May 25, 1699. 4. Philip, baptized July 7, 
1700. 5. Ruth, baptized July 15, 1703. 6. 
Joseph, born about 1708, baptized September 
2, 1 716, mentioned below. 7. Stephen, bap- 
tized September 2. 1716. 8. Daniel, baptized 
July 21, 1717. 

fll) Jonathan Mclntire, son of Philip Mc- 



lntire (i), was born in Reading, Massachu- 
setts, 1684. Married, December 6, 1705, Mary 
(jraves. He was born after liis father located 
in the north parish. The ancient seat of the 
family is said to be in Thomas Rayner's field 
northeast of his residence, where there is or 
was lately an old cellar hole. In 1720 these sons 
or grandsons of Philip Mclntire (i) were on 
the North Reading tax roll — Jonathan, Sam- 
uel, Ebenezer and David. In 1718 Jonathan, 
David and Samuel Mclntire signed the peti- 
tion for the division of the common land. 

(Ill) Joseph Mclntire, son of Philip Mc- 
lntire (2), was born in Danvers, North Par- 
ish or in Reading about 1708, and was bap- 
tized the same time as his younger brother 
Stephen, September 2, 17 16, at Reading. He 
married, at Reading, May 15, 1729, Deborah 
Russell, born 171 2, daughter of Ebenezer 
Russell, who was born at Reading in 1688, 
granddaughter of William and Elizabeth Rus- 
sell, early settlers of Reading. He died March, 
1754, at Reading. Children: i. Archelaus, 
born August 7, 1729. 2. Mehitable, born July 
6, 1732. 3. Jonathan, born December 2, 1736, 
mentioned below. 4. Deborah, born July 5, 
1739- 5- Hannah, born October 30, 1744. 

(I\') Jonathan Mclntire, son of Joseph Mc- 
lntire (3), was born in Reading, December 2, 
1736, and died .August 18. 18 10. He resided 
at North Reading. He deeded his rights in 
the estate of his father to his brother Arche- 
laus, May 2, 1758. He married (first) , 

who died May 18, 1769, and (second) 1769, 
Joanna, who died March 28, 1812. Children: 

1. Deborah, born April 3, 1758. 2. Mehitable, 
born June 6, 1761, died December 26, 1790. 
3. Joseph, born July 17, 1763, mentioned be- 
low. 4. Ada, born July 7, 1766. 

(V) Joseph Mclntire, son of Jonathan 
Mclntire (4), was born in North Reading, 
July 17, 1763, died at Burlington, Massachu- 
setts, March 16, 1813. He bought his farm 
in the west part of the town and lived on it 
until his death. It is now owned by the town 
of Burlington and used as "poor" farm. It 
was formerly owned by Deacon George Mc- 
lntire. He was a member of the Woburn 
Baptist church. He married, December 17, 
1789. Sarah Whittridge. born at North Read- 
ing, daughter of William and Mary (Herrick) 
Whittridge. of North Reading. Children: I. 
Daniel, born August 6, 1790, mentioned below. 

2. George, born March 20, 1792, died March 
22, 185 1". 3. Sarah, born September 28, 1793, 
died October 20, 1793. 4. Joseph, Jr., born 
September 14, 1794, died July 17, 1821. 5. 




^^^4^>ec5^ ^::^J(2.c/h^2JZ^^_^^- 



AllUULESEX COUNTY. 



20I 



Eliab, born August 31, 1797. 6. Charles, 
born July 11, 1799. 7. Jesse, born March 27, 
1801, died July 22, 1801. 

(VI) Daniel Mclntire, son of Joseph Alc- 
Intire (5), was born at Burlington, Massa- 
chusetts, August 6, 1790. He finished his 
scho<iling at an early age and started in life 
as a farmer with his father. Then he was a 
teamster in East Cambridge. He returned to 
Burlington and bought a farm in the western 
part of the imvn where he continued in gen- 
eral farming for the remainder of his life. He 
and his son George bought and worked the 
King place of seventy acres, situated in Bed- 
ford and Billerica. He was a very pious and 
honorable man, a member of the Burlington 
Congregational C'hurch (Orthodox) and held 
numerous offices in the church and society. 
He was successful in business and a leader 
in town affairs, being chosen to fill many posi- 
tions of trust and responsibility. He was cap- 
tain of the military company. He died July 
14, 1852. He married Hannah Richardson, 
who died at Burlington, July 14, 1867, daugh- 
ter of Colonel Silas Richardson, of Billerica. 
Children: i. Daniel, born October 6, 1819, 
died December 9, 1899; married, October, 
1864, Ellen Bedelia Cahill, of Longford, Ire- 
land ; children : i. Lizzie Lincoln, born Sep- 
tember I, 1865; ii. Cora, October 2, 1869; 
iii. George, February 2, 1872 ; iv. Arthur 
Daniel, June 26, 1874, died December 21, 
1900. 2. Sarah, born November 20, 1820, 
died May 17, 1867; married Ezra Fish and 
had son. Charles Fish. 3. Joseph, born June 
21, 1823, died June 2, 1903, unmarried. 4. 
Lydia, born June 20, 1828, died unmarried, 
April 17, 1855. 5. Jessie, born September i, 
1827, died January 23, 1865. 6. George Jud- 
son, bom April 8, 1830, died in California, 
April 22, 1854. 7. Hannah, born May 3, 
1832, died IMarch 27, 1848. 8. Charles, born 
March 8, 1835. mentioned below. 

(VII) Charles Mclntire, son of Daniel 
Mclntire (6), was born in Burlington, March 
8, 1835. He received his education there in 
the common schools. After he was fourteen 
years old he worked on the farm and drove a 
team for his father, except during the winter 
terms of school. He was only fifteen when his 
father died and he continued on the home- 
stead, driving the wood teams and milk 
wagons until he was thirty years old. He 
also established a milk business on his own 
account. In 1865 he entered the employ of 
David Skelton, his wife's father, and continued 
for five years. He then bought his present 
farm of sixtv-five acres, which was then called 



the Old Marion farm, situated near the center 
of Burlington. He lias made a specialty of 
market gardening, especially of sweet corn 
in season. He has an extensive milk route in 
Winchester in charge of one of his sons. His 
farm, buildings and equipment are consid- 
ered the finest in the town. He carries thirty- 
five head of cattle in bis dairy and has eight 
or ten horses employed in his business. In 
1902 he bought the \Villiam E. Carter farm of 
fifty-two acres, including the shoddy mill 
plant. He devotes his time almost exclusively 
to his home and business and enjoys the es- 
teem and respect of a large circle of friends. 
He attends the Burlington Congregational 
Church. In politics he is a Republican. 

He married Helen .\ugusta Skelton, who 
was born at Burlington, December 22, 1844, 
daughter of David and Hannah (Rich) Skel- 
ton, of Burlington. Her father was a farmer. 
Children: i. Wilber Charles, born April 24, 
1866, living at home, unmarried and is en- 
gaged in the milk business. 2. Walter Sweet- 
ser, born May 27, 1872, married Clara Belle 
Cobb, of Hyannis, Massachusetts ; children : 
i. Helen Wilburta, born November 27, 1897; 
ii. Alarion Mclntire, .April 16, 1899, died Sep- 
tember 10, 1899 ; iii. Clarence Julius, Octo- 
ber 30, 19CXD; iv. Mary Bernice, October 3, 
1902. He has been selectman two years, and 
is now township treasurer. A Republican in 
politics. He is now managing the farm. 



(For first g-eneratlon see William Russell, 1.) 

(II) Joseph Russell, son of 

RUSSELL William Russell (i), was 
born in England about 1636. 
He gave his age as fifty-five in 1691 in a depo- 
sition. He resided at Menotomy, and was a 
carpenter by trade. He died between Novem- 
ber 14 and December 17, 1694. He married 
Mary Belcher, daughter of Jeremiah Belcher, 
of Ipswich, Tune 23. 1662. .She died June 24, 
1691. Children: i. Alary, baptized January 
8, 1664. 2. Alartha, born February i, 1666, 
died June 26, 1691. 3. .Abigail, born May 12, 
1668, married Matthew Bridge. 4. Prudence, 
l3orn May 30, 1670, married Nathaniel Han- 
cock. 5. Joseph, bom July 15, 1673. 6. 
Walter, born .\pril 30, 1676, mentioned below. 
7. Mariah. I)orn November 28, 1678, married, 
December 28, i(')96, Thomas Prentice; (sec- 
ond) Natlianiel Robbins : (third) Samuel 
Lyon, of Roxbury. 8. Jeremiah, born Janu- 
ary 21, 1680-81. q. John, born July 13, 1683. 
10. Samuel, born .August 9, 1685. 

Cnn '\^'alter Russell, son of Joseph Rus- 



202 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



sell (2}, was born in Alenotomy, Massachu- 
setts, and settled there. He married (first) 
Mary Patten, daughter of Nathaniel Patten, 
May 17. 1699; (second) Eliazbeth Winship, 
April 3, 170O. The latter was born June i, 
1686, in Cambridge, and was admitted to the 
First Church there March 16, 1718. He died 
at Menotomy, Alarch 30, 1748; his widow 
Elizabeth. April 14, 1750, aged sixty-four. 
Their gravestones are in the .\rlington grave- 
yard. Child of \\'alter and Mary Russell: I. 
Joseph, born August 25, 1703. Children of 
Walter and Elizabeth Russell : 2. Mary, born 
February 8, 1707, married, August 4, 1725. 
3. Walter, born April 7, 1709, died unmarried 
February 11, 1763. 4. Martha, born January 

27, 1711-12, married John Wilson. 5. Jere- 
miah, born February 11, 1713-14, mentioned 
below. 6. Elizabeth, baptized March 4. 1715- 
16, married Mathew Cox. 7. Edward, bap- 
tized August 10, 1718, died young. 8. Ed- 
ward, baptized October 15, 172 1. 9. Samuel, 
baptized February 9. 1723-24. 10. Daniel, 
baptized May 5, 1728. 11. Hobart or Hub- 
bard, baptized August 22, 1731. 

(IV) Jeremiah Russell, son of Walter Rus- 
sell (3), was born in Menotomy, Massachu- 
setts, now Arlington, February 11, 17 13- 14. 
He married, January 12, 1738, Damaris Will- 
iams, who was admitted to the precinct church 
at organization, September 9, 1739. He was 
admitted to the Cambridge church, April 28, 
1734. She died July 23, 1778, aged seventy. 
He died in 1744. By a former wife he had 
children: I. Seth, baptized March 31, 1734, 
mentioned below. 2. Edward, baptized No- 
vember 10, 1734. 

(\') Seth Russell, son of Jeremiah Russell 
(4), was born in Menotomy in 1732, and bap- 
tized there March 31, 1734. He married, May 
8, 1755. Dinah Harrington, of Worcester 
(published .April 11, 1755). He was a soldier 
in the Revolution in the battle of Lexington, 
and was made prisoner by the British April 
19- 1775' snd with his townsman, Samuel 
Frost, was taken on board the man-of-war, 
"The .Admiral," being exchanged June 6, 
1775. He was precinct collector in 1762-77- 
78. His wife Dinah died May 15, 1802, aged 
seventy-three years. Children: i. Jeremiah, 
born December 5, 1755. 2. Phebe, born July 

28, 1760, married Dr. Silas Barnard and 
James Fillebrown. 3. Seth, born July 18, 
1762. 4. Edward, born October 6, 1764, men- 
tioned below. 5. Anne Harrington, born 
March 17, 1767, married James Cutter. 6. 
Josiah Harrington, born December 5, 1769. 

(\T) Edward Russell, son of Seth Russell 



(5), was born in Menotomy, October 6, 1764. 
He married, May 9, 1786, Lydia .Adams. 
Both owned the covenant at Menotomy, July 
28, 1788. He died November 3, 1808, aged 
forty-four, and his widow married (second), 
July 20, 1809, James Cutter, of Menotomy. 
Children of Edward and Lydia Russell: i. 
Jeremiah, baptized September 28, 1788, died 
January 29, 1827. 2. Lydia, baptized Febru- 
ary 15, 1789. died .August 29, 1790. 3. Lydia, 
baptized March 6, 1791. 4. Sophia, baptized 
September, 1793. 5. Edward, baptized No- 
vember 8, 1795, mentioned below. 6. Leo- 
nora, baptized March 11, 1798. 7. Mary Ann, 
born about 1800. 

(VTI) Edward Russell, son of Edward 
Russell (6), was born at Arlington, October 
21, 1795, baptized Novembeer 8, 1795, and 
died Alarch zy, 1879. He was brought up on 
his father's farm, and educated in the public 
schools of his native town. He learned the 
trade of butcher and followed it for his occu- 
pation through life. In the days when the 
Brighton stock market was flourishing Ed- 
ward Russell used to buy extensively. For 
manv years he butchered hogs for Nathan 
Robbins, dealer in meats, etc. He and Abner 
Peirce were said to be the most expert in their 
trade of the butchers of the section. .At one 
time when Eli and Amos Robbins were en- 
gaged in the meat and provision trade in New 
York City, Mr. Russell was their foreman, 
and resided in New York. He was a big, 
jovial, sociable man, fond of a good story and 
good cheer. He was popular wherever he was 
known. He spent many of his leisure hours 
at the old Tufts Tavern and gained a reputa- 
tion as a story-teller. He had had the small- 
pox, as many of the adults of his day had also, 
and the disease had left its traces on his face, 
but it did not obscure the cheerfulness and 
good humor of the man. His house had an 
octagon roof, and was located on the present 
site of the residence of George White, at 917 
Massachusetts avenue. He was a Democrat 
in politics, but the only office he ever held was 
that of moderator of the town meeting. He 
died of paralysis, March 27, 1879. He was a 
member of the .Arlington fire department and 
was captain of the militia company of .Arling- 
ton. 

He married, December 30, 1818, .Abigail 
Harrington, of .Arlington, born June 3, 1799, 
died January 30, 1877. of cancer. She was 
the daughter of Benjamin Harrington, of 
Charlestown, who died December 9, 1816, 
aged forty-seven, and Betsey (Frost) Har- 
rington, of Cambridge, who died March t8. 



.MIDDLESEX COLNTV. 



203 



1S18. aged fort}--t\vo. Children: i. Edward 
Tlicddorc, born January 13, 1824, died Octo- 
ber 10, 1903: married, .May 29, 1859, Louisa 
\'iola Hill, of Arlington ; ciiildren : i. Ed- 
ward Theodore. Jr., born July 2, 1850; resi- 
dence, 43 Beacon street. Chelsea, Massachu- 
setts, married twice ; ii. George Winslow, 
born in 1861, resides at the corner of ("Iicster 
and Moody streets, Waltham. Massachusetts : 
married (first) Jennie Nichols: (second) 
Mary \\'oodward : iii. Alice Josephine, born 
July 2, 1866. married. July 16. 1886. Martin 
H. Munhall, of .\ntrim. New Hampshire, and 
had Edna \iola ^lunliall, born July 22, 1887, 
who married. July 16, 1906, John W. Bunk, 
of Caml)ridge. and have Alice (iertrude Bunk, 
born January t2. 1907: iv. Louise Viola, born 
July. 1871. died .\ugust 15, 1891. 3. Sarah. 
4. Cieorge Campbell, born March 29. 1821. 
mentioned below. 5. Caroline, born January 

11, 1823, died July 11. 1S57: married Abel 
Lawrence, of Arlington : children : i. Henri- 
etta Lawrence, born July 22, 1853, died March 

12, 1879; ii. Edward Russell, born December 
2. 1848. died September 15. 1855. (The fore- 
going are not in order of their birth. I 

(\"IH) George Cam])bell Kusseli, son of 
Edward Russell (7), was born at .\rIington. 
March 29. 1821. died there May 26, 1891. He 
was educated in the public schools. At the 
age of fourteen he entered the employ of the 
Schouler Print Works, driving their double 
team until 1845. .Shortly' afterward he estab- 
lished his livery stable, building his place of 
business on the main avenue of the town of 
.\rlington. .About 1853 he sold this stable 
business to good advantage and became the 
proprietor of the old Tufts Tavern, which he 
opened and conducted for several years. He 
sold out and removed to the old Cooper Tav- 
ern of Revolutionary fame, leasing it and con- 
ducting it successfully until 1861, when he 
returned to the old Tufts House Tavern, 
whicii he liought and conducted up to the time 
of his death. He was one of the most com- 
petent and successful hotel keepers of .Arling- 
ton. He was a po])ular innkeeper, upright 
and honorable in all his dealings. -A Univer- 
-salist in religion. Democrat in politics, he 
never sought public ofifice. He was a member 
of Bethel Lodge. No. 12. Odd Fellows, of 
.Arlington. 

He married. August 25. 1845. Harriet 
Prentiss, liorn March 4. 1825. died January 4. 
1873. daughter of William and Frances (Rus- 
sell ) Prentiss, of .Arlington. Her father was 
a fanner and a butcher by trade : married. 
-Argust 28. t8o8. Frances Russell, daughter 



of Walter Russell, of Charlestown. Massa- 
chusetts. William Prentiss was son of .Solo- 
mon Prentiss. C^hildren: 1. Fannie Buck- 
nam, born January 13, 1850, married, April 3, 
1872, .Alvah Winslow Brown, of .Arlington: 
children : i. Howard Malcolm, born Septem- 
ber 12. 1877, died August 26, 1879; ii. .Alvah 
Howard. Ixirn December 30, 1882. 2. (Jeorg- 
lana, born December 29, 1853, mentioned 
below. 

(IX) Cleorgiana (Russell) Hobl)s. daugh- 
ter of (jeorge Campbell Russell (8). was Ixirn 
at .Arlington. December 29. 1853. She re- 
ceived her education in the ])ublic schools of 
her native town, graduating in 1867 from the 
grammar schools and in 1870 from the Cot- 
ting high school. She learned the trade of 
dressmaking and followed it for an occupation 
until tlu' time of her marriage, in 1873. Mrs. 
Hobbs resides in the old Tufts Tavern, later 
known as Russell Hotel, al 965 Alassachusetts 
avenue. She is extensively interested in real 
estate improvements, among which is a block 
that she built near the homestead. She is a 
I'nitarian in religion : member of the District 
Nrrses' .Association of .Arlington. She mar- 
ried. January 16. 1873, Melnotte .Augustus 
Hobbs. of .\rlington. Qiildren : i. .Alice 
Gertnde, lx)ni May 6. 1873. died October 28. 
IQ06: married. June 3. 1893. Harry Aloses 
Condit : children: i. Helen Russell, born 
-August 28. 1894. died December 22. 1898; 
ii. Harry Moses. Jr., March 5, 1896. 2. Harry 
Russell. Ixirn November 21. 1881. unmarried. 
3. Roscoe I'^rost. Ixirn August 3. 1883. 



Edward Hazen. the immigrant 
II.XZFN ancestor, was born in England. 
The origin of the name is not 
known, but a family of this name was located 
at .\'ewcastle-on-Tync in the last century. He 
settled in Rowley. .Massachusetts, before 1(149, 
for his wife I-'lizabeth was buried there Sep- 
tember 18. 1649. He was a man of substance 
and influence in the town, was overseer of 
the ])oor. or selectman, in 1650-31-54-60-61- 
63-68. and a magistrate in 1666. Tu the rec- 
ords of surveys February 4, 1661, he appears 
entitled to "seven gates." These related to 
cattle rights on the town common, the aver- 
age nunil)er being three, and no one having 
more than seven. The inventory of his estate 
amounted to over four hundred pounds, a 
large sum for that period. He married (sec- 
oufl). in March, 1650. PTannah Grant, daugh- 
ter of Thomas and Hannah Grant. He was 
Imried in Rowley. July 22. 1683. His widow 



204 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



married (second), March 17, 1683-84, George 
Browne, of Haverhill, who September 9, 1693, 
adopted her youngest son Richard as sole heir 
to his large estate. Lieutenant Browne died 
October 31, 1699, aged seventy-six years; his 
wife February, 1715-16. Children of Edward 
and Hannah (Grant) Hazen, all born in Row- 
ley : I. Elizabeth, born March 8, 1650-51, 
married, April i, 1670, Nathaniel Harris, of 
Rowley. 2. Hannah, born September, 1653, 
married William Gibson. 3. John, born Sep- 
tember 22, 1655. 4. Thomas, born February 
29, 1657-58, died April 12, 1735. 5. Edward, 
born September 10, 1660, mentioned below. 

6. Isabel, born July 21, 1662, married, Janu- 
ary 16, 1680, John Wood, of Boxford. 7. 
Priscilla, born November 25, 1664, married, 
July 21, 1681, Jeremiah Pearson, of Rowley. 
8. Edna, born June 20, 1667, married Timothy 
Perkins. 9. Richard, born August 6, 1669. 
10 Hepzibah, born December 22, 1671, died 
November 29, 1689. 11. Sarah, born August 
22, 1673, married, June 27, 1690, Daniel Wi- 
com, Jr., of Rowley. 

(II) Edward Hazen, son of Edward Hazen 
(i), was born in Rowley, Massachusetts, Sep- 
tember ID, 1660, died 1748. He lived at Row- 
ley ; married Jane Pickard, daughter of John 
and Jane (Crosby) Pickard. His will was 
dated May 27, 1738, proved December 26, 
1748. Children, born in Rowley: i. Jane, 
Tjorn October 11, 1685, married, January i, 
1707, Joseph Jewett. 2. Edward, born July 
17, 16S8, died April 19, 1723; married Sarah 
Perley. 3. Jolin, born 1691, died November 
I9> 1756- 4- Benjamin (twin), born Febru- 
ary 19, 1694-95, died September 18, 1790, in 
Groton. 5. Hepzibah (twin), born February 
19, 1694-95, married Nathaniel Perkins. 6. 
Samuel, born July 20, 1698, mentioned below, 

7. Israel, born July 20, 1701, died January 2, 

1784, at Rowley. 8. Hannah, married 

Greenleaf. 

(III) Samuel Hazen, .son of Edward 
Hazen (2), was born at Rowley, July 20, 
1698, married, October i, 1723. In 1736 he 
removed from his native place to Groton, 
Massacliusetts, and in 1749 bought a farm in 
what was then called Stow Leg, a small strip 
of territory soon afterward annexed to Shir- 
ley, Massachusetts, and forming its entire 
southern part. This estate, after many 
changes and improvements, remains in the 
possession of the fourth and fifth generations 
of his descendants. He was in Shirley when 
the town was organized in 1753, and was 
elected on the first board of selectmen of the 
town, and for manv vears afterward, and 



faithfully discharged his official duties when- 
ever called to act in a public capacity. The 
history of Shirley says : "Few families pass 
through four generations like the Hazens of 
Shirley, maintaining such general good char- 
acter and sustaining such unvariable thrift. 
A patient and honest industry and a consistent 
economy are usually at the foundation of such 
success." He died September 20, 1790; his 
wife August I, 1794. Children:- i. Edward, 
born at Rowley, May 26, 1724, died there 
January 10, 1736. 2. Samuel, born at Row- 
ley, January 31, 1726, died there November 
25, 1736. 3. Margaret, born at Rowley, Janu- 
ary 23, 1729, died there December 24, 
1736. 4. Sarah, born at Rowley, April 9, 
1 73 1, died there December 20, 1736. 5, Ben- 
jamin, born at Rowley, April 22, 1734, died 
there January 6, 1736. 6. Edward, born at 
Groton, May 2, 1738, married Sarah Willard, 
of Lancaster; (second) Mrs. (Dodge) Bath- 
rick, of Lunenburg; settled in Swanzey, New 
Hampshire, and in 1794 at Little Falls, New 
York. 7. Eunice, born at Groton, married 
Joseph Farwell, and (second) Nathaniel Wil- 
lard, of Lancaster. 8. Samuel, born May 24, 
1740, mentioned below. 

(IV') Captain Samuel Hazen, son of Sam- 
uel Hazen (3), was born at Groton, May 24, 
1740, married Elizabeth Little, of Lunenburg, 
who died at Shirley, September 11, 1814. He 
died at Shirley, May 16, 1815. He was a 
soldier in the Revolution from Shirley, a pri- 
vate in Captain Henry Haskell's company. 
Colonel Prescott's regiment, on the Lexington 
.\larm, April 19, 1775 ; also captain of the 
Seventh Shirley Company, Sixth Massachu- 
setts militia, commissioned April 24, 1776. 
Children, born in Shirley: i. Sarah, born 
October 25, 176 — , married Asa Longley. 2. 
Jane, born October 10, 1767, married Heze- 
kiah Patterson. 3. Elizabeth, born April 8, 
1770, married Matthew Clark, October 24, 
1788. 4. Samuel, born September 16, 1772, 
married Love Parker, April 7, 1796. 5. En- 
sign Thomas, born March 11, 1775, mentioned 
below. 6. Margaret, born January 8, 1777, 
died young. 7. Peggy Little, married Josiah 
Bailey. 8. Lucy, born February 28. 1783, 
married Jonathan Burton, of Wilton, New 
Hampshire. 

(V) Ensign Thomas Hazen, son of Cap- 
tain Samuel Hazen (4), was born in Shirley 
March II, 1775. Married (first) (published 
April 29), 1798, Anna Crocker, of Harvard, 
who died December 2, 1843; (second), No- 
vember 2, 1856, Sally Hartwell, daughter of 
Dr. Benjamin Hartwell, of Shirley. His com- 




\ 





'yOiy\t^^. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



205 



mission as ensign in the militia was dated 
August 24, 1801. He inherited a portion of 
the homestead and built liie house now stand- 
ing making the nails at his own forge for the 
house. He died November 2, 1856. Children, 
all by his first wife: 1. Anna H., born June 8, 
1800, married, November 17, 1840, Dr. Nath- 
aniel Kingsbury, of Temple, New Hampshire. 
2. Thomas Little, born January 22, 1802, men- 
tioned below. 3. Joseph, born December 15, 
1804, married Ann Longley, daughter of 
Stephen Longley, of Shirley. 4. William, 
born June 4, 1807, died .Vugust 3, 1807. 5. 
Samuel, born September 8, i8o8, died April 
8, 1810. 6. Luther, born February 7, 1812, 
died at Shirley, January 18, 1845, unmarried. 

(VI) Thomas Little Hazen, son of En- 
sign Thomas Hazen (5), was born at Shirley, 
January 22, 1802, married. May 12, 1842, 
Mary Pollard, of Croton. He died Septem- 
ber 18, 1847. He was educated in the district 
schools of Shirley, and at an early age began 
to work on his father's farm, where he lived 
until he married and began farming on his 
own account, but died five years afterward. 
Children: i. Thomas Little, Jr., born Feb- 
ruary 18, 1843, mentioned below. 2. Samuel, 
born at Shirley, May 18, 1844, inherited the 
homestead of father, married November 2, 
1875, Julia .\. Lawrence, a native of \ermont ; 
child, Mary Elizabeth, born September 27, 
1876; all are deceased. 3. Jacob Pollard, 
born November 19, 1845, married, November 
14, 1875, Kate Eliza Bancroft, born at Shir- 
ley, daughter of Hon. E. D. Bancroft, of Ayer, 
Massachusetts. Mary (Pollard) Hazen mar- 
ried (second), after her children were all mar- 
ried and settled in life, Benjamin Hastings, 
of Sterling, Massachusetts. 

(\TI) Thomas Little Hazen, son of 
Thomas Little Hazen (6), was born in .Shir- 
ley, Massachusetts, February 18, 1843. His 
father died when he was a young child, and 
he went to live with his uncle at the age of 
eleven, residing there and working on his 
uncle's farm until he married. This uncle, 
Samuel Hazen, fourth, cousin of his father, 
married Betsey D. Pollard, a sister of his 
mother, thus becoming an uncle by marriage. 
Samuel Hazen, fourth, owned the farm op- 
posite the old homestead of Thomas Little 
Hazen, Sr., which was inherited by his son, 
Samuel Hazen. .As Samuel Hazen, fourth, 
had no children, he bequeathed a large part 
of his estate to his nephew, Thomas Little 
Hazen. Jr., who was executor of the will : he 
was a very prosperous farmer, active in town 
aflFairs and one of the foutiders of the water- 



works of the town ; built a saw mill and 
shingle mill in 1829 at Lake Village, and es- 
tablished a thriving business there: in 1868 
this plant was converted into a paper mill and 
Thomas L. Hazen, Jr., was placed in charge 
of it, continuing until it was sold about 1890. 
A short time before the death of his uncle, 
Thomas L. Hazen built the house that he now 
occupies in the village of Shirley on part of 
his uncle's farm. The Hazen Memorial 
Library was founded by the widow of Samuel 
Hazen, fourth, who had accumulated a large 
estate for his day. When she died in Alarch,. 
1891, she left the sum of three thousand dol- 
lars toward a building fund for the public 
library, which had been established several 
years, but lacked suitable quarters ; to her be- 
quest the town added two thousand dollars ; 
the site was contributed by Thomas L. Hazen 
and the building erected. The library has 
been handsomely furnished by various donors, 
one man giving the heating apparatus, another 
the chandeliers, a third the clock and others 
various articles of furniture and furnishings ; 
the library has now some three thousand vol- 
umes. Mrs. Thomas L. Hazen was one of the 
trustees of the library, being succeeded by her 
daughter, Mabel Hazen. In addition to the 
gift for the library fund, Mr. Hazen 's aunt 
left to the Unitarian church of .Shirley five 
hundred dollars. Her husband had be- 
queathed a like amount at his death and had 
previously given generously to the church for 
various purposes. 

Thomas L. Hazen conducts his farm of one 
hundred and forty acres and has one of the 
finest dairies of that section. He is the only 
dealer in anthracite coal in Shirley, supplying 
all the demands of the town and vicinity, 
doing business under the firm name of Hazen 
& Nickles. He is a director of the Ayer Na- 
tional Bank and a trustee of the Ayer Savings 
Bank. In politics Mr. Hazen was an old-line 
Democrat until late years, when he has voted 
the Republican national ticket, but whenever 
he has been candidate for public office has 
been complimented by the votes of his neigh- 
bors and townsmen of l)Oth parties. He was 
appointed postmaster by President Cleveland, 
was re-appointed in Cleveland's second admin- 
istration, and served in that office for a period 
of nine years. He has served his party many 
years as delegate to various conventions. He 
has been on the board of selectmen of Shirley, 
and on the board of assessors. He was 
brought up in the Unitarian faith and is a 
generous contributor to the Unitarian church 
of Shirley, and is at present the only living 



2o6 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



trustee of that church. He is a Hberal con- 
tributor also to the UniversaHst church, and is 
a member of the parish committee of both 
Unitarian and Universahst churches. Mr. 
Hazen is in many ways the foremost citizen 
of the town, upright in character, able and 
successful in business, generous with his 
wealth and in all respects a useful and worthy 
citizen, fie is a fine representative of a family 
that has taken a leading place in the town ever 
since it was incorporated. 

He married (first), November 17, 1867, 
Julia Maria Page, born July 27, 1842, and 
died September, 1883. He married (second) 
Mary Joanna Carter, bom at Leominster, 
Massachusetts, daughter of Samuel and Sarah 
(Whiting) Carter. He married (third), Sep- 
tember 26, 1906, Mary Amsden VVinslow, 
born at Westfield, Vermont. Children of 
Thomas Little and Julia Maria Hazen: i. 
Mabel Gibson, graduate of Smith College, 
class of 1896, now teaching at Lee, Massa- 
chusetts, in the public schools. Two children 
died in infancy. Children of Thomas Little 
and Mary J. Hazen : 4. Samuel Carter, died 
at the age of twenty-two months. 5. Barbara 
Betsey, born September, 1887, student in Vas- 
sar College, class of 1909. 6. Edna, born 
1888, died young. 



Abraham Morrill, the immi- 
MORRILL grant ancestor, came to Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts , from 
England, before 1636, when he appears on the 
list of proprietors of the town. He was a 
member of the Boston Artillery Company in 
1638. He was in Cambridge in 1632 and 
probably came from England on the ship 
"Lion" with his brother, Isaac Morrill, ar- 
riving in September, 1632. Isaac settled in 
Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1641 Abraham 
was fined for selling his time to his servant, 
one of the peculiar oiifenses under the Puritan 
code. He removed to Salisbury, Massachu- 
setts ; was propiretor there in 1640 and had 
land in Haverhill in 1649. He was a black- 
smith and iron founder by trade and also a 
planter. He had grants of land in the first 
divisions in 1640-44-54; was a commoner and 
was ta.xed in 1650 ; signed a petition in 1658 
at Salisbury. He married, June 10, 1645. 
Sarah Clement. He fell sick while on a visit 
to Roxbury and died there June 20, 1662. His 
will was dated June 18 and proved October 
14, 1662. The widow conveyed November i, 
1665, to Thomas Bradbury, and her brother. 
Job Clement, certain property in trust for her 



daughter Hepzibah, who was born after her 
father's death. The widow married (second), 
October 8, 1665, Thomas Mudgett. Children 
of Abraham and Sarah Morrill: i. Isaac, 
born July 10, 1646, mentioned below. 2. 
Jacob, born August 24, 1648, married, July 
15, 1674, Susanna Whittier. 3. Sarah, born 
October 14, 1650, married (first), January 5, 
1670, Philip Rowell; (second), July 31, 1695, 
Onesiphorus Page; (third). May 29, 1708, 
Daniel Merrill. 4. Abraham, born November 
14, 1652, married Sarah Bradbury. 5. Moses, 
born December 28, 1655, married Rebecca 
Barnes. 6. Aaron, born August 9, 1658, died 
January 31, 1659. 7. Richard, born Feb- 
ruary 6, 1659-60, died Februavv 17, 1659-60. 
8. Lydia, born March 8, 1660-61, married 
Ephraim Severance. 9. Hepzibah, born Janu- 
ary, 1662-63 (posthumous), married Captain 
John Dibbs. 

(II) Sergeant Isaac Morrill, son of Abra- 
ham Morrill, was born in 1646. William Os- 
good was his guardian in 1666. He was se- 
lectman in 1693-94; town treasurer and deputy 
to the general court in 1696-97, and later. He 
was also a blacksmith, and he and his father 
made weapons and armor as well as tools and 
implements for the settlers. He and his wife 
were members of the Salisbury church in 
1687, and both signed the Bradbury petition 
in 1692. His name is on the petition of 1680 
also. He was in the Garrison fighting Indians 
in 1702. He died October 17, 1713. His will 
was dated January 12, 1713, and proved No- 
vember 26 following. He married, November 
14, 1670, Phebe Gill, who died May 6, 1714. 
Morrill left a large property, including armor, 
books, ets, Children: i. Abraham, born Aug- 
ust 22, 1 67 1, married Elizabeth Sargent. 2. 
Isaac, born July 24, 1673, mentioned below. 
3. Sarah, born May 27, 1675. 4. Jacob, born 
May 25, 1677, married Elizabeth Stevens and 
Elizabeth Dalton. 5. John, born November 
2, 1679, married Mary Stevens. 6. Rachel, 
born February 18, 1681-82, died February 29, 
1681-82. 7. Daniel, born February 18, 1682- 
83, married Hannah Stevens. 8. Jemima, 
born October 9, 1685. 9. Mary, born Sep- 
tember 10, 1689. 10. Rachel, born August 
24, 1692, married John Shepard. 

(III) Deacon Isaac Morrill, son of Isaac 
Morrill (2), was born at Salisbury, Massachu- 
setts, July 24, 1673. He settled in his native 
town and was a distinguished citizen ; repre- 
sentative to the general court eight years, 
from 1713 to 1737. He was a constituent 
member of the Second Church of Salisbury, 
November, 1718, and his wife was received 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



207 



the same yeai;. He was a soldier against the 
Indians at Wells in 1696 and 1702. He died 
June 22, 1737. His will was dated June 18, 
and proved July 18, 1737. He married, May 
30, 1696, Abigail Brown. Children; i. Ben- 
jamin, born January 27, 1697, mentioned be- 
low. 2. Abigail, born July 20, 1701, married 
Sarah Odiorne ; minister at Rye and Forts- 
mouth, New Hampshire. 3. Joseph, born 
November 15, 1703, married Tabitha Stevens. 
4. Paul, born May 5, 1706. 5. Micajah, born 
July 21, 1708, married, January 17, 1733-34, 
Mary Greeley. 6. Tamsen, bom October 16, 
1712, married John Jaques. 7. Phebe, bap- 
tized .Vugust 7. 1715. married, February 17, 
1736, William Whittier, of Kingston. New 
Hampshire. 8. Rev. Isaac, born .May 20, 
1718, graduate of Harvard. 1737; married, 
174 1, Mary .\yer. of Haverhill. 

(I\") Benjamin Morrill, son of Isaac Mor- 
rill (3), was born in Salisbury. January 27, 
1697. Married, January 21, 1719-20, Ruth 
Allen. They were received in the church 
March 7, 1741-42. Children, born at Salis- 
bury: I. Margaret, died November 27, 1770. 
2. Nathaniel, born March 24, 1721-22, mar- 
ried Elizabeth French. 3. ^largaret, born 
January 19, 1723-24. 4. Abigail, born Sep- 
tember 26, 1725. 5. Ruth, born .Vugust 27, 
1727, married Jabez Tucker. 6. Micajali, 
born February 29, 1730, married Hannah 
Hackett. 7. Son, born and died .-Vpril 23, 
1732. 8. Benjamin, born September 23, iJ^G. 
9. Isaac, born J 738, mentioned below. 10. 
.Abigail, born December 11, 1740, married 
Ezekiel Morrill. 11. Stilson, baptized Decem- 
ber 16, 1744. 12. Dorothy, born May 15, 
1746. 

(V) Isaac Morrill, .son of Benjamin Morrill 
(4), was born in Salisbury, Massachusetts, 
baptized there July 9, 1738, died .\ugust 16, 
1815, aged seventy-eight years. He married, 
February 10, 1750, Hannah Merrill. He was 
a soldier in the Revolution, a private in Cap- 
tain Benjamin Sias's company, Colonel 
Thomas Stickney's regiment, raised to rein- 
force the garrison at Ticonderoga in 1777 and 
fought in Stark's Brigade, .\gain he went 
with his company to Rhode Island in 1778, 
under Colonel Moses Nichols. He resided in 
Salisbury. Massachusetts, and in dilmanton 
and Loudon, New Hampshire. He and wife 
Hannah were received into the Second Church 
of Salisbury, April 5, 1761 ; were constituent 
mcml)crs of the .Amesbury Church ; became 
Bajnists in 1781. Children, born at Salisbury: 
Joshua, born November 29, 1760. 2. Hannah, 
born January 11, 1762. 3. Betty, born May 



26, 1764, died young. 4. Hetty, born May 16, 
1765. 5. Benjamin, torn .\pril 20, 1767, men- 
tioned below. 6. Dolly, lx)rn July 18, 1769, 
baptized October 14, 1770. 7. Isaac, born 
December 10, 1771. 8. Rhoda Wait, born 
April. 1773. 

(\T) Benjamin .Morrill, son of Isaac Moirill 
(5), was born at Salisbury, .April 20, 1767. 
Marrieil. Jiuie 10, 1795, Lydia Gilman, daugh- 
ter of Jonathan Gilnian. She was born Sep- 
tember 7, 1771. Children: I. .Micajah. 2. 
Mary, married John Munroe, Es<|. 3. Eunice. 
4. Dr. Edward Oilman. Ijorn July u, 1809, 
studied medicine under Dr. Dixi Crosby, Dart- 
mouth, 1833 and 1834, resided at Ix)well and 
CilmaiUon : died July 31. 1844, at Cahaba, 
Dallas county, Alabama. 5. Francis C, born 
February 2, 1810, mentioned below. 

(\TI) Francis C. Morrill, son of Benjamin 
Morrill (6), was bom at Giliuanton, New 
Hampshire, February 2, 1810. He settled 
when a young man in Stanstead, Canada, and 
his children were born there. He married, in 
1828, Keziah Bickford, who was born Octo- 
ber II, 1811, and died February 20, 1872; he 
died August 6, 1876. Their children: i. 
Priscilla, born December i, 1826. 2. Kezia, 
born March 28, 183 1. 3. John Oilman, born 
January 6. 1832. mentioned below. 4. Isa- 
bella, born November 3, 1834. 5. Daniel B., 
born .Xugust 6. 1835. 6. Elizabeth J., born 
December 28. 1837. 7. Francis, born De- 
cember 28, 1837. died .August 6, 1876, 8. 
Thomas B., born September 3, 1840, died 1905. 
o. Joseph H., Ixjrn September 11, 1842, died 
July 6, 1847. 10. Lydia \.. born April 19. 
1844. II. Mary A., born January 8. 1846. 12. 
Clara E., born May 18. 1851. 13. Joseph H., 
bom July 12, 1853. 14. Jessie M.. born Feb- 
ruary 12, 1856. 

(\"III) John Oilman Morrill, son of Fran- 
cis C. Morrill (7), was born in Stanstead, 
Canada, January 6, 1832. He was educated in 
the schools of his native town. At the age of 
twenty-three he left home and entered the em- 
ploy of the Boston Ice Company, remaining 
with that concern several years, and afterward 
working for various ice companies. In 1871 
he entered business on his own account in 
Wakefield, Massachusetts, taking his .son into 
partnership, and making a notable success 
from the outset. He had gained a coiriplete 
knowledge of the business and knew how to 
conduct it profitably. He was known as a 
man of sterling honesty and integrity and had 
the full confidence of his customers. In 1895 
he formed a corporation in association with F. 
A. .Atwood, under the title of Morrill-.Xtwood 



208 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Ice Company. Business increased rapidly, and 
in 1902 the company had to enlarge their fa- 
cilities and at the present time it controls one 
of the largest plants in eastern Massachusetts. 
He was the active head of the concern to the 
time of his death, April 25, 1904. 

Mr. Morrill was a RepubHcan in politics ; 
was overseer of the poor in Wakefield ; road 
commissioner and always active in town af- 
fairs and working for its prosperity and de- 
velopment. He was active and prominent in 
the Masonic order and also in the Order of 
Odd Fellows. He was a member of Golden 
Rule Lodge of Masons, was past commander 
of Wakefield Lodge, Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows. He was most interested, how- 
ever, in the Wakefield Methodist Church, of 
which he was a trustee, and member of the 
finance committee. During the early strug- 
gles of this church he was one of the main- 
stays, not only through his financial support 
but in assisting the growth of the church in 
membership and in every other way possible. 
Mainly through his constant and self-sacrific- 
ing labors the church debt was paid, affording 
him one of the greatest pleasures of his life. 
He was of pleasing personality, generous in 
charity, a model citizen, enjoying the respect 
and confidence of all his townsmen. 

He married (first) Nancy M. Blake, May 3, 
1854; (second), April 20, 1893, Alice Taylor, 
who was born in Greenwood, Massachusetts, 
August II, 1862, daughter of William and 
Roxanna (Cross) Taylor. Children of John 
Gilman and Nancy M. Morrill: i. Lily, born 
December 4, 1854, married October 6, 1880, 
Lewis L. Phinney ; children; i. Grace M. 
Phinney, born October 6, 1881 ; ii. L. L. Phin- 
ney ; iii. Lottie M. (twin), born z\pril 14, 
1889; iv. John L. Phinney (twin), born 
April 14, 1889; V. Blanche Phinney; vi. Her- 
mon Phinney. 2. Lea S., born March 23, 
1861, deceased; married, April 20, 1893, .Mice 
Taylor ; children : Qyde Gilman, born July 
14, 1889; ii. Alice Lea, born October 15, 
1891. 



Rev. Thomas Jenner, the immi- 
JENNER grant ancestor, was born in 

England. He came to Rox- 
bury, Massachusetts, 1634-33, and was ad- 
mitted a freeman in Massachusetts Bay, De- 
cember 8, 1636. He removed to Weymouth 
where he and his son, Thomas Jenner, Jr., 
were proprietors in 1636: was called to be 
pastor of the Weymouth church, and he and 
his people had a misunderstanding which was 



settled by a gathering of elders, January 9, 
1637-38. He was admitted a freeman of the 
Plymouth colony, September 6, 1639. In 1640 
he was at Saco, Maine. His son Thomas, then 
of Charlestown, sold house and lands at Wey- 
mouth, which had been his father's, December 
28, 1649, ^id Mrs. Jenner consented to the 
deed. Mr. Jenner returned to England and 
sat down at Cottishall, Norfolk county, and 
resigned his rectorship in 1657. Their only 
child known to have remained in America was 
Thomas, Jr., mentioned below. 

(II) Thomas Jenner, son of Rev. Thomas 
Jenner (i), was born in England. He mar- 
ried Esther , who was admitted to the 

Charlestown church, July 9, 1648. Sewall 

says he married (second) Winsley. 

He owned land in Qiarlestown in 1658. The 
records show but one child, Thomas, mention- 
ed below. 

(III) Thomas Jenner, son of Thomas Jen- 
ner (2), was born probably in England 1630- 
35. He was a seafaring man, steward of the 
ship ■'Providence," Captain R. Story, October 
13, 1656, sea captain. He was admitted to the 
Charlestown Church, March 13, 1680-81. He 
married, May 22, 1655, Rebecca Trerice, 
daughter of Nicholas and Rebecca Trerice, 
master of the ship "Planter," of Charlestown. 
She was admitted to the church April 29, 1660, 
and died September 23, 1722, aged eighty-six 
years, seven months (see gravestone). He 
sailed for London, November 2, 1685, and died 
in England. The news of his death came De- 
cember 12, 1686. Children: i. Rebecca, born 
February 7, 1655-56, married Samuel Lynde. 
2. Thomas, born September 20, 1658. 3. 
David, born October 20, 1663, mentioned be- 
low. 4. Sarah, born July 17, 1667, died Aug- 
ust 24, 1667. 5. Samuel, born March 18, 
1669-70. 6. Eleanor (twin), born February 
II, 1670-71. 7. Elizabeth (twin), born Feb- 
ruary II, 1670-71. 8. Eleazer, born .\pril 15, 
1674, married William Wyer. 

(IV) David Jenner, son of Thomas Jenner 
(3), was born in Charlestown. October 20, 
1663. He was admitted to the Second Church 
of Boston, January 17, 1685-86. He married, 
June 14, 1688, Mabel Russell, who was born 
January 21, 1669, admitted to the church De- 
cember II, 1715. He died August 24, 1709, in 
his forty-sixth year (see gravestone). She 
was the daughter of Hon. James Russell, of 
Charlestown, judge, councillor, treasurer, a 
man of great eminence. Her mother was 
Mabel Haynes. Her grandfather, Hon. Rich- 
ard Russell, of Charlestown, was the son of 
Paul Russell, of Herefordshire, England, born 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



2og 



there in 1611 ; came to Massachusetts in 1640, 
was merchant, councillor, deputy to the gen- 
eral court, speaker of the house of deputies, 
treasurer's assistant; married (first) Maud 
Pitt, who died in 1652, the daughter of Will- 
iam Pitt, sheriff of Bristol, England. The 
Russell family in England has had many dis- 
tinguished lines for centuries. Children of 
David and Mabel (Russell) Jenncr; 1. Mabel, 
born October 31, 1690, died November 14, 
1702. 2. Rebecca, born January 2, i6yi, died 
November 8, 1702. 3. Thomas, born Decem- 
ber 21, 1693, mentioned below. 4. Elizabeth, 
baptized at Second Church, August 2, 1696, 
married Ezekiel Cheever, son of the famous 
schoolmaster. 5. David, born July 4, 1699. 
6. Abigail, born September 19, 1700, married 
Edward Wyer. 

(.V) Thomas Jenner, son of David Jenner 
(4), was born in Charlestown, December 21, 
1693. He was a magistrate, justice of the 
peace many years, town clerk, merchant, cap- 
tain of the Charlestown militia, admitted to 
the church there February 5, 1720-21. He fig- 
ured in scores of real estate transactions, deeds 
and mortgages. His home was on Meeting 
House Hill. His will was made !March 25, 
1760, and proved July 8, 1765. He married, 
July 3, 1718, Joanna Everton, who was ad- 
mitted to the church February 15, 1729-30, 
and died June 23, 17O5, aged seventy-two. 
Children: i. Joanna, born July 11, 1721, died 
February 15, 1722. 2. Joanna, born June 3, 
1723, died .April 19, 1731. 3. Mabel, born 
January 23, 1724-25, married Samuel Bird. 
4. Thomas, born June 5, 1727, died July 6, 
1727. 5. Thomas, born August i, 1728. died 
December 18, following. 6. Henry Phillips, 
born October 12, 1729. 7. David, born Octo- 
ber 20, 1732. 8. Joanna, baptized January, 
1733-34. 9. Samuel, born November 3, 1735. 
10. Rebecca, baptized April 2, 1738. 11. 
Elizabeth, baptized April 13, 1740. 12. Abi- 
gail, baptized February 10, 1744-45, married 
David Goodwin (sec Goodwin sketch). 



(I) Christopher Goodwin, 
GOODWIN the iinmigrant ancestor, set- 
tled in Charlestown, Massa- 
chusetts, where his wife Mary was admitted to 
the church, .August g, 1(^56. He was a mason 
by trade. He died there, according to his 
gravestone, January 22. 1682, aged sixty-five 
years. Children: i. Nathaniel. 2. Christo- 
pher, aged thirty-five in iC^S>2. 3. John. 4. 
]\Iary, married, 1672, William Brown. 5. 
Elizabeth, born March 13, 1659. 6. Timothy, 
baptized June 8, 1662. 

i-U 



(HI) John Goodwin, grandson of Christo- 
pher Goodwin (i), was born about 1680 in 
Charlestown. He resided at Boston, Cam- 
bridge, Maiden and Charlestown. He was a 
housewright by trade. He had a large estate. 

He married (first) ; (second) Lydia' 

Sprague, November 25, 1714; (third), Sep- 
tember 3, 175 1, Margaret Gibbs, who (lied in 
1759, probably a Prentiss of Cambridge. Chil- 
dren: 1. lulward. 2. John, mentioned below. 
3. Samuel, born March 16, 1716-17. 

(IV) John Goodwin, son of John Goodwin 
(3), was born alxjut 1710 in Charlestown. 
He was also housewright. He married, April 

8, 1736, Ann Davison, who died June 14, 1752, 
aged according to her gravestone thirty-seven 
years. He married (published March i, 
1733) Anna Cox. Children, born at Charles- 
town: I. John, born November 22, 1736, died 
young. 2. Ann, born 1738. 3. Samuel, bap- 
tized December 3(5, 1739. 4. Sarah, baptized 
February 21, 1742. 5. David, born October 
19, 1744, mentioned below. 6. Jonathan, born 
May, 1747. 7. Hannah, baptized May 27, 
1750. 8. W'illiam, baptized October i, 1755. 

9. Elizabeth, baptized November 27. 1757. 10. 
Rebecca, born 1760. 11. Mary baptized .Vug- 
ust 9, 1761. 12. .Abigail, b.-iptized January 
16, 1763. 

(\') Captain David Goodwin, son of John 
Goodwin (4), was born in Charlestown. Octo- 
ber iQ, 1744. He was also a housewright by 
trade. He was a soldier in the Revolution, 
captain of the Charlestown company. He was 
deacon of the Baptist church of that town. He 
married (first), November i, 1764, Abigail 
Jenner, who was baptized July 13, 1746, and 
died May 26, 181 1, aged sixty-seven, accord- 
ing to her gravestone. Captain Goodwin mar- 
ried (second), October 24, 181 1, Catherine 
Rayner, who died April, 1834, aged eighty- 
four. Children, born at Charlestown by the 
first wife: I. Child, buried January 5, 1765. 
2. David, Jr., born .\ugust 10, 1766, mention- 
ed ])elow. 3. Abigail, born September 19, 
1768. 4. John, tx)rn .August 27. 1771. 5. 
Edward, born March 27, 1778. 6. Sally Davis, 
born October 6, 1780. 7. Thomas Jenner, 
horn September 14, 1783. 

(VI) David Goodwin, son of Captain David 
Goodwin (5), was born in Charlestown, Aug- 
ust 10, 1766. Late m the war he served in 
the Revolution in his father's company. He 
was also a hou.sewright. He married, April 
28, 1791, Mary Reed, who died June 3, 1840, 
aged seventy-six years. Children : i. Mary, 
lx)rn March 3, 1792. 2. Mary, born July 31. 
1793. 3. David, born February 2T. 1705. 4- 



2IO 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Thomas Russell, born October 28, 1797. 5. 
Henry Phillips, born November 14, 1799. 6. 
Ann Davidson, born December 31, 1801. 7. 
Margaret Jane, born September i, 1804. 8. 
Abigail Jenner, born September 12, 1807, mar- 
ried General Joseph Boyd (see Rice sketch). 
(Abigail Jenner Boyd, their daughter, mar- 
ried, December 30, 1858, George D. Rice.) 



Edmund Rice, the immigrant an- 
RICE cestor, was born in Barkhamstead, 
Hertfordshire, England, about 1594. 
He probably came to Massachusetts early in 
1638 ; he was proprietor and selectman of 
Sudbury in 1639. The village plot of Sud- 
bury, now Wayland, was laid out in 1639, and 
Rice was one of the first to build his house. 
His house lot was on Old North street, near 
Millbrook. He received his share in the 
meadow lands in the division, September 4, 
1639, April 20 and November 18, 1640. He 
shared also in the division of all the uplands, 
and had altogether two hundred and forty- 
seven acres in grants. He had eleven acres in 
the south part of the town between Timber 
Neck and Mr. Glover's farm. This lay near 
the spring and he sold part of it to Thomas 
Axtell and part also to Philemon Whale. He 
leased the Dunster farm on the east shore of 
Lake Cochituate in 1642 for six years. Later 
he bought the Philemon Whale house and 
nine acres of land forming the nucleus of the 
Rice homestead, where the family has held 
reunions in recent years, near the famous 
spring. Rice leased the Glover farm in Fram- 
ingham, September 26, 1647, for ten years, 
and April 8, 1657, bought the Jennison farm 
of two hundred acres in Sudbury, extending 
from the Dunster farm to the Weston line, 
and on some of this tract his descendants have 
lived ever since. He and his son bought the 
Dunster farm, June 24, 1659. Besides these 
grants and purchases the general court gave 
him fifty acres at Rice's End in 1652, and 
eighty acres near Beaver Dam in 1659 in 
Framingham. 

He was very prominent in public affairs. 
He served on the committee to apportion the 
Sudbury river meadows, September 4, 1639 ; 
was admitted freeman May 13, 1642; deputy 
to the general court in 1643 ^i^d 1654 ; deacon 
of the church in 1648: selectman in 1639 and 
1644; and various other positions of trust and 
honor. He was one of the fifty-six petitioners 
from Sudbury for the grant of what became 
the town of Marlborough, Massachusetts ; re- 
ceived a house lot and other lands there and 



removed thither in 1660. He deposed April 
3, 1656, that his age was about sixty-two 
years. He died May 3, 1663, aged, according 
to the record, sixty-nine years. A petition for 
the division of his estate was signed June 16, 
1663, by his widow Mercy, eight elder and 
two younger children. He married (first) in 

England, Taniasin , who died at SuO- 

bury, June 13, 1654. He married (second) 
Mercy (Heard) Brigham, widow of Thomas 
Brigham. Children: i. Henry, married 
Elizabeth Moore. 2. Edward, born 1618, 
mentioned below. 3. Thomas, born about 
1620. 4. Mathew, married Martha Lamson. 
5. Samuel, married Elizabeth King. 6. Jos- 
eph, married Mercy King. 7. Lydia, married 
Hugh Drury. 8. Edmund. 9. Benjamin, 
born May 31, 1640. 10. Ruth, born Septem- 
ber 29, 1659. II- Ann, born November 19, 
1661. 12. Daniel. 

(H) Edward Rice, son of Edmund Rice 
(i), was born in England in 1618, and died 
August 15, 1712, aged about ninety-three. 
He married (first) Agnes Bent. He married 
(second) Anna , who died at Marlbor- 
ough, June 4, 1713, aged eighty-three years. 
He resided first in Sudbury, removing thence 
to Marlborough in 1664. He was deacon of 
thechurch at Marlborough. He made a depo- 
sition October 2, 1666, in which his age is 
given as forty-seven years. He and his wife 
Anne deeded half the homestead which he had 
of his father to their son, Edmund Rice, April 
16, 1706. His brother John had the other half 
of the homestead near the spring. Children : 
I. John, born about 1647, married Tabitha 
Stone. 2. Lydia, born and died July 30, 1648. 
3. Lydia, bom December 10, 1649. 4. Ed- 
mund, born December 9, 1653, mentioned be- 
low. 5. Daniel, born November 8, 1655, mar- 
ried Bethia Ward. 6. Caleb, born February 
8, 1657, died April 27, 1658. 7. Jacob, born 

i66o, married Mary' . 8. Anna, born 

November 19, 1661, married Thomas Rice. 9. 
Dorcas, born January 29, 1664, married 
Thomas Forbush. 10. Benjamin, born De- 
cember 22, 1666. II. Abigail, born May 9, 
1671, married Samuel Forbush. 

(HI) Deacon Edmund Rice, son of Ed- 
ward Rice (2), was born in Sudbury, Decem- 
ber 9, 1653, and died September 25, 1719. He 

married Joyce , who was born March 

31, 1660, daughter of William and Martha 
Russell, of Cambridge, October 12, 1686. Ed- 
mund Rice was the administrator of the estate 
of his mother-in-law, Martha Russell. He re- 
sided in the southeast part of the town nf Sud- 
bury, now Wayland, near the spring where his 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



211 



grandfather first settled. He was deacon of 
the Sudbury church and deputy to the general 
court in 1707. He and his wife conveyed half 
his house and half his bam and two-thirds of 
the meadow land, orchard and pastures, No- 
vember 14, 1718, to their son, Jason Rice. His 
inventory was taken November 19, 17 19. 
Children: i. Joyce, born August 3, 1681, 
married Samuel Abbot. 2. Edmund, born 
July 9, 1688, died October i, 1712. 3. Lydia, 
born May 24, 1690. 4. Jason, mentioned be- 
low. 5. William, married Martha Rice. 

(I\') Jason Rice, son of Edmund Rice (3). 
was born in Sudbury about 1695- 1700, and 
died there February 19, 1729-30. He mar- 
ried Abigail Clark at Watertown, May 31, 
1722. His widow Abigail married (second), 
December 7, 1741, Nathaniel Haven. He re- 
sided at Sudbury. Children, born at Sudbury : 

1. Abigail, born April 17, 1723, married, June 
14, 1753, Samuel Fiske ; settled at Barre. 2. 
Edmund, born June 10, 1725, mentioned be- 
low 3. Jason, born .\ugust 7, 1728, married 
Susan Haven. 

(V) Edmund Rice, son of Jason Rice (4), 
was born June 10, 1725, married, February 
22, 1749-50, Margaret Smith, of Sudbury. He 
resided at Sudbury, now Wayland, on the Rice 
homestead given him by his father and con- 
veyed by him in turn to his son Edmund, Feb- 
ruary 22, 1796. His widow married Thomas 
Damon, of Wayland, in 1800. and died there 
November 24, 1813, aged eighty-two years. 
Children, born at Sudbury : i. Margaret, born 
December 25, 1750, married Peter Johnson. 

2. .Xbigail, born February 13, 1753, married 
Nathan Drury. 3. Edmund, born December 
28, 1755, mentioned below. 4. Salome, born 
February 2, 1759, married Elisha Drury. 5. 
Lot, born May 11, 1762, married Elizabeth 
Bellows. 6. Mary, torn October 14, 1764. 
married Caleb Hayward. 7. Mark, born 
March 16, 1768, removed to Burlington, Ver- 
mont. 8. Jemima, born May 26, 1770, mar- 
ried Nehemiah Miller. 

(VT) Edmund Rice, son of Edmund Rice 
(5), was born December 28, 1755, at .Sudbury. 
He married, .September 30, 1784, .Abigail Cut- 
ting, of Rutland. She died at Wayland, Feb- 
ruary I, 1813, in her fifty-third year. He mar- 
ried (second) Betsey Train, widow of Arthur 
Train, (published November 22) 1815. He 
died at Wayland on the home of his ancestors 
May 14, 184T, in his eighty-sixth year. He 
was a .soldier in the Revolution in Captain 
Nathaniel Cudworth's company. Colonel .\h\- 
jah Pierce's regiment, on the Lexington alarm. 



April 19, 1775. For eight months in 1775 he 
was in Captain Thaddeus Russell's company. 
Colonel Jonathan Brewer's regiment. His 
widow Betsey was born in 1775, daughter of 
Joseph and Elizabeth (Stratton) Seaverns, of 
Weston ; she drew a pension for fourteen years 
after the death of her husband and she died at 
Weston, November 21, 1855, aged eighty-six 
years His will was dated October 9, 1827, 
and proved December 3, 1841 ; bequeathing to 
wife Betsey, sons Edmund and Edward, 
daughters Salome Nixon, Isabel Hancock, 
Abigail Heard, Mary Sibley, Mary Rice, .\1- 
niira Rice and Cynthia Rice. Children: i. 
Edmund, born August 13, 1785, mentioned 
below. 2. Salome, born November 1, 1787, 
married Warren Nixon. 3. Isabel, born Aug- 
ust 12, 1789, married Torrey Hancock. 4. 
Abigail, Ixjrn April 22, 1791, married Richard 
Heard, Jr. 5. Edward, born February 25, 
1793, married Nancy Bond. 6. .\bner, born 
-April 8, 1795, died December 30, 1812. 7. 
Mary, bom August 19, 1797, married .Mark 
C. Sibley. 9. Nancy, born December 14, 1800. 
9. Almira, born December 29, 1802, married 
Elisha Child. 10. Cynthia, born January 12, 
1805. 

(VH) Edmund Rice, son of Edmund Rice 
(6), was born in Wayland, .August 13, 1785. 
Married -Abigail Maynard, who was born 
October 5, 1809, at Sudbury, the daughter of 
Moses and Elizabeth (Haynes) Maynard. 
They removed to Brighton, Massachusetts, 
now part of Boston. He was deacon of the 
church there. Children, born at Wayland or 
Brighton: i. Moses M., born May 12, 181 1, 
mentioned below. 2. Edmund, born Septem- 
ber 25, 1813, married Martha A. Fletcher. 3. 
.Abigail, born June 19, 1816, died September 
8, 1817. 4. Mary N., born March 6, 1818, 
married Rufus H. Bent, born May 13, 1818, 
at Sudbury. 5. -Abigail, born June 26, 1822, 
married James H. W(3odward. 6. Elizabeth, 
born November 12, 1825, died -August 29, 
1826. 7. Elizabeth A., born April 30, 1830, 
died -May 25, 1830. 8. Daniel A., born June 
29, 1 83 1, removed to California. 

(VHI) Moses M. Rice, son of Edmund 
Rice (7), was bom at Brighton, May 12. r8ii, 
and died in 1862. He married, January 31, 
1834, Eliza Damon, who was born January 23, 
1817 and resided at Fitzwilliani, New 
Hampshire. Mr. Rice resided in Brighton 
and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Children: i. 
George D., born February 11, 1835 (records), 
mentioned below. 2. Moses M., born May 31, 
1837, died June 12, 1847. 3. Eliza, born Octo- 



212 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ber 25, 1838. 4. Edmund (twin), born Octo- 
ber 25, 1838. 5. Charles, born November 18, 
1843. 6. Israel I. G., born December 14, 1846. 
(IX) George D. Rice, son of Moses M. 
Rice (8), was born in Brighton, February 11, 
1835, died July 19, 1892. He was educated in 
the public schools and scientific school at Cam- 
bridge. When a young man he engaged in the 
business of general contracting. He and his 
father had the contract to construct the first 
horse railroad that ran out of Boston. He con- 
structed several large municipal water works 
and sewer systems. During the Civil war he 
was a government contractor, supplying stores 
and equipment for the army and doing some 
construction for the government. In politics 
he was a Republican ; in religion a Unitarian. 
His home was at Melrose. He married, De- 
cember 30, 1858, Abigail Jenner Boyd, daugh- 
ter of General Joseph and Abigail Jenner 
(Goodwin) Boyd. Her father was born in 
Salem; her mother in Charlestown. (See 
Goodwin and Jenner sketches.) Her father 
was for twenty-five years a draughtsman in 
the United States navy. Mrs. Rice is living 
at the home in Melrose. Children: i. George 
D., Jr., born January 23, 1861, married, Feb- 
ruary 25, 1883, Elizabeth Fells ; he has no 
children ; is a clergyman ; chaplain at present 
of the Twenty-seventh Regiment, United 
States Infantry; educated at Tufts college. 2. 
Abbie F., born March 14, 1868, married H. 
Dwight Farnsworth, February 5, 1891 ; their 
daughter Hazel, born February 22, 1892; she 
married (second), November, 1906, Charles 
Fames. 3. Maude W., born February 22, 
1872, married, February 22, 1891, A. Leslie 
Danielson : children : i. Alma Paine Daniel- 
son, born June 22, 1892; ii. Abbie M. Daniel- 
son, born October 2, 1895 ; iii. Florence G. 
Danielson, born June 18, 1899; iv. George D. 
R. Danielson, born January 19, 1905. 



The surname Pufifer, Poffer or 
PUFFER Pougher, seems to be of Ger- 
man origin. The American im- 
migrant, George Puffer, settled in Boston as 
early as 1639, unquestionably from England, 
among Englishmen. The only English family 
found after a careful search of available Eng- 
lish records is traced back to one William 
Pougher, or Puffer, who was born about 1690, 
died at Hart's Hill, near Atherstone, county of 
Warwick, England. From the fact that he 
had a grandson George, and that no other 
family of the name is to be found, it is rea- 
sonable to believe that George the immigrant 



was his brother. The family of Puffer was 
located in Hesse, Germany, before 1569, when 
one of the family was ennobled for civic serv- 
ices. General Joseph Puffer, of Austria, a 
Baron, was doubtless of this German family. 
He was born May 11, 1801 ; knight of the 
Order of the Iron Crown, second class. 

(I) George Poffer, of Boston, Massachu- 
setts, had land granted him for five heads at 
Mount Wollaston, later Braintree, Massachu- 
setts. According to one account he died Sep- 
tember 27, 1639, and no record of him as liv- 
ing after that date has been found. He and his 
descendants lived in old Braintree nearly a 
century. The original homestead was located 
about two miles east of the Old Colony rail- 
road station (now the New York, New Haven 
& Hartford) m Quincy, Massachusetts. His 
widow died February 12, 1677, at Braintree. 
Children: i. James, born about 1624, men- 
tioned below. 2. Matthias, married March 12, 
1662, Rachel Farnsworth. 3. Mary, died July 
22, 1700. 

(II) James Puffer, son of George Puft'er 
(i), was born in England, about 1624. He 
came to Braintree in 1639, with his father, and 
when his father died carried on the farm for 
his mother, and succeeded to its ownership. 
He was also a boatman, living at Ship Cove, 
now Quincy Neck. He also owned land in 
what is now Randolph, Massachusetts. He 
died at Braintree, July 25, 1692, aged about 
sixty-eight. He married, February 14, 1656, 
at Braintree, Mary Ludden, born at Wey- 
mouth, Massachusetts, December 17, 1636, 
daughter of James Ludden, who was a corpo- 
ral and town officer in Weymouth. Children, 
born in Braintree : i . Richard, born March 
14, 1657. 2. Martha, born December 28, 1658; 
died unmarried, March 29, 1701. 3. Mary, 
born February 11, 1659-60; married at Boston, 
November 26, 1700, Philip Blackler. 4. 
James, born May 5, 1663. 5. Ruth, born 
January 25, 1667 ; died January 29, 1667. 6. 
Rachel, born January 25, 1667 ; married Janu- 
ary 7, 1695, Eleazer Isgate, of Braintree. 7. 
Jabez. born February 4, 1672, mentioned 
belov.'. 

(III) Jabez Puffer, son of James Puffer 
(2), was born at Braintree, February 4, 1672, 
baptized February 22, 1673-74, ; married at 
Braintree, December 3, 1702, Mary Glazier. 
He owned the covenant in Braintree church. 
May 21, 1704, and his wife joined the church 
same day. He bought land in 1712 at Sud- 
bury, whither he and his brother James re- 
moved. He became a prominent citizen in 
Sudbury; was captain of the militia company 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



213 



when Indian fighting was frequent. He died 
there November 5, 1746; his widow January 
2, 1749-50. Children: i. Martha, born Octo- 
ber 18, 1705; married Phinehas Pratt. 2. 
Jabez, born 1705: mentioned below. 3. Sam- 
uel, born October 12, 1707. 4. Jonathan, born 
November 2, 1709; died November 9, 1709, at 
Braintree. 5. Jonathan, born at Braintree, 
October 22, 171 1 ; died November i, 1782. 6. 
Ephraim, born at Sudbury, July 22, 1716. 7. 
William, born at Sudbury, February 25, 1720. 

(IV) Captain Jabez Puffer, son of Captain 
Jabez Puffer (3), was born at Braintree, in 
1705, removed about 171 5 to Sudbury, with 
his father. He married at Sudbur\', July 24, 
173 1, Thankful Haynes, who was born April 
22, 1708, and died June 24, 1737, daughter of 
Deacon James and Sarah (Noyes) Haynes, 
who were married November 4, 1689. James 
Noyes was born March 17, 1661, died October 
15, 1732, son of John Haynes. born 1621, in 
England. Dorothy Haynes was daughter of 
the immigrant, Walter Haynes. He married 
second, October 18, 1738, Hannah Treadway ; 
third. July 22, 1778, Sarah Perry, widow. He 
was captain of the military company, and 
prominent in town affairs. He joined the Sud- 
bur\ church July 12, 1727. He died June 21, 
1789. Children, all born in Sudbury: i. 
James, born August 11, 1734. 2. Josiah, born 
March 21. 1735-36: mentioned below. 3. 
Thankful, born September, 1739, died young. 
4. Thankful, born October, 1741, probably died 
young. 5. Jacob, born April 10, 1743. 6. 
Daniel, born January 2, 1745-46; married, 
July 5, 1770. Mary Balcom, of Sudbury: died 
March 13, 1829. 6. Rebecca, born February 
21. 1747-48: married April 15, 1766, Stephen 
Gibson, of Stow. 7. Sarah, born November, 
1750. married Ithamar Rice, of Sudbury. 8. 
Rev. Reuben, born January 5. 1756: noted 
clergyman of Berlin, Massachusetts. 

(V) Josiah Puffer, son of Captain Jabez 
Puffer (4). was born at Sudbury, Massachu- 
setts. .March 21. 1735-36: died July 9, 1806. 
He married November 29, 1759, Mary Read, 
daughter of Jacob and Experience Read, great- 
granddaughter of Dr. Philip Read, of Con- 
cord. Massachusetts: Mary died July 19, 1831, 
at Westminster. Massachusetts, at the ad- 
vanced age of ninety years. Josiah Puffer set- 
tled in Westminster about the time of incor- 
poration, 1759. on lot No. 62, in the south part 
of the town, on the farm now or lately owned 
by Cephas W. Bush. In early youth Puffer 
lost a thumb by the explosion of a gun in his 
hands, and vvas disqualified for military serv- 
ice. W^hen he enlisted it is said that he passed 



the examination by wearing gloves, of which 
the thumb of one was filled with wood. He 
was a soldier in the French and Indian war, 
and .was sergeant of the company under Cap- 
tain Noah .Miles, Colonel John Whitcomb's 
regiment, on the Lexington Alarm, April 19, 
1775, and took part in the battle of Bunker 
Hill. He was also in Captain Elisha Jackson's 
company, sent to reinforce the Northern Con- 
tinental army in 1777. ^^ was an active, in- 
fluential citizen, of sound judgment, able and 
upright. He was representative to the general 
court in 1787, 1790 and 1791. He was the 
best educated man in town, except perhaps the 
minister. He retained his health to the day of 
his death. He mowed an acre of heavy grass 
the day before he died, and indeed died in the 
hayfield next day, while making his hay, pitch- 
fork in hand, and was found dead by a neigh- 
bor. Children, torn in Westminster: i. Rev. 
Isaac, born January 24, 1761 ; married Sally 
Merriam ; settled in Louisville, New York ; 
soldier in revolution. 2. Mary (Polly), born 
April 5, 1763; married John Dunn. 3. Jabez, 
born June 14. 1765: removed to Louisville, 
New York. 4. Eunice, born August 7, 1767, 
married Nathan Whitney. 5. Thankful, born 
April 17, 1769. 6. Lucena, born at Sudbury, 
May 27, 1771 : married Asa Merriam. 7. Sam- 
uel Read, bom October 21. 1773: mentioned 
below. 8. Ruth, born November i. 1776. 9. 
Sally, born November 22, 1780. 10. Asahel, 
born December 20, 1781. 11. Betsey, born 
March 19, 1783. 

(VI) Samuel Read Puffer, son of Josiah 
Puffer (5), was born in Westminster, Massa- 
chusetts, October 21, 1773. He dropped the 
use of the name "Read" in 1827. He married 
November 6. 1801, Polly, bom 1783, died 
March 24, 1843, daughter of Nathan and 
Mehitable (Cowee) Wood. He succeeded to 
his father's homestead in South Westminster; 
was a quiet, industrious and upright citizen. 
His wife is said to have been the best educated 
and informed woman in the town. She died 
March 27. 1843, aged sixty. He married sec- 
ond, Elizabeth Brooks, widow of Ezra Brooks, 
November, 1844: she died in 1858: he died 
March 22, 1854, aged eighty. He enlisted for 
the war of 1812, and he and his wife used their 
spoons to cast bullets at the time of an alarm. 
Cliildren of Samuel and Polly Puffer: i. Mer- 
rick, born February 9, 1803 ; married Mary 
Mentz ; son Frank resided in Fitchburg, Mas- 
sachusetts ; now deceased. 2. Mary P., born 
April 19 or 20, 1805: married Samuel }i. 
Evans, of Chelsea : .son Edward was a Con- 
gregational minister : now deceased. 3. El- 



214 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



mira. born September 9-10, 1807; niarried 
Saimiel Alerriam, and had six children. 4. 
Josiah, born January 2, 1810; mentioned be- 
low. 3. Alehitable Cowee, born January i, 
1812: married William P. Bigelow, and re- 
sided in Holden, Massachusetts. 6. Joel W. 
Wood, born December 25-27, 1813; died De- 
cember 22, 1828. 7. Sarah Bigelow, born 
September, 1815; married Newton S. Hub- 
bard ; resided in Brimfield, Massachusetts, and 
had three children, of whom John Hubbard 
resides in Chicago ; she died April, 1889. 8. 
Nancy Wood, born November 17, 1817; mar- 
ried Reuben W. Twitchell ; resided at West- 
minster and Chelsea, Massachusetts. 9. Sam- 
uel Augustus, born October 9, 1820; died Feb- 
ruary 24, 1825. 10. Caroline Abby, born Feb- 
ruary 28, 1822: married Samuel Whitney, and 
had four children, of whom William (3) is a 
Yale graduate. 11. Martha Raymond, born 
1825 : married Amos S. Taylor, and had three 
children ; resided at Boston, 83 Chandler street. 

(\Tr) Josiah Puffer, son of Samuel Read 
Puffer (6), was born in Westminster, Massa- 
chusetts, January 2, 1810; married, Septem- 
ber, 1834. Emeline Page, born in Fitchburg, 
Massachusetts, July 11, 1813, daughter of Joel 
and Thirza ( Wheeler ) Page, of Fitchburg. He 
was a man of much public spirit and promi- 
nence, active in military life and in the temper- 
ance movement. He was a manufacturer of 
chairs in Westminster, then took charge of a 
farm in Bolton, and later bought a farm in 
Harvard, Massachusetts, and conducted it for 
six years. He lived at Ayer for a number of 
years, having a real estate and auctioneer busi- 
ness. While at Harvard he kept a hotel. He 
finally bought another farm at Westminster, 
where he spent the rest of his days. He died 
there January 10, 1881, aged seventy. Chil- 
dren, born at Westminster: i. Merrick Har- 
wood, born July i. 1835; married Melissa E. 
Everett ; resided in Somerville, Alassachusetts, 
where he was a milk dealer, and later kept 
hotel at Westminster ; had five children. 2. 
George (iibson, born October 23, 1838; men- 
tioned below. 3. William Augustin, born July 
20, 1843: married Sarah Barnard; resided in 
Harvard and Ayer, Massachusetts, where he 
was in the employ of the Fitchburg railroad, 
died December 30, 1887, leaving one child. 

(Vni) George Gibson Puffer, son of Jo- 
siah Puffer (7), was born at Westminster, 
October 23, 1838. He was educated in the 
public schools of his native town, and brought 
up on his father's farm. He left home at the 
age of twenty, and until the civil wnr brnlce 
out drove a four-hnrse team for the firm then 



known as the Greenwood Wright Chair Com- 
pany, manufacturers of chairs at Gardner, 
Massachusetts. He enlisted in Company E, 
in the old Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, un- 
der Captain Frank H. Whitcomb, July 8, 1864, 
and was discharged at the expiration of his 
term of enlistment, October 27, 1864. He 
worked for a time on his father's farm, then 
engaged with a milk contractor on a milk car 
form Stow to Boston, then from Littleton to 
Boston until 1868, when he made his home in 
Ayer, Massachusetts. He held various posi- 
tions for five years, then again took charge of 
a milk car running from Pepperell to Boston,, 
continuing for nine years or more. He bought 
a farm in Littleton, but soon sold it again and 
returned to Ayer to live, and engaged in the 
coal business later. He was a clerk in various 
stores in that town for several years. Since 
1889 he has devoted his time to the care of his 
real estate,, in which he has made some very 
fortunate investments in Ayer, and in the 
supervision of real estate for others. In poli- 
tics Mr. Puffer is a Republican, but has never 
held office. He is a member of the Unitarian 
church, and of Geo. S. Boutwell Post, Grand 
Army of the Republic, of Ayer. He is a well- 
known and highly respected citizen of Ayer. 
He married, at Littleton, January i, 1868. 
Ellen Louise (Sprague) Willard, widow, born 
August II, 1835, at Littleton, daughter of 
John and Lydia (Sanderson) Sprague. Her 
father was a Littleton farmer, a native of that 
town. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Puffer 
is Mabel Emaline, born at Ayer, May 23, 
1870: resides at home with her parents. 



Thomas Fames, immigrant an- 
EAMES cestor of one of the oldest fami- 
lies of Framingham, Massachu- 
setts, was born in England about 1618. and 
came to .America as early as 1634. He was a 
soldier in the Pequot war in 1637. In 1640 he 
was an inhabitant and proprietor of Dedham,. 
Massachusetts. He removed to .Medford, where 
he was living from 1652 to 1659, occupying 
the water mill on the Mystic side, Charles- 
town, then Woburn. He then moved to 
Cambridge, where he owned a house and eight 
acres of land east of the Common. He sold 
his property there February 10, 1664, to Nich- 
olas Wyeth, and removed to Sudbury, where 
he leased Mr. Pelham's farm and lived until 
1669. He settled finally in Framingham, 
where he built his house and barn, though he 
attended church at Sherborn and was recorded 
as rn inhabitant there January 4, 1674. Dur- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY; 



215 



iiig King Fliili])"s war, February i. 1O76. his 
wife and several cliildren were killed or taken 
captives. He held the office of selectman, and 
was on various important committees before 
coming to Framingliam. He died suddenly 
January 25, 1680. He married (first) Marga- 
ret , and (second) Mary Paddlefoot, 

widow of Jonathan Paddlefoot, daughter of 
John Blanford, of Sudbury ; she was killed by 
Indians, February, 1676. Children: i. John, 
born May 16, 1641, died September 17, 1641. 
2. John, born October 6, 1642, died December 
14. 1733; married (first) Mary Adams, (sec- 
ond) Flizabeth Eames, May, 1682. 3. Mary, 
born May 24, 1645, married Abraham Coz- 
zens. of Sherborn. Children of Thomas and 
Mary Eames : 4. Elizabeth, married, Decem- 
ber 18, 1673, Thomas Blanford, of Watertown. 
5. Child captured by Indians. 6. Child killed 
by Indians. 7. Thomas, baptized July 12, 
1663, killed by Intlians 1676. 8. Samuel, born 
at Sudbury, January 15, iC)64, taken captive by 
Indians but returned. 9. Margaret, born July 
8, 1666, taken captive and redeemed ; married, 
February 21, 1668, Joseph Adams, of Cam- 
bridge. 10. Nathaniel, lx)rn December 30, 
1668. mentioned below. 11. Sarah, born at 
Framingham, October 3, 1670, killed by the 
Indians. 12. Lydia, born at Framingham. 
June 29. 1672, killed by the Indians. 

(II) Nathaniel Eames, son of Thomas 
Eames (i), was born in Sudbury, Massachu- 
setts, December 30, 1668, and died January i, 
1746. He built in 1693 the eastern part of the 
Jonathan I'^ames house which was preserved 
until 1886. when it was torn down. When a 
child he was captured by the Indians with oth- 
ers of the family, but regained his freedom. 
In 1699 he petitioned the general court to have 
his lands remain a part of Natick, instead of 
Sherborn: July 27, 1710, he was taxed to se- 
cure a stock of ammunition for the colony. He 
was on the school committee in 1717-18, 
church committee in 1726, and selectman 1726- 

2~. He married .\nne , who died 

March 12. 1743. Children: i. Lydia, born 
December 10. i'''94. married. N'ovember 15. 
J716. Benjamin Muzzy, of Lexington. 2. Re- 
becca, born July 25, 1697, married Daniel 
Rigelow. 3. Sarah, born November i. 1701, 
married Nathaniel Coy. 4. Nathaniel, born 
April 18. 1703. mentioned below. 5. .\nne, 
born Jainiary 27, 1706-07. married, April 23, 
1740. .Samuel Knight, of Sudbury. 6. Will- 
iam, married Sarah Perry. 7. Daniel, born 
March 20, 1711-12, married Silence Leland. 

CITI) Nathaniel Eames, son of Nathaniel 
Eames (2), was torn at the old Jonathan 



Eames place on the Framingham-Sherborn- 
Xatick line, .Vpril 18, 1703, and lived there all 
his life. He died March 13, 1796. He was 
corp(_)ral in Captain Isaac Clark's company of 
troopers from August 21 to September 18, 
1725, in the Indian war service, and 
again in 1757 was in the French war 
in Captain Henry Eames' company. He was 
one of the petitioners for a new meeting house 
in 1730. He married, November 27, 1735, 
Rachel Lovell, of Medfield. She died October 
19, 1778, aged sixty-eight years. Children: 
Benjamin, born September 15, 1737, died 
young. 2. Nathaniel, born July 31, 1739, died 
young. 3. William, born F"ebruary 21, 1741, 
died young. 4. .^nn. born August 6, 1744, 
died young. 5. Nathaniel, born September 11, 
1747. mentioned below. 6. Alexander, bom 
October 15, 1748. 7. Benjamin, born March 
16, 1751. 8. Rachel, married Richard (Ileason. 

(I\') Nathaniel Glea.son. son of Nathaniel 
Gleason (3), was born at Framingham, Sep- 
tember II, 1747, died September 8. 1820. He 
^i\ed on the place owned later by his son Jona- 
than and was a prosperous farmer, raising stock 
and following also his trade as butcher. He 
was a soldier in the Revolution, a private in 
Captain Micajah Gleason's company of minute 
men at Concord and Cambridge in .\pril, 
1775: private in Captain Nathan Drury's com- 
pany. Colonel .\bner Perry's regiment (Sixth) 
in 1780. He married Katherine Rice, born at 
Framingham, September 5, 1751, died May 30, 
1833. daughter of Jonathan and Ruth 
(Eames) Rice, of Framingham. Children: i. 
.Anna. Ixirn February 3. 1772. married. Aug- 
ust I. 1802, .Amasa Forbes, of Roxbury. Mas- 
s.ichusetts. 2. .Alexander, born July 5, 1774, 
died October 28, 1861 : married .\bigail Lovell, 
of Medfield. 3. Zedekiah. born l^\>bruary 13, 
1776, died aged two years. 4. Abel, born May 
23, 1778, died .August 18, 1859; married Molly 
Eames. 5. Rachel, born May 30, 1780, mar- 
ried Setli Forbes. 6. Stephen, bom July 6, 
1782. died aged four years. 7 Lovell, Ixirn 
February 7. 1785. died December 4. 1865; 
married, .April 5, 1810, Lucy Eames. 8. Zede- 
kiah. lx>rn Octolier, 1787. 9. Patty. Ixmi \j(ys. 
baptized .\ugust. 171JO; died July 29, 1884. 
10. Jonathan, bom July 5. 1793, mentioned 
below. 

(\") Jonathan Eames, son of Nathaniel 
I'"ames (4). was born at Framingham, July 5, 
1793, and died February (1. 1877. His school- 
ing was rather brief, as he was obliged to go 
to work on the farm with his father as soon 
as he was able. Part of the farm came to him 
when his father died and his house was stand- 



2l6 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ing until 1886 as stated above. He was one of 
the prosperous farmers of the town in his day, 
a man of quiet, retired habits ; generally re- 
spected and thoroughly upright and honest in 
business affairs. He attended the Baptist 
church. In early life he was a Whig, later a 
Republican. He trained in the state militia 
and enlisted in the war of 1812. He married 
Susan Eames, who was born January 16, 1792, 
daughter of Henry and Azubah (Haven) 
Eames, of Framingham. Henry Eames was 
a farmer and also a descendant of the pioneer, 
Thomas Eames. Children of Jonathan and 
Susan Eames: i. Zedekiah, born October 28, 
1818, died August 8, 1820. 2. Lawson, born 
November 6, 1819, died November 27, 1846; 
married (second) Sarah Elizabeth Smart and 
both were lost at sea November 27, 1846, when 
the ship "Atlantic" foundered. 3. Emerson, 
born November 10, 1821, died August 19, 
1870, unmarried. 4. Qarissa, born May 16, 
1824, died March, 1893 ; married, October, 
1849, Benjamin Foster, of Framingham ; chil- 
dren: Emma, Alice, Ella Jane Foster. 5. 
Eliphalet, mentioned below. 6. Fannie Clark, 
born February 24, 1828, died May 31, 1894. 
7. Emily Belle, born February 18, 1830. 8. 
Henry Gardner, born July 10, 1832, married 
Sarah M. Annette, of Southborough, Massa- 
chusetts ; children : i. Flora, married Dwight 
Gardner ; children : Chester and Harley ; 
ii. Wilbur, married Maud Miller. 9. William 
Richardson, born March 30, 1834, married 
Mary J. Hudson, of South Framingham ; 
children : Susan Belle, married Harry Estes, 
of Duxbury, and had son Wendell Eames. 

(VI) Eliphalet Eames, son of Jonathan 
Eames (5), was born at Framingham, April 
10, 1826. He worked on his father's farm and 
attended the village school in his youth. After 
the opening of the Milford branch of the 
Boston & .Albany Railroad he worked for a 
short time as fireman. He preferred the shoe- 
maker's trade, however, and combined farm- 
ing and shoemaking until he was fifty years 
old. He made shoes in the winter season in a 
little shop on his farm, after the universal cus- 
tom among the shoemakers of the early half of 
the nineteenth century. In later years he de- 
voted his whole attention to his farm and the 
care of other real estate. He built the house 
now occupied by his son. Everett L. Eames, on 
the old Eames property, on Hollis street, then 
known as the Holliston road, about 1853. He 
owned much vahiablc land in that section. He 
died Januarv 11, 1892. He was a member of 
the Framingham Baptist church. He served 



several years on the school committee and was 
Republican in politics. He was fond of out- 
door sports, particularly of fox hunting, at 
which he was an adept. He married Mary E. 
Guild, of Franklin, Massachusetts. Children: 
I. Anna Jenette, born February 20, 1854, died 
aged four years. 2. Etta Orvilla, born April 
21, 1856, died December 20, 1870. 3. Everett 
Linwood, born January 5, 1868, mentioned 
below. 

(VII) Everett Linwood Eames, son of 
Eliphalet Eames (6), was born at South 
Framingham, January 5, 1868. He received 
his education in the public and high schools of 
his native town. During his boyhood he 
worked on the homestead with his father ; at 
the age of fifteen he left the high school to 
enter the employ of George H. Eames in his 
market as a delivery clerk. After about ten 
months he left to become a pressman in the 
straw shop of Emmons and Billings, where he 
worked three years. He filled a similar posi- 
tion in the straw shop of Thomas L. Barlow, 
Park street, Framingham, and was employed 
altogether for ten vears in that business, and 
afterward was in the bleaching department of 
the Singapore Rattan Company at South 
Framingham. When his father died in 1892 
the property came to him, and he has since 
then been occupied in the care of his own real 
estate and that of the estate. He has a large 
number of tenants on his property and some 
forty others on property of the Eames heirs. 
ATr. Eames is a man of unquestioned business 
ability and is highly esteemed by his towns- 
men. He is a member of the Framingham 
Baptist church. Park street. In politics he is a 
Republican. He is a member of Pericles 
Lodge. No. 4, Knights of Pythias, and was 
formerly a member of Nedus Tribe of Red 
Men, South Framingham, and of the Fram- 
ington Club. He served in Company E, Sixth 
Regiment. Massachusetts, in 1893-94. He 
married. Mav f\ 1896, Helen Lucy Ward, born 
at Brookfield, Massachusetts, April 14, 1879, 
daughter of George and Lucy Rebecca (Slay- 
ton) Ward, of Brookfield. George Ward was 
a carpenter by trade; he served in Company 
D, Twenty-first Regiment, Massachusetts Vol- 
unteer Infantry, in the Civil war; member of 
Post 10, Grand .'Knny of the Republic, at Wor- 
cester. Children of Everett L. and Helen L. 
Eames: i Linwood Everett, born April 5. 
1898. 2. Harold Francis, August 5, 1900. 3. 
Hazel ]\Iildred, July 17, 1901. 4. Stanley Wal- 
lace, November 25, 1903. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



217 



This surname comes from the 
ALLEN Christian name Allen, which is 

very ancient. In the roll of Bat- 
tle Abbey, Fitz-Aleyne (son of Allen) occurs. 
Alan, Constable of Scotland, and Lord of 
Galloway and Cunningham, died in 1234. Sur- 
names in England came into general use about 
the close of the twelfth century. One of the 
first using Allen as a surname was Thomas 
Allen, sheriff of London in 1414. Sir John 
Allen was mayor of London in 1525, Sir Will- 
iam Allen, in 1571, and Sir Thomas Alleyne, 
in 1659. Edward Allen (1566-1626), a distin- 
guished actor and friend of Shakespeare and 
Ben Johnson, founded in 16 19 Dulwich Col- 
lege, with the stipulation that the master and 
secretary must always bear the name of .\llen, 
and this curious condition has been easily ful- 
filled from Allen scholars. There are no less 
than fifty-five coats-of-arms of separate and 
distinct families of Allen in the United King- 
dom, besides twenty others of the different 
spelling of this same surname. There were 
more than a score of emigrants of this surname 
from almost as many different families leaving 
England before 1650 to settle in New England. 

(I) Walter Allen, the immigrant ancestor, 
was in Newbury, Massachusetts, as early as 
1640, and resided there several )-ears. He re- 
moved to Watertown, Massachusetts, about 
1652. In 1665 he sold his estate in Watertown 
and bought of John Knapp sixty acres in 
Watertown Farms, lying near Concord. In 
1669 he purchased two hundred acres more at 
Watertown. By deed of gift, dated October 
I, 1673, he conveyed lands at Watertown to his 
sons Daniel and Joseph, and soon afterward 
moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where 
he died July 8, 1681, aged eighty years. He 
deposed in 1677 that his age was seventy-six, 
so he must have been born in 160 1. At the 
time of his death he owned land in \\'atertown 
and Charlestown, Sudbury and Haverhill. He 
acquired the latter farm in 1673. His occu- 
pation is variously gfiven in old records as 
farmer, planter, haberdasher, shopkeeper, and 
once in 1673 as "haberdasher of hats." The 
inventory of his estate amounts to 3.01 5 pounds. 
When he came to Watertown he had a wife 
Rebecca. He married second, November 29, 
1678. Abigail Rogers. Children of Walter and 
Rebecca Allen, the first three of whom were 
probably born in England: i. John, settled in 
Sudbury, ^Massachusetts. 2. Daniel, married 
Mary Sherman. 3. Joseph, mentioned below. 
4. .\bigail, l)orn October i, 1641. 5. Benja- 
min, born .April 15. 1647. 

(II) Joseph Allen, son of Walter /Vllen 



(i), was born in England; a cooper by trade. 
He settled in Watertown Farms, which was 
incorporated as Weston in 1712, probably in 
the northwestern part, near Concord and Sud- 
bury. He died in Weston, September 9, 1721, 
probably eighty or over. His will was dated 
January 11, 1713, bequeathing to wife Anna 
and children. He married October 11, 1667, 
Anne Brazier, who died December, 1720. 
Children: i. Abigail, born and died 1668. 2. 
Rebecca, born April 8, 1670 ; died January 30, 
1674-75. 3. Anna, born August 22, 1674 ; 
died January 26, 1697-98. 4. Joseph, Ixirn 
June 16, 1677; died November i, 1729, men- 
tioned below. 5. Nathaniel, born December 
8, 1687, deacon of Weston. 6. Sarah, died 
1699. 7. Deborah, married, 1714, John 
Moore, of Sudbury. 8. Rachel, married Jo- 
seph Adams. 9. Patience. 

(III) Joseph Allen, son of Joseph Allen 
(2), was born in Weston, Massachusetts, then 
Watertown Farms, June 16, 1677, and died 
there November i, 1729. On his tombstone 
in the old burial ground at Weston Center he 
is called "Ensign." He married first, Decem- 
ber 19, 1700, Elizabeth Robbins, who died No- 
vember, 1712. He married second, Abigail 

. Children of Joseph and Elizabeth 

Allen, all born at Weston: x. Isaac, born 
November 10. 1701. 2. Prudence, born May 
18. 1703; married. 1724, Isaac Hagar. 3. 
Amy. born September 21, 1706. 4. Rebecca, 
born February 25, 1708. 5. Joseph, born 
April 2, 1709; mentioned below. 6. Elizabeth 
(twin), born 1711. 7. Anne, born 1711. 8. 
Silence, born November 1712. Children of 
Joseph and Abigail Allen : 9. David, born 
September 26, 1714, settled at Claverack, New 
York. 10. Abigail, born May 14, 1716. 11. 
Elijah, born September 11, 1718, lived at Sut- 
ton, Massachusetts. 12. Sarah, born .\ugvist 
10, 1720. 13. Tabitha, born October 26, 1722. 
14. Daniel, born August 31, 1724, lived at 
Shefl[ield, Massachusetts. 15. Timothy, bom 
.April 8, 1727, died young. 

(IV) Joseph .Mien, son of Joseph Allen 
(3), was born in Weston, the Watertown 
Farms, April 2, 1709; removed to Grafton, 
Massachusetts, about 1730. and six years later 
to Hardwick, Massachusetts, where he died 
.August 18. 1793, aged eighty-four. He was a 
housewright. captain of militia as early as 
1740, selectman, assessor, clerk and treasurer 
of the town, and deacon for nearly fifty-seven 
years. He married first, .August 16. 1733, 
Mercy Livermore. of Grafton, who died 
March I, 1789, aged seventy-,six, and married 
second, August 2, 1789, Sarah Knowlton, 



2l8 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



widow. His house at Hardwick was destroyed 
b\' fire, and he erected the one now standing 
on his old farm. He was not only one of the 
earliest, but also one of the most active and 
energetic of the pioneers of Hardwick. After 
his death a pamphlet was published containing 
several articles written by him, chiefly on re- 
ligious subjects. In one of them is a scrap of 
autobiography which fixes the date of his birth. 

"My native pUire where born was I, 
In seventeen hundred nine. 
Does sixteen miles from Boston lie, 
In Westown, called mine. 

"Between my third and my fourth 

My mother left this life. 
Which was to me affliction sore. 
My father lost his wife. 



"In all my father's family 
Once sixteen did survive: 
Before my father two did die. 
Then fourteen left alive." 



Children: i. Sarah, born July 25, 1734, 
married Benjamin Winchester. 2. David, born 
August 18, 1738: mentioned below. 3. Lydia, 
born September 19, 1743; married October 10, 
1765, Lemuel Cobb. 4. Mercy, born April 19, 
T746; married February 4, 1771, John .\mi- 
don. 5. Joseph, bom December 21, 1748. 

CV) David Allen, son of Joseph Allen (4), 
was born August 18, 1738, in Hardwick, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he died .August 5, 1799. He 
was selectman and assessor there ; a very ac- 
tive and prominent citizen. He married first, 
November 12, 1761, Elizabeth Fisk, who died 
October 22, 1791, aged forty-eight; he married 
second, January 22, 1794, Lydia Woods, of 
New Braintree, Massachusetts. Children, all 
born in Hardwick: t. Rhoda, born Septem- 
ber 27, 1763; married David Barnard. 2. 
Eunice, born August 22, 1765; married John 
Earl. 3. Daniel, bom September 20, 1767. 4. 
Elizabeth, born October 27, 1768; married 
Isaac Wing. 5. David, born May 12. 1771 : 
mentioned below. 6. Mercy, born May 11, 
1773. 7. Moses, born March 9, 1776, died 
young. 8. Moses born March 11, 1779: 
prominent citizen of Hardwick. 9. Lydia, 
born October 18, 1784; married Daniel 
IMathews, of New Braintree. 

(VI) David Allen, son of David Allen (5), 
was bom in Hardwick, May 12, 1771, and 
died there January 20, 1835. He was a farmer 
and miller by occupation, and was a member 
of the Free and Accepted Masons at Hardwick. 
He married, April 27, 1794. Ruth Dexter, 
daughter of Job Dexter. She died March 26, 
1847, aged seventy-four. Children, born at 
Hardwick: i. Eluthera. born April 12, 



1795 ; died October 3, 1875 '' married Novem- 
ber 18, 1813, John Gleason. 2. Clarissa, born 
October 7, 1796; died j\Iarch 1854; married 
April 27, 1825, Amaziah Spooner, of Amherst,. 
Massachusetts. 3. Anna, Ixirn January 3,, 
1798; died November 11, 1803. 4. WiUard,. 
born February 8, 1801 ; mentioned below. 5. 
Mary, born April 3, 1803. 6. Mary, born 
1804; died 1818. 7. Sarah B., born October 
5, 1809; married March 17, 1835, Stillman 
Bancroft. 8. .Anna, born November 21. 1811 ; 
married September, 1841, Eli Ames. 

(VII) Willard Allen, son of David Allen 
(6), was born at Hardwick, Massachusetts, 
February 8, 1801, and died September 24, 
1852. He had a common school education, 
and was brought up on his father's farm and 
learned the trade of carpenter. Before 1826 
he acquired a farm of considerable magnitude 
on the Barre road. He had a saw mill and 
grist mill also, and manufactured much lumber 
and many shingles. He was a good mechanic, 
and did some carpenter work in the vicinity. 
He also manufactured plows when the work 
was all by hand. He sold his place at Hard- 
wick and bought another at Westminster, 
Massachusetts. He was a tavern keeper and 
farmer there until his death, September 24, 
1852. He was a genial host, and enjoyed a 
large trade. He was a large powerful man, 
active and enterprising. He was captain of 
the Hardwick militia company. He joined the 
Worcester Agricultural Society in 1832. In 
religion he was a Universalist ; in politics a 
Democrat. He was a member of the lodge of 
Free Masons at Hardwick and was for some 
years its worshipful master, and also belonged 
to the Royal .\rch Chapter. He married Mercy 
Ruggles, daughter of IVIajor Gardner Ruggles 
and his wife Lydia (Phinney), of Hardwick. 
Thev had only one child : Frederick, mention- 
ed below. 

(VIII) Frederick Allen, son of Willard 
.\llen (7). was born in Hardwick, ]\Iassachu- 
setts, .August 24, 1827, and died .September 
29, 1902. .\t the age of eight years he moved 
with his parents to Westminster, and was edu- 
cated in the public schools, in Westmin.ster 
Academy, and the academy at Groton. He 
was then associated with his father in manag- 
ing the farm and hotel, and at his death suc- 
ceeded to the business, which he conducted un- 
til i8fii. The hotel business never suited his 
tastes, and in 1861 he removed to .Athol and 
engaged in the baker>' business in partnership 
with Theodore P. Locke, whose interests he 
bought out soon afterward. After a time he 
sold to Wood & Sawyer, and entered partner- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



219 



ship witli Jonathan Drury in the manufacture 
of chamber furniture, under the firm name of 
Drury & Allen. The firm also built a number 
of houses to sell. It was dissolved in the sev- 
enties, and Mr. Allen removed to .\rlington, 
Massachusetts, associating himself with his son, 
Charles \\'. Allen, in the capacity of book- 
keeper, and remaining until his death, Septem- 
ber 29, 1902. \\"hen a young man he learned 
surveying, and he was employed to lay out the 
cemetery at Westminster. He was very studi- 
ous, fond of the modern languages, especially 
well versed in Spanish, and was naturally in- 
clined to a professional life had circumstances 
been fav<^rable. He was deacon of the Athol 
Congregational Church (Orthodox) ; a Demo- 
crat in politics, holding the office of town clerk, 
etc., at Westminster. He was a member of 
Athol Lodge of Free Masons, and of the New 
England Historical Genealogical Society. He 
held the rank of lieutenant in the Westminster 
militia com[)any. He married at Fitchburg, 
Mas.sachusetts, July I, 1850, Jennie Emogene 
Locke, who was born at Woodstock, Vermont, 
July 6, 1832, and died November 22, 1859, 
daughter of Theodore P. and Emma (Heald) 
Locke, of Westminster, Massachusetts. Her 
father was a baker by trade. He married sec- 
ond, February 27, 1862, Hattie A. Thomas, of 
Brandon, X'ermont, born January 28, 1838, 
daughter of Zebina and Polly (Holmes) 
Thomas. Children: i. Charles Willard, born 
May 14, 185 1 : mentioned below. 2. Theodore 
Frederick, born June 25, 1853; mentioned be- 
low. Children of the second wife : 3. Eugene 
Thomas, born April 2, 1864; married August 
26, i8g6, Hattie Doughty, of Arlington; chil- 
dren : i. Frederick Doughty, born November 
I. 1898. died August 4, 1899: ii. Willard 
Bradford, horn May 16, i<)03, died May 26 
following. 4. Jennie (irace. born June 5. 
iSr/i, a teacher in the public schools of .Middle- 
borough, .Massachusetts. 

(IX) Charles Willard Allen, son of P'redcr- 
ick .\llen (8), was b<irn at Westminster, Mas- 
sachusetts, \Iay 14, 185 1. He attended the 
common schools in his native town, removing 
when he was ten years old to .-Xthol. where he 
continued his education in the public and high 
schools. He worked for a year in the bakery 
of Harrison Whitney, at Westminster. Then 
he found employment in the shops at West 
Fitchburg, Massachusetts. riveting on 
mowing machine knives manufactured by 
the Simonds concern. \\"hile there he was 
accidentally shot and laid up for many months. 
He attended the Westminster .Academy after 
he recovered from his wound, and also the 



New Salem .\cademy. In i8()8 he took a 
course in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial 
College in I'.oston, and in December of that 
year entered the employ of Foster E, 
Stuart, a chair manufacturer, 93-97 Fulton 
street, Boston, and learned every detail of the 
business. In 1S83 he accepted an opj)ortunity 
to establish himself in this business, and 
bought the h'orbush interests in the firm of 
Forbush & Cliliford, chair manufacturers, P"ul- 
ton street, Boston. The new firm name of 
Cliliford & Allen continued until 1889, when 
Mr. Allen bought out his partner and con- 
tinued business under his own name, and en- 
larged his business by purchasing the Boston 
Chair Company on Canal street. When Fos- 
ter E. Stuart died, Mr. .Mien was called upon 
to close up his business and he took it, adding 
it to his Fulton street business. Later the 
Boston Chair Company, the place of business 
of which was in the Wakefield Block, suffered 
greatly by a fire. Mr. Allen later bought the 
business of G. M. Levens & Son, at 32 and 34 
Canal street, adding to it the Boston Chair 
Company's business under the firm name of 
Levens & Company. This concern was finally 
merged into the firm of Allen, Thompson & 
\Miitney Company in 1898, including also the 
firms of Orange & Alfred Whitney of .Ksh- 
burnham, and E. L. Thompson of Baldwin- 
ville. as partners, with factories at Ashburn- 
ham and P.aldwinville, Massachusetts. The 
Aslilnirnhani plant was later destroyed by fire 
and the firm was dissolved, Mr. .-Mien with his 
brother Theodore F. .-Mien, who had been ad- 
mitted to the firm in 1891, retaining the Boston 
end of the business with the firm name of 
Allen, Thompson & Whitney Company. They 
established a factory at Greenville, New 
Hamjjshire, operated by the Greenville Chair 
Company until June, i(jo6. when the name 
became the .Mien Chair Company, and at that 
time the son, Willard Stuart .\llen, was ad- 
mitted to the firm. The company subsequently 
built a factory at Concord Junction, Massa- 
chusetts, and located the Boston business there 
in 1906. In December of that year the Green- 
ville jjlant was discontinued, and that branch 
of the business also removed to Concord Junc- 
tion, finding a market for their large product 
in all ]>arts of the United States, and giving 
emjjloyment to a large numlxjr of skillftd 
workers. The salesrooms are at 112 Canal 
and 207 Friend street, Boston. Mr. Allen is 
one of the best known and most successful men 
in the furniture and chair manufacturing busi- 
ness in New luigland. 

He attends the Unitarian church at .Arling- 



220 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ton, Massachusetts. While a resident of Chel- 
sea, Massachusetts, he was a regular attendant 
of the Universalist church, serving on the 
standing committee and also for a time as 
superintendent of the Sunday-school. In poli- 
tics he is a Republican. He became a member 
of Hiram Lodge of Free Masons, June i8, 
1891 ; of Menotomy Chapter of Royal Arch 
Masons, May 17, 1892, and belongs to Boston 
Commandery, Knights Templar, and to Mas- 
sachusetts Consistory, thirty-second degree, 
Scottish Rite Masonry. He is a member also 
of Winnisimmett Lodge, No. 24, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, since July 9, 1872, and 
was noble grand in 1874; of Samaritan En- 
campment of Odd Fellows since March 12, 
1874, and has been chief patriarch. He was 
also deputy of the Charlestown District of Odd 
Fellows and member of the grand lodge and 
encampment. He was a member of the Mid- 
dlesex Club; the Economic Club, and the 
Bostonian Society. He is president of the 
Boston Chair Manufacturers Association ; is 
director of the First National Bank of Ar- 
lington, and trustee of the savings bank ; 
and director of the Arlington Co-operative 
Bank. The force of character and good fel- 
lowship that are so well known to his business 
associates have made him popular in all the 
clubs and societies to which he belongs, espe- 
cially in those in which he has been most active 
and prominent. 

He married, February 5, 1878. Eunice El- 
lena Stuart, who was born at Princeton. Massa- 
chusetts, August 17, 1856, daughter of Joseph 
M. and Irene (Gould) Stuart, of New York 
City. Her father was a chair manufacturer ; 
he was born August 2, 181 5, and died Febru- 
ary 6, 1901 ; her mother, Irene Gould, born 
February 7, 1821, died February 19, 1885. 
Children of Charles Willard and Eunice El- 
lena Allen: i. Willard Stuart, born June 21. 
1879; married October 16, 1897, Marjorie 
Landon Whittemore, of Arlington, born April 
13, 1881 ; children : i. Dorothy Whittemore, 
born August 23, 1898; ii. Charles Willard, 
2d, born January 17, 1904. 2. Theodore Eu- 
gene, born July 26, 1889; died February 13, 
1890. 3. Doris Irene, born April 17, 1891. 

(IX) Theodore Frederick Allen, son of 
Frederick Allen (8) , was born at Westmmster. 
Massachusetts, June 25, 1853. He attended 
the public schools there. When he was eight 
years old the family removed to Athol, where 
he continued his schooling. After having two 
years in the .^thol high school he preferred to 
get to work, and though only fourteen years 
old entered the employ of Wood & Sawyer, 



bakers, continuing in their emply for six years 
and becoming the foreman when only eighteen. 
In 1871 he entered the employ of his uncle, 
C. R. B. Claflin, then a leading photographer 
of Worcester, Massachusetts. He learned the 
business readily, and was soon placed in 
charge. He was there until 1877, when he 
became associated in Boston with Mumler, of 
"spirit picture" fame. Soon afterwards he be- 
came associated with the New York Engrav- 
ing Company of New York City, being super- 
intendent of the business several years. He 
then engaged in the business of photographer 
at Clinton, Massachusetts, for two years and a 
half, returning to take his former position with 
the New York Engraving Company. With 
three others he established the Franklin Photo 
Electrotype Company, incorporated under 
New Jersey laws, with Mr. Allen as president, 
John A. Eagers secretary and treasurer, and 
Frank E. Manning vice-president. This com- 
pany built up a flourishing business and did 
much of the plate work for Harper's, Scrib- 
ner's, the Century and other magazines. Mis- 
fortune in the shape of fire dealt the concern 
a severe financial blow ; much of its best trade 
was lost owing to the destruction of the plant 
and, greatly against Mr. Allen's judgment, the 
corporation voted to rebuild on the same site. 
After the business was re-established Mr. Al- 
len decided to withdraw from the company, 
and in 1891 he became a partner of his brother 
Charles W. Allen, as mentioned above, in the 
manufacture of chairs. Since then he has been 
associated with his brother, and their business 
has grown to very large proportions. 

]\lr. .Allen is a Unitarian in religion, and a 
Republican in politics. He has been a member 
of Athelstan Lodge of Free Masons, of Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts, since March 15, 1876; 
of IMenotomy Giapter of Royal Arch Masons 
at .Arlington, since May 19, 1891 ; of Hiram 
Council of Royal and Select Masons at Wor- 
cester, since December 9, 1897; of Boston 
Commandery. Knights Templar, and is also 
a member of Aleppo Temple, Mystic Shrine, 
at Boston : and was formerly a member 
of Quinsigamond Lodge, No. 40, Odd Fel- 
lows, of Worcester. He is fond of out-door 
sports, and belongs to the Arlington Golf Club 
and formerly to the .Arlington Boat Club. 

He married, July 21, 1880, Mary Irene 
Stuart, born at Princeton. Massachusetts, 
daughter of Joseph M. and Irene (Gould) 
Stuart, of New York City. Her father was a 
chair manufacturer. She is the sister of Eu- 
nice Ellena Stuart, who married Charles W. 
Allen. Children; i. Herbert Russell, born 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



221 



April II, 1881, died October 5, 1881. 
ion Ellena, born August 19, 1898. 



2. Mar- 



Xumerous pioneers by the 
CLARKE name of Clarke and Clark came 
to New England during the 
first years of settlement. The name has been 
common in all parts of England for many cen- 
turies. An ancestor of Joseph Clarke, immi- 
grant mentioned below, was Thomas Clarke, 
of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk county, Eng- 
land, where the family had long been seated 
before the Conquest. The will of this Thomas 
in 1506 mentioned a "Seynt Antony cross, a 
tau cross of gold weighing iij li." which was 
borne in an armorial coat and was assumed in 
consequence of having been worn by Nicholas 
Drury his great maternal grandsire, in the ex- 
pedition of Spain with John of Gaunt, the 
Duke of Lancaster, in 1386. The arms of the 
Suffolk family are Argent, on a bend gules, 
between three roundels sable, as many swans 
in the field. Crest out of a tau cross or, three 
roses gules, leaves vert, between a pair of 
wings azure. Motto, '"Secreluni mei gaudii 
in cruce." 

(I) Joseph Clarke, the immigrant ancestor, 
was among the first settlers at Dorchester, 
Massachusetts, coming from Plymouth, Eng- 
land, in the ship "Mary and John," sailing 
March 20, 1630, and arriving at the mouth of 
the Charles river ten days in advance of the 
"Arbella" and other vessels comprising the 
fleet of eleven ships in the company of John 
Winthrop. A house lot was granted him No- 
vember 22, 1634, but he returned to England 
apparently to accompany his future wife to 
America. He sailed the second time, October 
24, 1635, on the ship "Constance," and made 
his home, 1640, in the adjoining town of Ded- 
ham, instead of Dorchester. His brothers, 
Thomas and Bray Qarke, settled first in Dor- 
chester. Thomas afterward removed to Bos- 
ton. Abou*' 1650 Joseph Clarke became one of 
the first thirteen settlers of the town of Med- 
field, and May 18, 1653, ^^ was admitted a 
freeman in Medfield. He was one of the pro- 
moters of the First Church in Medfield. and 
continued his membership and interest m that 
church until his death, 1684. He was enrolled 
as a soldier, and was made captain of a com- 
pany in the war against King Philip, 1675-76. 
His house at Medfield was on the west side of 
South street, and the cellar near the corner of 
Oak and South streets marks its site. He 
was selectman in 1660. He was an active, 
enterprising and worthy citizen. He left an 



abiding infiuence for good on his numerous 
and honorable posterity. He was at his death, 
January 6, 1684, aged eighty-seven years. He 
was ancestor of Rev. Pitt Clarke, father of the 
late Dr. Edward H. Qarke, a distinguished 
physician of Boston and profes.sor at the How- 
ard Medical School. He married Alice 
Pepper, who was baptized March 25, 1623, in 
the parish of St. Mary's, Aldermary, London, 
England, the daughter of Robert Pepper, or 
Peppitt, and his wife Elizabeth Leake. Mr^. 
Alice Clarke was member of the First Parish 
Church at Medfield until her death there, 
March 17, 1710. Joseph and Alice Clarke had 
nine children, as follows: i. Joseph, born in 
Dedham, July 27, 1642, mentioned below. 2. 
Benjamin, born February 9, 1644, married, 
1665, Dorcas Morse; settled in Medfield and 
was prominent in town affairs; he died 1724. 
3. Ephraim, born February 4, 1646, married, 
March 6, 1669, Mary Bullen. 4. Daniel, born 
September 29, 1647, died of wounds inflicted 
by the Indians on the day Medfield was 
burned, which was April 7, 1676. 5. Mary, 
born June 12, 1649, married, 1673, Jonathan 
Boyden. 6. Sarah, born February 20, 1651, 
married, January 7, 1673, John Bowers, and 
(second) Samuel Smith. 7. John, born Octo- 
ber 28, 1652, died 1720; married, 1679, Mary 
Sheffield. 8. Nathaniel, born October 6, 1658, 
married. May i, 1704, Experience Hinsdale. 
9. Rebecca, born August 16, 1660, married, 
Slay I, 1679, John Richardson. 

(H) Joseph Clarke, son of Joseph Clarke 
(i), from whom Augustus Peck Clarke de- 
scended, was born in Dedham, July 27, 1642. 
His father gave him a house lot and he built 
his house on what is now the corner of Curve 
and Spring streets, not far from the old pine 
swamp, near which he erected a malt-house. 
He was selectman and representative to the 
general court. He married, 1663, Mary Allen, 
born December 10, 1641, and died 1720. She 
was daughter of James and Ann Guild, of 
Dedham, who were married there March 16, 
1638. .\nn died 1673, James died 1676. Ann 
Guild was born in England and came with her 
brother, John Guild, to Dedham, 1636. Joseph 
Clarke owned at the time of his death besides 
his homestead a house and land at Wrentham 
and another house and land at "'planting field." 
James .\llcn, the father of Mary and husband 
of .\nn Guild, was born at Colby, Norfolk 
county, England, and was cousin to Rev. John 
.Mien, of Dedham, who was a graduate of 
Caius College, Cambridge, England. Joseph 
(2) Clarke by his wife, Mary (Allen) Clarke, 
had twelve children. 



222 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(III) Joseph Clarke, eldest child of Joseph 
Clarke (2), was born in Medfield, 1664, and 
settled in the north part of the town. In 1695 
he was sealer of leather. He married, 1686, 
Mary Wight, who was born 1667 and who 
died 1705. Joseph (2) Clarke had the title 
of captain (military rank). He was one of 
the prominent men of the town, and built the 
grist mill and carried on the manufacture of 
malt. He died 1731. He had by his marriage 
to Mary Wight seven children, among whom 
was Joseph, who was born 1697. Mary Wight 
was daughter of Thomas and Mehitable 
(Cheney) Wight, and granddaughter of 
Thomas Wight, who came from the Isle of 
Wight to this country, bringing his wife Alice 
and three sons. Thomas Wight was at Water- 
town. Massachusetts, 1636, and next came to 
Dedham and was freeman 1640. He served 
nineteen years on the board of selectmen. His 
-wife Alice died 1665 and he died 1674. Mehi- 
table Cheney, the wife of Thomas Wight and 
the mother of Mary, was the daughter of Will- 
iam of Roxbury, born in England, 1594, and 
died in Roxbury, June 30, 1667 ; William 
Cheney came from Meynoll Langley, county 
of Derby, and settled in Roxbury, 1635, free- 
man 1666, son of Sir Robert Cheney, of Mey- 
noll Langley. 

(IV) Joseph Qarke, son of Joseph Qarke 
(3), was born in Medfield in 1697; he mar- 
ried, 1718, Experience Wheeler, daughter of 
Isaac and Experience (Metcalf) Wheeler. He 
died 1731. Isaac Wheeler was son of Richard 
Wheeler, of Dedham, and wife Elizabeth 
(Turner) Wheeler. Isaac Wheeler settled in 
Medfield. Experience (Metcalf) Wheeler 
was born in Medfield, 1661, and died there 
1730. She was the daughter of John Metcalf, 
who was born at Norwich, England, in 1622, 
and died here 1690. John was son of Michael 
Metcalf, who came to this country 1637, bring- 
ing his wife and nine children, including John 
and a servant. Michael Metcalf, the father, 
was son of Rev. Leonard Metcalf, of Tatter- 
ford, England. Richard Wheeler and Eliza- 
beth Turner were married in Dedham, April 
2, 1644. Elizabeth Turner, the wife, came at 
the age of twenty years, in the ship "Hope- 
well," April 30, 1635 ; she was from Stanstead 
Abbots in a Hundred of Broughing, in the 
county of Herts, England. Joseph (4) 
Clarke had six children. 

(V) Joseph, son of Joseph Clarke (4), was 
born 1720, and was married in 1739 to Eliza- 
beth Puffer. In 1642 he sold out his property 
and went to Mendon, Massachusetts. He died 
there 1780. His wife, Elizabeth (Puffer) 



Clarke, was born August 24, 1714, and was 
daughter of Eleazer Puft'er and Elizabeth Tal- 
bot, who were married in Dorchester, Massa- 
chusetts, November 27, 1713. Eleazer Puffer 
was son of Matthias and Abigail (Everett) 
Puffer, of Dedham, and was born January 30, 
1683. Matthias Puffer died May 9, 171 7. 
Elizabeth Talbot was daughter of Peter and 
Mary (Wardell) Talbot, who were married in 
Dorchester, January 12, 1677. Mary Wardell 
was daughter of William and Alice Wardell 
and was baptized when nine days old. First 
Church, Boston, April 14, 1644. Abigail 
Everett was the daughter of Richard and 
Mary Everett, and was born in Dedham, 1647. 
Richard Everett died in Dedham, July 3, 1682. 
He was ancestor of the late Hon. Edward 
Everett, scholar, diplomatist and orator. He 
had been soldier in the Low Countries (Hol- 
land). Matthias Puft'er was son of George 
Puffer, the immigrant ancestor, who about the 
year 1639 had land at Mount Wollaston, now 
Quincy, Massachusetts. George Puffer was an- 
cestor of the late Hon. Qiarles Sumner, 
United States senator from Massachusetts. 
Peter Talbot, the father of Elizabeth, was born 
in Lancashire, England. He after some re- 
markable adventures, settled in Dorchester, 
where he was married. He afterward re- 
moved to Chelmsford, where his children, 
Sarah, George, Elizabeth and others were 
born. He returned to that part of Dorchester 
which is now Stoughton, and died there 1704, 
when his son George was only sixteen years 
of age. William Wadell, or Wardell, the father 
of Mary, the wife of Peter Talbot above, was 
admitted to the First Church of Boston, Feb- 
ruary, 1634. He came here the year before 
(September 3, 1633) ^'th Edmund Quincy 
and the Rev. John Cotton. He was from 
Wigsthorp, county of Northampton, England. 
He had other children besides Mary, who were 
baptized at First Church. He was one of the 
friends who supported Rev. John Wheel- 
wright, but being disgusted by the turn of 
affairs, left Boston for awhile and went to 
Exeter, New Hampshire. He returned and 
had other children born in Boston. He died 
1663 ; his wife Alice died before 1657. 

(VI) Ichabod Qarke, son of Joseph Clarke 
(5), was born in Mendon, February i, 1745. 
He married, March 28, 1771, Phebe Sprague, 
born March 31, 1749. Phebe was daughter of 
Amos and Mercy (Comstock) Sprague, of 
Smithfield, Rhode Island. Amos Sprague was 
son of Benjamin Sprague, Jr., (Benjamin 4, 
William 3, William 2, Edward i.) Edward 
Sprague, the ancestor, was a fuller of Upway, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



223 



county of Dorset. England. \\'illiain .Spraguo. 
his son. was of Hingham, Ma.ssachusctts, and 
was progenitor of the Sprague family of 
Rhode Island. Ichal^xl (6) Clarke served in 
the war of the Kevoluiion. He was a sergeant 
in Captain Benjamin Farrar's company. He 
also served as lieutenant and as captain in the 
Continental line in the army of General Wash- 
ington. He commanded a company of 
mounted rangers that he had raised for guard- 
ing the borders of the state, serving under 
General Sullivan and for protecting military 
stores and other jiroperty. He took part in the 
battle of Rhode Island, .-Vugust 29, 1778, and 
assisted in the evacuation of the island. His 
name appears also as commander of the 
brigantine ''Elizabeth,'' fitted out in 1782. He 
died in Helchertown, Massachusetts, 1827. His 
wife Phebe died 1S16. Captain Ichabod 
Clarke had five children. .\mos Sprague and 
Mercy Comstock, the parents of Phebe 
Sprague, were married April 7. 1745. Mercy 
Comstock was daughter of Job Comstock, who 
married Phebe Jencks. She was born January 
16. 1703, and was daughter of Ebenezer and 
Mary (Butterworth) Jencks. Job Comstock 
was of Providence, Gloucester, Rhode Island, 
and Dutchess county. New York. He was 
•son of Samuel and Elizabeth (.\rnold) Com- 
■stock, and was bom April 4, 1699. Samuel 
Comstock, the father, was born in Providence, 
1654, died May 27, 1727. He married Eliza- 
beth .\rnold, November 22, 1678. She was 
daughter of Thomas and Phoebe (Parkhurst) 
.Arnold. She died October 20, 1747. Samuel 
Comstock was appointed May 6, 1702, on a 
committee by the assembly to audit the general 
treasurer's accounts and other debts. He had 
alsi> other positions of trust. He was son of 
Samuel Comstock, of Wethersfield, Connecti- 
cut, and Providence, Rhode Island, who died 
1660 and had wife Ann, who died 1661. Sam- 
uel was son of William Comstock, of Wethers- 
field, Connecticut, who came from England 
with his wife Elizabeth, and removed to New 
London. Thomas .\mold, the father of Eliza- 
beth, the wife of Samuel Comstock, was born 
1599, died .September, 1674. He was from 
CheselbouTue, Dorset county, England, and 
Providence, Rhode Island. He v^'as a son of 
Thomas f Richard 4, Richard 3, Thomas 2, 
Roger i). He came to .America in the ship 
"Plain Joan" to Richmond, \'irginia. May 15, 
1635, but settled first at Watertown. Massa- 
chusetts, where he was freeman, May 13. 1640. 
He was a planter at Providence, 1654. where 
he had twenty thousand acres of land, which 
he bought of the Indians. He was deputy at 



IVovidence, 1666-67-70-71-72. He was mem- 
ber of the town council 1672. He married 
riicbi.', daughter of (ieorge Parkhurst, and 
had si.x childrL-n. He was a descendant mater- 
nally (if ^'nir, 1150, a descendant paternally of 
Cadwaladyr of Wessex, 688-728, who became 
ruler of ISritain, south of the Thames. Phebe 
Parkhurst, his wife, was daughter of George 
and Susannah Parkhurst. Ebenezer Jencks, 
the father of Phebe, who married Job Com- 
stock. was torn 1660, died .\ugust 14, 1726. 
Ebenezer Jencks married, March 4, 1695, 
Mary Butterworth, who died 1726. He had 
by her thirteen children, including Phebe. He 
was ordained pastor of the First Baptist 
Church, at Providence, 1719, and so continued 
there his ministry until his death. The par- * 
ents of Mary Butterworth were John and 
Sarah, who were in Rehoboth as early as 1651. 
(VH) Edward Clarke, son of Ichalx)d 
Clarke (6), was bom in Smithficld, Rhode 
Island, Januar}- i, 1772. He married January 
I, 1799, Lurania Darling, daughter of John 
(5) Darling, Jr., of Cumberland, Rhode Isl- 
and. He served in the War of 181 2 against 
the British and took part in the movement for 
the defense of New Orleans. He died Janu- 
ary 2, 1814. John Darling (5) was born in 
\\'rentham, .\pril 24, 1741 ; he married 
Martha Sprague, who was born in Mendon, 
I'ebruary 12, 1739. John and Martha were 
married 1765 and had eight children. Lura- 
nia Darling, their daughter, was born in Cum- 
berland, Rhode Island, January 2, 1772. She 
died April 12, 1857. John Darling (5) was 
son of John (4) Darling, of Wrentham, and 
his wife Hannah (Healy) Darling, of Reho- 
both, Massachusetts, who were married May 
I, 1740. John (3) Darling, the father of John 
(4) Darling, and Hannah Staples, of Mendon, 
were married January 5, 1708. John (3) Dar- 
ling was bom in Mendon, April i. 1687. 
Hannah .Staples, his wife, was bom May 13, 
1 686. .She was daughter of .Xbraham Sta])les. 
who was of ^^'eymouth. and married. Septem- 
ber 17, i66o, Mary, daughter of Robert Ran- 
dall, who was one of the first settlers of 
Mendon. John Staples, the father of .^bra- 
ham, wzs of Weymouth. 1636, and had wife 
Rebecca. He died at Dorchester, Massachu- 
setts. July 4, 1683, mentioning in his will his 
son .Abraham (2) Staples, who was bom at 
Weymouth, 1638, and died in Mendon, Octo- 
ber. 1703. He was an original proprietor of 
Mendon before June 14, 1663. He was a 
weaver. Member of Captain John Poole's com- 
pany in King Philip's war, 1675. He had the 
rank of sergeant. Robert Randall, the father 



224 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of Mary, wife of Abraham Staples, came from 
Wendover, county of Bucks, as he testified in 
1688, at the age of eighty years. He was free- 
man 1647. John (3) Darting, who married 
Hannah Staples, was son of Captain John (2) 
Darling and Elizabeth (4) Thompson. Eliza- 
beth (Thompson) Darling was the daughter 
of John (3) and Thankful (Woodland) 
Thompson, and was born 1670. She was mar- 
ried to him in 1686. Thankful Woodland, her 
mother, was the daughter of John and Martha 
Woodland, of Braintree, Massachusetts. John 
(3) Thompson was born 1642 and died 1705, 
and was the son of John (2) Thompson, who 
had wife "Sarah," and who was born 1619. 
John (2) Thompson was son of David and 
' Amyes (CoUe) Thompson, of Thompson's Isl- 
and, Boston Harbor. David Thompson, the 
ancestor, was a Scottish gentleman, scholar. 
and traveller. He was early sent out by Sir 
Fernando Gorges, to superintend the settle- 
ments on the Piscataqua, Merrimack, and 
Kennebec rivers in Maine, and on lands now 
in the vicinity of Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
shire, but being dissatisfied, he came to Massa- 
chusetts Bay and took possession of his island 
in Boston Harbor. David Thompson was the 
first white man who settled on Thompson's 
Island, and he thus got exclusive control of the 
same. He died soon after, leaving his son 
John (2) Thompson, who after becoming of 
age filed a petition in court for the possession 
of Thompson's Island, whicli was claimed by 
Dorchester, as belonging to the common town. 
After full hearing, Jolin (2) Thompson's 
claim was allowed. There has long been a 
tradition in the family that the maiden name of 
"Sarah" the wife of John (2) Thompson, was 
Sarah Allerton, the daughter of Isaac Aller- 
ton, Mayflower pilgrim, as there was more or 
less acquaintance between the early Thomp- 
son family and the Allertons and the Mave- 
ricks. Moses Maverick married Remember 
Allerton, but her sister Sarah Allerton's mar- 
riage, if she did marry at all, has not been 
satisfactorily accounted for. 

Captain John (2) Darling, who married 
Elizabeth Thompson, 1686, was son of Denice 
and Hannah (Francis) Darling, and was born 
in Braintree, Massachusetts, September 2, 
1664. He died in Bellingham, Massachusetts, 
May 29, 1753, in the ninetieth year of his age. 
His wife, Elizabeth (Thompson) Darling, 
died April 3, 1687. Captain John Darling 
was an enterprising man, being a large landed 
proprietor and owner of the mills and water 
power on the Blackstone river. Denice Dar- 
ling, his father, was married in Braintree to 



Hannah Francis, November 3, 1662. He 
died in Mendon, Massachusetts, January 25, 
1717-18, aged seventy-seven years. Hannah 
Francis was the daughter of John and Rose 
Francis, who settled in Braintree, 1650. Jolui 
Francis, the father, died September 17, 1688. 
His wife Rose died in Braintree, February 26, 

1759- 

John (IV) Darling, of Wrentham, the 
father of John Darling, Jr., of Cumberland, 
was married to Hannah Healy in Rehoboth, 
May I, 1740. Hannah was daughter of Paul 
and Hannah (Titus) Healy, and was born in 
Rehoboth, March 3, 1722. Paul Healy and 
Hannah Titus, both of Rehoboth, were mar- 
ried May 17, 1720. Hannah Titus was 
daughter of John and Hannah and was born 
October 27, 1701. John Titus, Jr., was born 
March 12, 1678. John Titus, Jr , was son of 
John and Abigail ; the former was born in 
Rehoboth, December 18, 1650, and was mar- 
ried to Lydia Redaway, July 17, 1673. She, 
Lydia (Redaway) Titus, was buried Novem- 
ber 25, 1676. John Titus, Sr., was buried 
April 16, 1689-90. He was an early settler 
of Rehoboth. Lydia Redaway was the daugh- 
ter of James and was born in Rehoboth, May 
30, 1652. James Redaway, the father of 
Lydia, was buried October i, 1676. He was 
also an earl)' settler of Rehoboth. Robert 
Titus, the ancestor, was freeman May 13, 
1640. His name appears in the list of the first 
purchasers at Rehoboth, 1643. Robert Titus 
came in the ship "Speedwell," April 30, 1635, 
from Gravesend, London, at the age of 
thirty-five years, with his wife Hannah Titus, 
aged thirty-one years, and his son John, men- 
tioned above, aged eight years, and with 
another son Edmund, aged five years. He 
was from Saint Katherine's, on the Thames, 
near the tower of London. 

'Martha (Sprague) Darling, who married 
John (5) Darling, was daughter of William 
and Rebecca (Ballou) Sprague. William 
Sprague, her father, was son of Jonathan (4) 
Spragfue (Jonathan 3, William 2, Edward i), 
of Providence and Smithfield, Rhode Island, 
and his wife Hannah (Coggeshall) Sprague, 
and was born June 9, 1714. \\'illiam Sprague 
was captain of a military company. He was 
married in Smithfield to Rebbeca Ballou. April 
10, 1738. Rebecca Ballou was daughter of 
Peter (3) Ballou (John 2, Maturin i), and 
was born in Providence, August 26, 1715. 
Her mother was Rebecca Esten and was 
daughter of Henry and Sarah Harding (of 
Stephen and Bridget Harding) Esten, Provi- 
dence, Rhode Island. Rebecca Esten was 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



225 



born i^lay 9, 1695, died February 13, 1787. 
Henry Esten was born January 11, 1651, in 
Providence, and died March 23, 171 1. His 
father, Thomas Esten, was born 1612, and died 

1691. He married April 23, 1640, Ann . 

Thomas Esten came to .Vmerica from Hert- 
ford county, England, to Providence, Rhode 
Island. He was a landed proprietor. Peter 
(3) Ballon was son of John and Hannah 
(Garret) Ballou, and was torn .August i, 

1689, died May 9, 1784. John (2) Palkm 
died 1714. The ancestor, Maturin .Ballou, 
died 1662 ; he married Hannah Pike, of Rob- 
ert and Catherine Pike. Hannah Pike, his 
widow, died 1714. They were of Providence. 
He was a landed proprietor. Maturin Ballou 
was the ancestor of the Rev. Hosea Ballou, 
the eminent American preacher and contro- 
versalist, the author and founder of "Univer- 
salism." Peter (3) Ballou was his grand- 
father, whose daughter Rebecca Ballou above 
mentioned, was his aunt. Jonathan (4 ) Sprague 
married Hannah Coggeshall. September 
17, 1713. He was of Providence and Smith- 
field, Rhode Island. He was a landed proprie- 
tor and deputy governor from 1718 to 1730. 
He died .\pril 22, 1764. Hannah (4) (Cog- 
geshall) his wife, died before May 11. 1757. 
prior to the time of the making of his will. 
She was the daughter of William (3) and 
Rachel (Peck) Coggeshall, and was baptized 
I'irst Church, Boston, March 10, i68g. Will- 
iam (3) Coggeshall died before 1696. He 
was born in Newport, Rhode Island. 1654. 
He was son of John (2) Coggeshall, who was 
born 1618 and died October i. 1708. John 
(2) Coggeshall married. June 17, 1647, Eliza- 
beth Baulstone. daughter of William and 
Elizabeth Baulstone. She died 169C. John 
Coggeshall was freeman 1655, general treas- 
urer for Portsmouth and Newport 1653-54, 
general treasurer for Providence and War- 
wick, 1654, commissioner 1654 to 1663, assist- 
ant of the colony 1663 to 1686, general treas- 
urer 1664 to 1672, deputy 1665 to 1683, gen- 
eral recorder 1676 to 1692, major for the Isl- 
and 1683-84, and deputy governor 1686 to 

1690. He died October i. 1708. William 
Baulstone, the father of Elizabeth (2), was 
born in 1600, died March 14, 1678, married 
Elizabeth, born 1597, and died April 15, 1683. 
He was of Boston and Portsmouth, Rhode 
Island, freeman, October 19, 1630, sergeant, 
I\Iay 14, 1634. He and eighteen others signed 
a compact at Portsmouth, "To submit their 
persons, their lives, and estates unto our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of 
lords, to be guided and judged by His holy 

t-16 



word of truth." He was a sergeant of a 
trained band, June 27, 1638, treasurer for 
Portsmouth and Newport 1640-41, assistant 
of the colony 1641 to 1673, lieutenant 1642, 
treasurer of Portsmouth 1643-44, and com- 
missioner 1654 to 1663. He was one of the 
four commissioners appointed 1664 to meet 
the commissioners for i'lymouth Colony to lay ' 
out the Eastern line. 

The father of Rachel (2) Peck Coggeshall, 
the wife of William (3) Coggeshall, was 
Thomas l^eck, Sr., a shipwright of Poston. 
He died February 3, 1699. His will wa.j 
dated March 3, 1698. He seems to have been 
a man of wealth. He bought and sold mer- 
chandise in Boston and in other places and 
aiso vessels. In his will he bequeathed houses 
and lands, warehouses, wharves, docks, etc. 
He named his wife Elizabeth and besides 
others his daughter Rachel, who had married 
there after the death of William Coggeshall, 
her husband, a man by the name of Potter. 
Mrs. Elizabeth Peck, the mother of Rachel, 
was a member of the F"irst ChuTch of Fioston, 
as also had been all her children. Jonathan 

(3) Sprague (William 2, Edward i), father 
of Jonathan (4), was born May 28, 1645. died 
September, 1741. He married Mehitable Hol- 
brook, daugliter of William and Elizabeth 
Holbrook, of llingham, Massachusetts. Provi- 
dence, and Smithtield, Rhode Island. He was 
in Mendon, 1672. He was speaker of the 
house of deputies, 1703, member of the town 
council 1705 to 1712, and clerk of the assem- 
bly 1707. He was an ardent supporter of the 
Baptists and expressed himself most decidedly 
against the establishment of a Presbyterian 
church in Rhode Island. His father William 
(2) Sprague (Edward i), died 1675, leaving 
Jonathan (3) Sprague a legacy of sixty acres 
of land in Providence. Jonathan (3) Sprague 
had brother William, who was of Hingham, 
^Massachusetts, and Providence, and was 
prominent in public affairs. John Coggeshall, 
it will be seen, was the great-grandfather of 
Hannah Coggeshall. who married Jonathan 

( 4) Sprague. John Coggeshall was of Essex 
county, England, Boston, Massachusetts, and 
Newport, Rhode Island. He was a silk mer- 
chant. He on June 22, 1632, with thirty-two 
others signed the oath of allegiance, being 
about to depart for New England. Pie brought 
with him his wife, Mary, and children, John. 
Joshua and .Ann. September 10. 1632, he ar- 
rived at Boston in the ship "Lion." He was 
freeman November 6, 1632. He was mem- 
ber of the First Church in Boston and soon 
after was deacon, selectman, 1634, deputy 



22t 



i\lIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



1634-36-37. He was deprived Xuvemljer 2, 
1637, of hi.s seat as deputy for atilirmtng- that 
Ivlr. Wheelwright was innocent and that he 
was persecuted for the truth. March 7, 1638, 
he was at Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He was 
one of the eighteen who signed the compact 
for upholding the truth of uur Lord Jesus 
• Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, 
to be guided and judged thereby April 28, 
1639, he and eight others signed a compact 
preparatory to settling in Newport, Rhode Isl- 
and. IMarch 10, 1640, he was in Newport and 
liad three hundred and eighty-nine acres of 
land recorded as his own, and was with two 
others appointed to lay out Newport. 1640- 
41-42-44, was assistant, 1644 was corporal, 
1647 was chosen moderator, 1647 was presi- 
dent of the colony. He died November 27, 
1647, and was buried on his own land. 

(\'HI) Seth Darling Clarke, son of Ed- 
ward (7) and Lurania (Darling) Clarke, was 
born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, April 30, 
1 80 1. He married, .August 9, 1829, Fannv 
I'eck, born in Barrington, Rhode Island, Sep- 
tember 6, 1805. She was datghter of Joel 
and Luc)- ( Fish ) Peck. Seth Darling Clarke 
resided in Cumberland, Pawtucket, and 1 Har- 
rington, Rhode Island, and .Seekonk. .Massa- 
chusetts. He held tlie office of school commit- 
teeman, surveyor, selectman, and in his earlier 
years was interested in military affairs, serving 
as lieutenant of his company in Rhode Island 
and Massachusetts, under Colonel Nathaniel 
-I'ales and (jeneral George De Wolf. He was 
an active member of the Baptist church at 
Albion in Cumberland as early as 1820. He 
joined the Pawtucket Baptist Church, March 
30, 1833, and the Seekonk Baptist Church in 
1835. The genealogist says of him "He was 
particularly noted for the productions of his 
gardens and fields and orchards. His smiling 
face, genial disposition, and kindly heart will 
long be remembered by those who knew him. 
He was a fit representative of his pure, de- 
voted, and honorable ancestors." He died in 
East Providence, Rhode Island, January 25, 
1885. Mrs. Fanny Clarke was also a staunch 
member of the Baptist church. She died De- 
cember 21, 1875. They had six children. 

Joel Peck (5), the father of Fanny, was the 
son of David (4) and Sarah (Humphrey) 
Peck, and was born in Barrington, August 
28, 1759. He served in the Continental army 
in the Revolution, being a member in Captain 
Thomas Allen's company, 1777, and a member 
of Captain Vial .Allen's company, 1778, besides 
performing other military duty. He died No- 
vember II, 1833. His wife, Lucy (Fish) 



iVck, died March 2, 1864, leaving eight chil- 
dren. 

Lucy I'ish was the daughter of Daniel (4) 
Fish and Barbara Bovven, and was born m 
RehoDoth, June 10, 1774. Daniel (4j Fish 
was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, July 
13' 1735. «"^d was married to Barbara Bowen 
iu iJignton, Massachusetts, April 8, 1760. 
Daniel (4) Fish was son of Daniel (3) Fish, 
who was born in Portsmouth, JMay 17, 1707; 
he was married in Portsmouth to Mary Tall- 
man, (.)ctober 22, 1730. Daniel (3) Fish was 
son of Robert (2) Fish and Mary (Hall) 
Fish. Robert bish and iMary Hall were 
married September 16, 1686. Robert 
Fish (fied 1730. Mary, his wife, died 
June 8, 1735. He was freeman 1686 ; 
lieutenant at the time of his death. Thomas 
(^i) Fish, the ancestor, had wife Mary. She 
died 1699 ; he died 1687. He was of I'orts- 
mouth, Rhode Island, and was a landed 
proprietor, freeman 1655, member of the town 
council 1674. He was a Huguenot, originally 
from France. Alary {^) Tallman, the wife of 
Daniel (4) Fish, was the daughter of James 
Tallman and Hannah Swain of John and 
Mary (Wyer) Swain. James and Hannah 
were married September 14, 1701 ; he died 
1724. She was born 1682 and died 1765. 
James Tallman was a physician. He had 
twelve children by her. He was son of Peter 
Tallman, of Newport and Portsmouth. Peter, 
the father, was freeman 1655, a landed 
proprietor. He was a general solicitor for the 
colony of Rhode Island, 1661, commissioner 
1661-62, and deputy 1662 to 1665. He died 
1708. John and Mary Swain were married 
1662. John Swain was son of Richard Swain, 
of Nantucket, and was born 1633 and died 
1717, He was freeman. May 23, 1666. He 
had eight children, including Hannah Swain. 
Richard Swain, the father, was freeman, May 
13, 1688-89. Mary (Wyer) Swain, the 
mother of Hannah, who married John Swain, 
was daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah Wyer. 
Nathaniel Wyer was of Newbury, 1637; he 
renx)ved to Nantucket and died there March 
I, 1681. He was a Scotchman. The family 
was of good standing in Scotland. Mary 
(Hall) Fish, the mother of Daniel (3) Fish 
and wife of Robert was daughter of Zuriel 
and Elizabeth (Tripp) Hall, of Portsmouth. 
Zuriel Hall died September 5, 1691. Eliza- 
beth Tripp was daughter of John and Mary 
(Paine) Tripp, and was born 1648, and died 
1701. Zuriel Hall was son of William, who 
was born 1631 and who died 1675. Zuriel 
Flail had four children including Mary. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



227 



\\'illiani Hall, the father of Zuriel. had wife 
Mary, wiio died 1680. He was of Portsmouth, 
Rhode Island. He was commissioner 1654- 
63, freeman 1655, deputy 1665 to 1673, and 
member of the town council 1672. He was 
on the committee to treat with certain Indian 
sachems, including- Philip of Mount Hope. 
He left a will which was proved 1675. John 
Tripp, the father of Elizabeth, was b<3rn 1610: 
he died 1678, married Mary Paine, who died 
February 12, 1687. She was the daughter of 
Anthony Paine. He was commissioner 1655 
and freeman the same year in Portsmouth, 
assistant 1670 to 1675, and member of the 
town council many \ears. He held other pub- 
lic offices. He had nine children and a numer- 
ous posterity. Anthony Paine, the father of 
Mary, died 1650. He was an inhabitant of 
Portsmouth. Rhode Island, 1638, and in 1O39 
took the oath of allegfiance to his Majesi\ 
King Charles. He had three children, all 
daughters. 

Barbara ( Bowen) Fish, the wife of Danie! 
(3) Fish was daughter of Obadiah and Bar- 
bara (Martin) l^)Owen, and was born in Reho- 
both, ^Massachusetts, February 10, 1741-42. 
Her father. Obadiah Bowen, was born at 
Rehoboth. September 24, 1708. Her mother, 
Barbara Martin, was born there March 13, 
I" 1 3. They were married January 23, 1730- 
31. The father of Barbara Martin was John 
^lartin, born in Reholjoth, June 10, 1682, died 
at Rehoboth, May 30, 1725. He married 
Mercy Thurber. He was son of John Martin. 
who died at Rehoboth. August 28. 1720. John 
Martin, Sr., married Mercy Billington, Ixirn 
at Plymouth, Massachusetts, and died at 
Rehoboth, September 28, 1718. .Mercy's 
father was P>ancis Billington, a "Mayflower" 
passenger, who was born in England, 1606, 
and died at Middleborough, Mas.sachusetts, 
December 3, 1684. and who married at Ply- 
mouth, Massachusetts, 1634, Christian (Penn) 
Eaton, widow of Francis Eaton, who also 
came in the "Mayflower," 1620. 

Obadiah Bowen, the father of Barbara 
Bowen, was son of James and Elizabeth 
(Ganizey) Bowen, who were married in 
Rehoboth. September 12, 1700. James Bowen 
was son of Obadiah Bowen, Jr., and was born 
in Swansea. Massachusetts, July 29, 1680. 
Obadiah Bowen. the father, was the son of 
Obadiah and was born in Rehoboth, Septem- 
ber 18, 165 1. He married in Swansea, Massa- 
chusetts, July 25, 1677, Abigail Bullock. Oba- 
diah Bowen was born in Swansea, Wales, and 
died in Rehoboth, July 11, 1699. He was son 
of Richard Bowen, Sr., who was one of the 



first purchasers and settlers of Rehoboth, 1643, 
and who was born in iCkx) in .Swansea, Wales, 
lie emigrated to .\nierica, Iiringing his wife 
and sons, Richard and Obadiah. His widow 
died 1675. .Abigail Bullock, the wife of Oba- 
diah Bullock, was the daughter of Richard 
Bullock, of Rejioboth. and was born there 
August 29, 1657. 

Richard Bullock and Elizabeth Ingraham, 
her parents, were married in Rehoboth, Aug- 
ust 4, i(^4j. He was also one of the purchas- 
ers in Rehoboth, 1643. She died January 7, 
1O59. Richard Ingraham. the father of Eliza- 
beth, settled in Rehoboth, 1645, Elizabeth 
Garnzey, who married James Bowen. men- 
tioned above, was daughter of John Garnzey, 
and was horn in Dorchester, Massachusetts, 
-April 23, 1682. John Garnzey was son of 
Henry Garnze\-. who was in Dorchester in 
1655 and had office of bailiff. He died there 
.August 13, 1692. John Martin, who was born 
in Rehoboth, June 10, 1682, and was father of 
Ilarbira Martin, had wife .Mercy Thurber, 
whom he married in Rehoboth, -April 4. 1713. 
Alercy was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, 
and was the daughter of Richard and .Mary 
(Stafford) Thurber. Her mother. .Mercy 
Stafford, was born July 8, 1668. Mercy Staf- 
ford was daughtc-r of Samirel .StatYord, born 
1636, and died March 20, 1718. and his wife 
Mercy Westcott Stafford, who died .March 
25. 170CJ. Mercy Westcott was daughter of 
Stukeley Westcott. Samuel Stafford was of 
Warwick, Rhode Island. He was deputy from 
1670 to 1705, assistant 1674-86, overseer of 
the poor, 1687. Samuel Stafford was son of 
Thomas Staft'ord of Newport and Warwick, 
Rhode Island. He was born in Warwickshire. 
1605. He died in Warwick, Rhode Island, 
1677. His wife Elizabeth died also in 1677. 
He was a miller. He was in Plymouth, Mas- 
sachusetts, 1626, and built the first mill in the 
country for grinding corn by water. Alay 30, 
1638, his name appears in the list of inhabi- 
tants adniitted to Newport. Freeman 1655, 
deputy 1673. He was a large landed proprie- 
tor. 

Stukeley Westcott, the father of Mercy, was 
born 1592. He died January 12, 1677. He 
came to Salem, Massachusetts, and next to 
Providence and to Warwick, Rhode Island. 
Was freeman 1636. He was one of the twelve 
original members of the First Baptist Church, 
organized at Providence, Rhode Island, 1639. 
He was at Warwick, 1648, commissioner 163 1 
to 1660, surveyor of highways 1652 to 1656, 
assistant 1653, member of the town council, 
1654, and was a landed proprietor. His will 



228 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



was dated 1677. He left four children, inclwd- 
ing his daughter Mercy (_ Stafford j. Richard 
Thurber, who married Mercy Stafford in 
Warwick, Rhode Island, was son of Thomas 
Thurber and was born in Swansea, Massa- 
chusetts, 1678. Thomas Thurber, the father, 
was married to Ruth Buzigut, of Warwick, 
February 23, 1677. Thomas was son of John 
Thurber, who with his wife Priscilla in the 
year 1671 came with six of their eight children 
including Thomas from a parish called Stan- 
ton in the county of Lincoln, England, one 
hundred and twenty-nine miles from London 
and settled in Rehoboth. David (4) Peck the 
father of Joel (5) Peck was son of Nathaniel 
(3) and was born in Barringtoii, Rhode Isl- 
and, November, 1707, and was baptized in 
infancy. He died March 4, 1771. He was 
an ardent supporter of the Congregational 
church. He married Sarah Humphrey, Sep- 
tember 20, 1744, and was by her father of 
twelve children. Sarah Humphrey, the wife of 
David (4) Peck, was daughter of John and 
Rebecca (Perry) Humphrey, and was born in 
Rehoboth, January 13, 1725-26. Her parents, 
John and Rebecca, were married there, March 
17, 1724-25. John Humphrey was son of 
Samuel and Mary Humphrey and was born in 
Weymouth, Massachusetts, February 19, 
1684. Samuel (3) Humphrey was son of 
Jonas (2) and Martha Humphrey and was 
born in Weymouth, 1650. Jonas (2) was 
born in England, 1620, freeman, 1653. He 
had at least seven children. He died and left 
will under date August 6, 1692, in which he 
names his children and certain granchildren. 
He was son of Jonas (i) Humphrey, who was 
of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1634. He was 
a tanner, whose pits were employed by six 
generations of most worthy descendants. He 
was from Wendover, county of Bucks, where 
he was the constable of that place. He came 
with his wife Frances and children, James and 
Jonas and others. 

Samuel Perry, the father of Rebecca, was 
son of Anthony and Elizabeth, and was born 
in Rehoboth, December 10, 1648; he died 
there April 13, 1706. Anthony Perry, the 
father of Samuel, was of Rehoboth, 1648, and 
had wife Elizabeth, by whom he had six chil- 
dren, including Samuel. He was representa- 
tive 1674. He was born in England, 161 5, 
and died in Rehoboth, March i, 1683. M'arj' 
Miller, who was mother of Rebecca Perry, 
was wife of Samuel Perry, and was married 
to him December 12, 1676. She was daughter 
of John Miller, Sr., and Elizabeth Miller. 
John Miller was one of the first proprietors 



and settlers of Rehoboth, 1643. Elizabetli, his 
wife, died April 18, 1680. 

Nathaniel (3) i'eck, the father of David 
(,4) was son ot Nathaniel (2) Peck. He set- 
tled upon lands left him by his father. He 
was a prominent man and held various public 
offices. His name is entered upon the records 
for several years as Lieutenant Nathaniel, and 
afterwards as Deacon Nathaniel Peck. He 
married Judith Smith, of Rehoboth, July 18, 
1725, by whom he had seven children, includ- 
ing David (4) Peck. Judith Smith was the 
daughter of Daniel and Esther Chickering, 
and was born February 7, 1678. Daniel Smith, 
Esquire, her father, and Esther Chickering 
were married in Rehoboth, October 20, 1O59. 
Esther died June 6, 1687. Daniel Smith died 
April 28, 1692. Esther was daughter of Fran- 
cis and Ann Chickering, of Dedham, and was 
born November 9, 1643. Francis Chickering 
came to Dedham, May 13, 1640, and was rep- 
resentative, 1644. He came to this country, 
1737, from Fressingfield, in the north part of 
the county of Suffolk, England, bringing wife 
Ann, daughter of John Fisk, of England, and 
sister of John Fisk, the first minister of Wen- 
ham, with his children, Ann and Mary, the 
latter of whom, it will be seen above, married 
John Aletcalf, March 23, 1647. Francis 
Chickering died October 2, 1658 ; his wife 
Ann died December 10, 1649. 

Nathaniel (2) Peck, the father of Nathaniel 
(3), was born at Hingham, Massachusetts, 
and was baptized there, October 31, 1641 ; he 
removed from there with his father's family 
to Rehoboth, now a part of Barrington, Rhode 
Island. He settled on lands purchased from 
Indian sachem, Osamquin, and his son Wam- 
setta. Nathaniel (2) Peck was buried Aug- 
ust 12, 1676, and his wife Deliverance, May i, 
1675. He left three children including 
Nathaniel (3) Peck. He was the fifth son 
of Joseph (i) Peck, the ancestor who was 
baptized in Beccles, Suffolk county, England, 
April 30, 1587. Joseph (i) was the son of 
Robert Peck, being a descendant in the 
twenty-first generation from John Peck, of 
Belton, Yorkshire, England. Joseph Peck 
settled at Hingham, Norfolk county, England. 
In 1638 he and other Puritans with his 
brother. Rev. Robert Peck, their pastor, fled 
from the persecution of the church to this 
country. They came over in the ship "Dili- 
gent," of Ipswich. He appears, says his 
genealogist, to have belonged to that class in 
England known as gentlemen or gentry, en- 
titled to coat armor, etc., who ranked next to 
baronets. He remained at Hingham, Massa- 





^lA^ 



tZ^ ^/u7.-^^^Al^ 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



229 



chusetts, seven years, when he removed to 
Seekonk. He was one of the principal men 
there, as he had been in Hingham, as well as 
one of the wealthiest. He died December 23, 
1663, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 
(IX) Augustus Peck Clarke, the son of 
Seth Darling and Fanny (Peck) Clarke, de- 
scendant of the foregoing ancestors, was bom 
in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, September 24, 
1833. In boyhood he saw considerable of 
country life, attending the schools where his 
parents resided, in Providence and Bristol 
counties, in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, 
with opportunities in early manhood of being 
a teacher of some of the various grades of 
instruction demanded for public education. 
He completed his classical course in the prepar- 
atory University School of Providence and 
entered Brown University with advanced stu- 
dies, in September, 1856, and afterward re- 
ceived the degree of A.M. in the class of 1861. 
Before leaving college he began the study of 
medicine under the direction of Dr. Lewis L. 
Miller, of Providence, who at that time was by 
far the most eminent surgeon and physician of 
Rhode Island, and entering the Harvard 
Medical School he graduated there with the 
degree of M. D. in the class of 1862. In the 
autumn of 1861, after an examination as to 
his professional qualifications by a medical 
board at .Albany, New York, he was appointed 
assistant surgeon of the Sixth New York Cav- 
alry and immediately entered the military serv- 
ice. He served with the Army of the Potomac 
in the Peninsular Campaign, conducted by 
General McGellan in 1862. He was at the 
siege at Yorktown, Virginia, and in the sub- 
sequent engagements including those of 
Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mill and Peach Or- 
chard, and in that concatenation of battles 
lasting seven days, fought in the swamps of 
the Chickahominy. At the battle of Savage's 
Station, Virginia, June 29, 1862, he was made 
prisoner with some six thousand wounded that 
were not able to be removed from the great 
hospitals established at that place. Dr. Qarke 
■was allowed, however, to continue his profes- 
sional service as surgeon with the wounded 
and thus remained with them until all were 
exchanged. On May 5, 1863, he was pro- 
moted to the rank of full surgeon of the same 
regiment and served likewise in all the opera- 
tions of the cavalry, assisting in the Gettys- 
burg campaign and movements that led to the 
success of that battle. He also served with 
the cavalry corps in the Rappahannock cam- 
paign and in other operations of the Army of 
the Potomac undertaken by General Meade 



during that year. At the opening of the cam- 
paign of General Grant, who was at that time 
head of all the armies, in the spring of 1864, 
Dr. Qarke was appointed surgeon-in-chief of 
the Second Brigade of the First Cavalry Divi- 
sion, the most im])ortaiit of the cavalry Gen- 
eral Sheridan had under his command, for the 
battles in the Wilderness, and for invading the 
enemy's lines of communication with Rich- 
mond and the outer works of that stronghold. 
Dr. Qarke was also present at the battles of 
Trevillian Station, Winchester, and Cedar 
Creek, where the cavalry won for themselves 
and for Sheridan immortal fame. During the 
campaign of 1864-65, he was appointed sur- 
geon-in-chief of all the First Cavalry Division 
and accompanied General Sheridan in his co- 
lossal raid from Winchester to Petersburg, and 
in all the other engagements, until the surren- 
der of the enemy at Appomattox, Virginia, 
April 9, 1865. His arduous duties were con- 
tinued until the Division was disbanded, July 
I, 1865. During this service of four years. Dr. 
Clarke participated in eighty-two battles and 
engagements. He was frequently compliment- 
ed in orders and reports made by his superior 
officers, who recommended him for brevet 
appointments as lieutenant-colonel and as 
colonel, "for faithful and meritorious conduct, 
during his term of ser\-ice." He also won the 
following recommendation : 

"He.\DQU.\RTERS I.ST C.w. Divisiox, 
"Sheridan's C.w., July i, 1865. 
"Hon. E. M. St.\nton, 

"Secretary of War, 
"Sir: * * * Surgeon Augustus P. 
Clarke served on my Staff as Surgeon-in- 
Chief of Brigade, for two years, and in the 
closing campaign as Surgeon-in-Chief of Divi- 
sion. 

"In the hour of battle he was always at the 
front, attending to the care and removal of the 
wounded and freely exposed himself when 
duty required. He was known as one of the 
most efficient officers of the Medical Staff of 
the Army." 

("Signed) Thomas C. De\in, 
"Brevet Major General Vols." 

.After the completion of his military service 
in 1865 Dr. Clarke travelled abroad and spent 
much time in the various medical schools and 
hospitals inLondon, Paris, Leipzig, and in other 
great medical centres for the purpose of fitting 
himself more particularly for obstetrical, gj'ne- 
cological and surgical work. Upon his return 
in 1866 he removed to Cambridge, \vhcre he 



230 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



soon established a reputation in the general 
practice of medicine, in which he has since 
continued. He is a member of the Massachu- 
setts Medical Society and has been a member 
of its council. He has been an active member 
in the Gynecological Societ)- of Boston and 
was its president in 1891-92; member of the 
American Academy of Medicine and was the 
chairman of the committee of arrangements 
for its meeting in Boston, 1906 ; member of 
the American Association of Obstetricians and 
Gynecologists, and of the American Public 
Health Association. He is a member of the 
American Medical Association, of which he 
was a vice-president in 1 895-96. and a delegate 
from that body tO' the British Medical Associa- 
tion in England, 1890, and chairman of the 
Section on Physiology, 1896-97 ; member of 
the Association of Military Surgeons of the 
United States, member of the Boston Medical 
Library Association. He is one of the found- 
ers of the Cambridge Society for Medical Im^ 
provement and was its secretary from 1869 to 
1875. He was also a member of the Ninth 
International Medical Congress at Washing- 
ton, D. C, in 1887, of the Tenth Inter- 
national Medical Congress at Berlin, 
Germany, in 1890, of the eleventh at Rome, 
Italy, in 1894, and of the twelfth at Moscow, 
Russia, in 1897, and was chosen honorary 
president of the section on Gynecology of the 
Moscow Congress. He was member of the 
committee to organize the Pan-American 
Medical Congress, comprising the medical 
profession of the Western Hemisphere and was 
chosen vice-president of that body for 1893; 
he was also vice-president of the same Con- 
gress held in Mexico, F. D.. 1896. He is 
member of the Cambridge Qub and was di- 
rector of that influential body for 1897. He 
was president, in 1890-91, of the Cambridge 
Art Circle, once a most vigorous and influen- 
tial art society. He is a charter member of 
Post 56, Grand Army of the Republic, a mem- 
ber of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion 
of the United States, and was a member of its 
board of officers for Massachusetts, 1895-96, 
member of the Brown Alumni .Association and 
of the Harvard Mtedical Alumni Association, 
member of the New England Historic-Genea- 
logical Society and member of the Society of 
Sons of the American Revolution. In order 
to assist in the medical education of women 
until other and larger facilities for women 
could be had, he accepted the position of pro- 
fessor of Gynecology and Abdominal Surgery, 

1893, and the position of Dean of the Faculty, 

1894, of the College of Physicians and Sur- 



geons, and served in these capacities until 
1900, when he resigned. He was member of 
the Cambridge city council. 1871-73-74, for 
the last year an alderman ; and during his 
service in the city council was chairman of the 
department of health and member of the com- 
mittee on finance, on police, and on other im- 
portant committees, but declined further politi- 
cal office. He has been member of various 
fraternal orders, Cambridge Lodge of Odd 
Fellows, Amicable Lodge of Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, Cambridge Royal Arch Chap- 
ter, Boston Council of Royal and Select 
Masters, Boston Lafayette Lodge of Perfec- 
tion, Boston Commandery, Knights Templar ; 
inember of the Baptist church, and has served 
on the standing and other committees. 

Dr. Clarke still enjoys a high reputation in 
general practice, though he has for a long 
time been especially engaged in the practice 
of the more important branches of surgery 
and gynecology. He is a man of great and 
varied interests in life, wide information and 
broad mind. He is particularly fond of mod- 
ern languages, more especially. Spanish, 
French and German : the knowledge of these 
he fortunately acquired during his early years. 
After the close of the Medical Congress in 
Berlin, he travelled with his wife and daugh- 
ters through the continent, including London 
and the British Isles, Edinburgh, Paris, and 
Vienna, visiting not only the hospitals and col- 
leges in the larger cities, but the art galleries 
and other points of interest. He has also 
travelled quite extensively in Russia, as also 
in the United States and in the Dominion of 
Canada, and in the Republic of Mexico. 
While pursuing, in 1865-66, medical studies 
under Messieurs Lemaire, of Paris, Crede of 
Leipzig, Germany, and Sir James Young 
Simpson, of Edinburgh, he became deeply 
impressed with the importance of carrying on 
successful surgical work by adhering more 
strictly to antiseptic measures, which had been 
to some extent previously employed for the 
treatment of wounds incident to the cavalry 
service during the war 1861-65. He thus be- 
came one of the earliest advocates of this 
method of procedure in this country. Dr. 
Clarke is noted for his scholarly productions 
and for his facile pen. In the midst of the 
multitudinous duties of his professional work, 
he has been able to make important researches 
relating to gynecology and abdominal surgery. 
He is the author of more than two hundred 
technical papers on medical subjects, many of 
which have required a large amount of re- 
search and studv and have been read before 



2*1IDDLESEX COUXTY. 



231 



various medical societies and medical con- 
gresses and published in the leading; medical 
journals, and many jiave been translated into 
foreign publications. His specialty has been 
obstetrics and gj'necology. in which he is one 
of the leading authorities. He has also con- 
tributed to the Cambridge newspapers and 
furnished various periodical sketches of his 
foreign travels. He wrote "A \'isit to Pom- 
peii and \'esuvius," in the Cambridge Chroni- 
cle in 1892; ".\ Cavalry Surgeon's Experi- 
ence in the liattle of the Wilderness." pub- 
lished in the United Service Magazine, 1894, 
'"Closing Battle of the Late War," Cambridge 
Tribune, May 30. 1884, "Historical Sketch" 
of the part taken at the battle at Gettysburg 
by his regiment of cavalry, which was the first 
to meet and to arrest the movements of the 
combined forces of the Confederate armies on 
that historic field, July 1-3, 1863. This was 
written for the New York Monument Com- 
mission for the Battlefields of (iettysburg and 
Chattanooga and published in \'ol. 3, of the 
report of the Commission, ux^o. "A Tribute 
(a poem) to Dr. Morrill Wyman," on the 
occasion of the Fiftieth .\nniver.sary of his 
practice, 1887. "A Tribute (poem) to the 
Memory of Dr. John I'.. Taylor," read at the 
Cambridge Club at the annual dinner at 
Young's Hotel and published in the Cam- 
bridge Press, 1889. Also a poem which he 
read on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
Cambridge Society for Medical Improvement, 
published in the Cambridge Tribune, 1893. 
"Clarke's Kindred Genealogies," 1896 "Book 
of Poems," 1896. .Also a volume, 1905. of 
Transactions of the Gynecological Society of 
Boston, from notes taken while secretary upi 
to 1905. 

Dr. Clarke married, October 23. 1861, Mary 
Hannah Gray, herself an author and poet of 
note, daughter of Gideon and Hannah (Ome) 
Gray, descendant through her father in the 
seventh generation of Edward Gray, Ply- 
mouth, who married .Mary Winslow. daughter 
of ^lary Chilton, of the "Mayflower" fame, 
and the eighth in descent from George Soule, 
who was also a passenger of the "Mayflower," 
1620. Edward Gray was also the ancestor of 
Robert Gray, the discoverer, who sailed in his 
ship "Columbia," of Boston, the first merchant- 
man flying the Stars and .'^tripes to visit the 
northwest coast of .America and the first to 
circumnavigate the world. .Mrs. Clarke died 
May 30, 1892. By this union he had two 
daughters, Inez Louise Clarke, born June 26, 
1868, a graduate of Radcliffe College, 1891, 
and of Tufts Medical School, 1904. and 



Genevieve Clarke, torn Febn;ary 14, 1870, 
educated in the same collegiate institutions. 
They are members of the Massachusetts Medi- 
cal .Society and of the .American .Academy of 
Aledicine, and are in the practice of the profes- 
sion. 



The .Smalls of England, prior to 
S.M.XLL the colonization of America, 
were for the most part residents 
of Dartmouth in Devonshire, and records 
show that prominent men of the name were 
living there in the reign of Edward III. There 
is evidence that they were related to the Cham- 
pernownes. descendants of the ancient Byzan- 
tine kings and a ])owerful Devonshire family 
in the time of Queen Klizabcth ; also to Sir 
Ferdinando ( lorgcs. Sir Hum])hrev Gilbert 
and .Sir Walter Raleigh. The .American Smalls 
are the posterity of at least five emigrants, all 
of whom are sup])osed to ha\e come from 
Dartmouth between the years ^132 and 1640. 
Three of these were named John, and the 
others were William and Edward. William 
settled in A'irginia, while the others located in 
New England, and it is more than i)robabIe 
that some of them, if not all, were nearly re- 
lated to each other. One of the Johns settled 
on Cape Cod, and with others foimded the 
town of Eastham. The particular branch of 
the family aljout to be considered is descended 
from Edward. 

About the year 1672. Edward .Small came to 
New England with a cfimpany of colonists 
under the auspices of his kinsman. Sir I-'erdi- 
nando (iorges, and proceeded to develop the 
(iorges patent in Maine. It is believed that 
Edward was a brotiier of the John Small who 
settled in Eastham. Edward and his associ- 
ates founded the town of Piscataqua, covering 
a large area which was subsec|i;ently divided 
into four townships — Kittery. Eliot, I'.erwick 
and South I5crwick. He was a magistrate 
there in 1645, but two years later .sold a ])or- 
tion of his land and left Piscata(|ua, probably 
going to Dover, New Hampshire. There are 
some reasons for believing that he eventually 
returned to England. His two sons, Edward 
and Francis, who accompanied him from the 
mother country, remained in Piscataqua : and 
Edward, who was the eldest, resided at one 
time in Dover. 

Ca])tain Francis Small, youngest son of the 
senior Edward, was born in I-lngland in \()20, 
and was named for his kinsman. Captain I'ran- 
cis Champernowne. In 1648 he was a resident 
of Dover, but ])revious to i'')57 he removed to 



^32 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Falmouth, Maine, and in July of the latter 
year he purchased of an Indian chief, Scittery- 
gusset, a large tract of land called Capisic, ly- 
ing in the immediate vicinity of Portland. In 
1663 he acted as attorney for the people of 
Falmouth in some of their governmental dis- 
putes, and Cape Small Point was named for 
him. In 1668 he was residing in Kittery. He 
was probably the first white man to explore 
■what was known as the Ossipee lands, and 
traded quite extensively with the Indians, es- 
tablishing a trading post at what is now Cor- 
nish, Maine, and, having sold them goods on 
credit, they determined to kill him in order 
to avoid payment. The chief, who was un- 
able to control his people, informed Small of 
the plot, and he escaped. This same chief fol- 
lowed him to Kittery, and made good the 
losses he had sustained by selling to him for 
a nominal sum the entire Ossipee tract con- 
sisting of two hundred and fifty thousand 
acres. The deed of this tract, which was exe- 
cuted November 28, 1668, is now in the pos- 
session of Captain Francis Small's descend- 
ant, Lauriston \V. Small, the family historian. 
At the breaking-uut of the Indian wars in the 
latter part of the seventeenth century. Captain 
Small placed his interests in the hands of his 
son, Samuel, and with the rest of his family 
went to Truro, Cape Cod, for the purpose, no 
doubt, of joining his uncle. In 171 1 he con- 
veyed the Ossipee tract to his son, Samuel, 
and his death occurred at Truro, or Province- 
town, at the age of about ninety-three years. 
In Maine he was known as the "great land 
owner." The Christian name of his wife was 
Elizabeth, and her family name was probably 
Leighton. His children were Edward, Fran- 
cis, Samuel, Benjamin, Daniel and Elizabeth. 
Samuel Small, son of Captain Francis and 
Elizabeth Small, was born at Kittery in 1666. 
He spent his entire life in the vicinity of his 
birthplace, and was living in 1737. He mar- 
ried Mrs. Elizabeth Chadbourne, nee Heard, 
daughter of James Heard, and widow of 
James Chadbourne. He received from his 
father the title to the Ossipee tract, as prev- 
iously stated, and was therefore in easy cir- 
cumstances. His children were: Elizabeth, 
Samuel and Joseph. 

Deacon Samuel .Small, second child and 
eldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Heard- 
Chadbourne) Small, was born in Kittery, 
April 17, 1700. Prior to his majority he set- 
tled in Scarboro, Maine, wh'^re he spent the 
remainder of his life, and what is now knovvn 
as the Robinson house, standing near the 
Black Point Cemetery, is supposed to have 



been his dwelling place. He was the first dea- 
con of the Congregational church organized 
in 1728. When the CJssipee tract was divided 
into townships, one of them was named Fran- 
cisburgh in honor of the redoubtable Captain 
who acquired it from the friendly chieftain, but 
the settlers saw fit to change it to Cornish. 
Deacon Small was chosen town clerk of Scar- 
boro in 1727, and with the ".xception of one 
year (1775) when he was busy making prep- 
arations for the Revolutionary war, he re- 
tained that office until 1779, a period of over 
fifty years. He was exceedingly patriotic, 
and the town record books of the Revolution- 
ary period contained in his handwriting a 
copy of the Declaration of Independence. 
When seventy-eight years old he was chair- 
man of the local committee of correspond- 
ence, inspection and safety, and when seven- 
ty-nine he served upon the "-ommittee which 
went to Cambridge to participate in organiz- 
ing the state of iMassachusetts. He frequent- 
ly served as a selectman, also as moderator at 
town meetings, acting in that capacity for the 
last time when eighty-six, and his last service 
on a town committee was performed at the 
age of ninety years. The date of his death 
does not appear in the records at hand. Prior 
to his sixteenth birthday he was married, in 
Kittery, to -Ann Hatch, and the^r children 
were: Samuel, .Anna, John, Joshua, Elizabeth, 
Sarah, Benjamin, James and Mary. 

Major John Small, third child and eldest 
son of Deacon Samuel and .\nna (Hatch) 
Small, was born in Scarboro, January 19, 
1722. When a voung man he became an of- 
ficer in the colonial forces under the crown, 
was subsequently detailed as surveyor in the 
employ of the government, and made a number 
of important surveys which are now on rec- 
ord at .Alfred and Portland. In 1762 while 
surveying a military road frmn the waters of 
the Kennebec river to Quebec, he was acci- 
dentally killed by one of his command who 
mistook his military hat for the nose of a 
bear. .April i, 1748. he was married in Scar- 
boro to Sarah Atkins, who died prior to Octo- 
ber 12, 1752, when he was again married in 
Falmouth to the beautiful Mary McKenney 
(called the fairy-born) who was widely known 
both for her unusually attractive personal ap- 
pearance and her many rare accomplish- 
ments. Major Small was the father of eight 
children: John and Edward, who were of his 
first union : Zaccheus, Francis, Henry, Daniel 
and Rachel (twins), and Dorcas. His widow 
married for her second husband a Mr. Has- 
kins, bv whom she had a daughter Sallv. Her 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



233 



last years were spent with her son, Henry 
Small, in Liniington, Maine. 

Henry Small, son of Major John and Mary 
(McKenney) ."^mall, was born in Scarboro, 
October 29, 1757. Left fatherless at the age 
of five years, he grew to manhood in his na- 
tive town and was eduated by his mother. 
When eighteen years old he received news 
of the battle of Lexington, while at church on 
Sunday morning, and immediately entering 
the Continental service he remained in the 
army some three years. In 1787 he settled in 
Limington, where an uncle was then living, 
and selecting land west of Shaving Hill, 
which his great-great-grandfather received 
from the Indian chief, he domiciled his family 
in an old hunting camp while he constructed 
a more substantial dwelling. Here he cleared 
a large farm, undergoing the drudgery and 
privations common to the pioneer, but he was 
industrious and thrifty, and his latter years 
were spent in comparative ease and comfort. 
Changes in the location of highways twice 
compelled him to erect new residences in or- 
der to avoid being isolated from his neighbors 
and the centre of population. June 16. 1778, 
he was married, in Scarboro. to Elizabeth 
Van Dam. who was born in that town, No- 
vember 23. 1758. and was a woman of unus- 
ual ability and superior mental capacity. 
Wlien she left her comfortable home to enter 
the wilderness as the wife of a ])ioneer, she 
boasted that some day she would return for 
a visit driving a pair of horses. Most ably 
and faithfully did she assist her husband 
through the struggle for prosperity, and when 
at length circumstances permitted she drove 
triumphantly back to Scarljoro in a new yel- 
low sleigh drawn by a pair of speedy animals 
with all the necessary accoutrements, includ- 
ing two laprobes and two strings of bells. 
Henry Small died November g, 1826, and his 
wife died June 13, 1841. On June 5, 1849, 
their remains were removed to the family 
tomb, which had been constructed on the site 
of the cellar of their original pioneer home in 
Limington. They were the parents of twelve 
children: Abigail, Mary, John. Francis. Hum- 
phrey. Hlizabeth, Fanny. .Sally. Dorcas, Hen- 
ry, Theodosia and Joseph. 

Francis Small, second son and fourth child 
of Henry and Elizabeth (Van Dam) Small, 
was born in Limington. He was a farmer 
and a stone-mason, and about the year 1844 
he removed from Limington to Windham. 
Maine. In his religious faith he was a Con- 
gregationalist. He married Dolly Libby, a 
native of Limington, and had a family of ten 



children, of whom the only one now living is 
Antanda, who is the wife of James M. -Allen 
and resided in Westbrook, Maine. The others 
were: .Sophronia, Otis, Martha, Abigail, Ly- 
dia. -Mary Ann. I'rancis. Louisa and Charles 
F'reenian. 

Charles Freeman Small, ninth child and 
youngest son of b'rancis and Dolly (Libby) 
Small, was born in Limington, June 10, 1830. 
His education was acquired in the public 
schools, and at the age of eighteen years he 
entered mercantile pursuits as a clerk in his 
brother's grocery store in Boston, continuing 
in that capacity for several years. Having 
accjuireil a good knowledge of the business, 
he established himself in trade on I'inckney 
street, in the aristocratic Beacon Hill district, 
about 1865, and for a period of thirty years 
conducted an extensive provision business, 
which proved highly successful. In 1895 he 
retired from active business pursuits, and 
spent the remaining years of his life in rest 
and recreation at his pleasant home in Mai- 
den, where he had established his residence 
some twenty years previous. His death oc- 
curred August 20, 1903. In politics he was 
a Republican, but never participated actively 
in public affairs. His religious affiliations 
were with the Universalists. 

Mr. Small was married, in Boston, in 1858, 
to Miss Mary Livermore Glover, who was 
born in .Manchester, New Hampshire. Au- 
gust 6. 1837, daughter of Ephraim Terry and 
Mary W. (Sleeper) Glover. .Mrs. Small is a 
descenilant in the ninth generation of Thom- 
as and Margery (Deane) Glover, the English 
ancestor of most of the Glovers in .America, 
and an account of the early history of the 
family in the mother country will be found 
in an article on the Dyer family wmch ap- 
pears elsewhere in this work. Her first an- 
cestors in .America were Henry and Abigail 
Glover, the former of whom was the third 
son of Thomas and Margery. Henry was 
born in the parish of Rainhill, town of Pres- 
cott. Lancashire, in 1603. emigrated to New 
England in 1642, accompanied by his family, 
and settled in that part of Dedham. Massa- 
chusetts, which is now Medfield. He was 
made a freeman in Dedham. received several 
grants of lands, and died there in 1665. His 
younger children were born in Mqdfield, but 
their names are not in the town records, with 
the exception of his son Henry. 

Henry (2) Glover, son of Henry and .\bi- 
gail Glover, was probably born in Dedham. 
He was living in Boston in 1660. and went 
from there to Milton, where he died .April 



234 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



26, 1714. at the age of seventy-two years. The 
Christian name of his wife was Hannah. • She 
was admitted to the church at Miilton, Rev. 
Peter Thatcher pastor. August 24, 1684, and 
died there September, 1729. aged seventy- 
nine years. Their children were Thomas, 
Hannah, Elizabeth, Henry, Sarah, Mary, Abi- 
gail, Alice, Edward and Francis. 

Edward Glover, third son and ninth child 
of Henry and Hannah Glover, was born in 
Milton, April 26, 1681, and died there May 
14, 1745, leaving a widow and six children. 
April 26, 1718, he married for his first wife 
Sarah Gill, of Milton, who died February i, 
1740, and on October 24 of the following year 
he married Mrs. Mary Bake, a widow. His 
children, all of his first union, were: Edward, 
Hannah, Mary, John, Moses and Henry. 

John Glover, fourth child and second son 
of Edward and Sarah (Gill) Glover, was born 
in Milton. January 23, 1726. He inherited a 
portion of the family estate, and occupied it 
until his death. He served in the French 
and Indian war (1755-7). survived the war- 
ships of that sanguinary struggle, and return- 
ing to his home in Milton, died suddenly, Oc- 
tober 17, 1739. He married Abigail Hohnes, 
and she bore him four children: John, Lem- 
uel, Edward and Abijah. 

John Glover, eldest son and child of John 
and Abigail (Holmes) CJlover, was born in 
Milton, ilay 31, 1753. He went to Lunen- 
burg, Massachusetts, w'hence he removed to 
Grafton, Vermont, in 1799, owning farms in 
both of these places, and from the last-named 
he returned to Massachusetts, finally pur- 
chasing a farm in Randolph, not far from his 
birthplace. He died in Randolph. July 22. 
1829. He married Rachel Littlefield, who 
was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts, 
daughter of Moses Littlefield, and she died 
in Grafton, Vermont, July 22, 1799. He is 
said to have married again, at Randolph,, Bet- 
sey Alann. His wife Rachel bore him ten 
children: Polly, Betsey (who died young), 
Edward, John. Lucy, Betsey, Abijah, Lemuel, 
Benjamin and William. Four were born in 
Milton and the others in Lunenburg. 

Benjamin Glover, fifth son and ninth child 
of John and Rachel (Littlefield) Glover, was 
born in Lunenburg, December 30, 1788. His 
boyhood was spent in Grafton, Vermont, and 
when a young man he settled in Harvard, 
Massachusetts. In 1812 he enlisted in the 
LTnited States army, in which he served 
through the second war with Great Britain, 
and while on his return was accidentally 
drowned while crossing a bridge. He was 



married July 16, 1810, to Polly Terrw a na- 
tive of Lebanon, Connecticut, and a repre- 
sentative of the noted Terry family of that 
state. Besides a widow, Benjamin Glover 
left one sot:, Ephraim Terry. His widow 
married for her second husband Thomas Liv- 
ermore, E?q., of Boston, and resided at the 
West End. 

Ephraim Terry Glover, only child of Benja- 
min and Polly ( Terry) Glover, was born at 
Harvard, Massachusetts, in 1812. Having 
served an apprenticeship at the machinist's 
trade, he went to Manchester, New Hamp- 
shire, where he plied his calling in the mills of 
that place, and he died at Concord, from the 
effects of a sunstroke. In 1836 he married 
Mary Webster Sleeper, of Chester, New 
Hampshire, and she died, leaving three chil- 
dren: Mary Livermore. who became the wife 
of Charles Freeman Small, as previously 
stated: Martha S., born November 7, 1838; 
and Thomas Livermore, born July 10, 1842, 
served in the civil war, participating in the 
battle of Bull Run, and died at the Seminary 
Hospital, Germantown, District of Columbia. 
September 15. 1862. 

Mrs. Small is the mother of two children: 
Louise, born in Boston, November 29, i860, 
married Ernest Lovejoy Fuller, son of L. C. 
Fuller, ex-mayor of ^lalden: and Charles 
Thomas, born in Boston, April 17, 1862. Mr. 
and Mrs. Fuller, who reside at Melrose High- 
lands, have tw"o children: Loren, born June 
22. 1888: and Everett Small, born September 
II. 1893. Charles T. Small is associated in 
business with his brother-in-law, E. L. Fuller, 
under the firm name of the Franklin Ruliber 
Compau}-, with a factory in Maiden, and a 
wholesale and retail establishment on Sum- 
mer street, Boston. He married Inez V. 
Yale of Maiden, and has one son, Charles W., 
born October 12, 1886. 



John Gav, the immigrant ancestor 

GAY "of Edward Gay, of M'alden. Aliddle- 

sex corntv. Afassachusetts, and of 

many of the Gays in New England, emigrated 

to America about 1630. and settled first at 

Watertown. 

(II) Samuel Gay. son of John Gay, the im- 
migrant, was born March 10. 1639. 

(III) Timothy Gay, son of Samuel Gay, 
was born .September 15, 1674, 

(IV) Timothy Gay (2), son of Timothy 
Gay, was born December 29, 1703. 

(V) Timothy Gay (3), son of Timothy Gay 
(2), was born July 30, 1733. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



235 



(\'l) I'Lbenezfr Gay, son of Timothy (ja\' 
(3), was born in Dedhani, Marcli 17, 1764. 

(\ II) Ira Gay, son of Ebenezer Gay, was 
born October 17, 1790. He was married July 
25, 1813, to Mary \\liitc, and they resided 
first at Pawtucket. Rhotle Island, and after- 
wards in Nashua, New Hampshire. Ira (jay 
died .August 20, 1837. His wife died October 
15, 1865. Ira and" .Alary (White) Gay had 
tliirtecn children, and the ])arents and some of 
the children were mcmlx'rs of the Olive Street 
Congregational Cliurch in Nashua, New 
Hampshire. Ira Gay was a machinist anrl in- 
ventor. He possessed a mechanical genius of 
the first order, and made many valuable im- 
provements in manufacturing machinery. For 
several years he was agent of the Nashua 
Manufacturing Company, and at the time of 
his death was a director of tlie Nashua and 
Lowell Railroad, and one of a committee to 
superintend the building of the road. He was 
the first clerk and one of the first directors of 
the .\moskeag Manufacturing Company of 
Manchester, New Hampshire. 

(\ III) Edward Gay, son of Ira and Mary 
(White) Gay, was born in Nashua, New 
Hampshire. October 26, 1836. He prepared 
for college at South Brookfield. .Massachusetts. 
and Lowell, Massachusetts, and was graduated 
at .Amherst College in 1856. He became teach- 
er in the Quincy School. Boston, in September. 
1856. and remained in this po.sition nearly nine 
years, when he resigned in order to engage in 
mercantile business. In 1873 he accejjted a 
position with A. Cochrane & Company, manu- 
facturing chemists of Boston. This firm was 
incorporated in 1883 and is known as The 
Cochrane Chemical Co. Mr. Gay was married 
December 31, 1859, to Eloise Howe, daughter 
of Colonel Isaac Jackson and Sophia H. 
(Wilder) Fox, of Groton, Middlesex county, 
Massachusetts. Eloise Howe F'ox was born in 
Groton. .Massachusetts. January 29, 1837. 
They lived in Boston up to 1866 when they re- 
moved to Maiden. The children of Edward 
and Eloise Howe (Fox) Gay were: Charles 
Edward, born in Boston. Massachusetts, July 
14, 1861, died September 8. 1862. Clara Eloise, 
born in Maiden. Massachusetts, May 21, 1874, 
died June 25, 1878. Airs. Gay. so soon bereft 
of her children, herself died February 10, 
1890. 



Frederic Plvmpton Rutter. 
RUTTER president of the Waltham Coal 

Company, Waltham, Massa- 
chusetts, was born in Waltham, .\ugust 16. 
185 1. His first ancestor in America was John 



Rutter. tile imuiigrant. who caiue from I'en- 
ton. Harts county, luigland. to Boston. Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony, in the ship "Confidence," 
in the spring of 1638, and settled in Sudbury, 
at the time known as the New Plantation by 
Concord, but established as the town of Sud- 
bury on September 4, 1639. The petition to 
the general court to take up the land was pre- 
sented in the fall of 1637. and on .November 
20, that year, a committee was appointed to 
''set oout a place for them by luarks and 
bounds sufiicient for fifty to sixty families 
upon the river that runs to Concord." The 
next step was to purchase the land of the In- 
dian proprietors. The third step was to lay 
out the village plot, which was done in the fall 
of 1638. The home lots were staked out on 
two streets known as the North street and the 
South street. The plot provided for fifty-four 
house-lots of four acres each. These lots were 
located in the northerly site of North street, 
and on the southerly side of South street, and 
the space enclosed lietween the streets was laid 
out into the meeting house lots, the ox j^asture, 
the sheep pasture, general planting fields and a 
training place which extended a considerable 
distance on the north side of the street beyond 
the house lots. On February 17. 1642-3. it 
was agreed between the townsmen and John 
Rutter. one of their number, as the other part : 
"That the said John Rutter shall fill. saw. hew 
and frame a house for the meeting house, 30 
feet long. 20 feet wide, 8 feel between joints, 

3 feet between studs : Two cross dorments in 
the house, six clear story windows, two with 

4 lights apiece and four with 3 lights apiece 
and to intertic between the studs." The town 
agreed to draw all the timber to the place and 
help raise the house and to pay John Rutter 
for his work l(^. The contract included only 
the frame. The roof was thatched, and the 
Ixidy of the house was covered with oak cleft- 
boards si.K feet long : this roof and cleft board- 
ing cost an additional iio. There was no 
fi(»r laid till 1645. In 1653 a new and more 
imposing meeting house was built on the old 
spot, 40x25, and 12 feet high, with gable ends, 
two pinnacles, two doors. John Rutter re- 
ceived besides his contract price for building 
the first meeting house, three acres of meadow 
as an acknowledgment of public services ren- 
dered by him. 

His descendant in the sixth generation. Gen- 
eral Micah M. Rutter, was born in Sudbury, 
in 1779. This was one year before the part of 
the town in which his parents resided was set 
ofT as East Sudbury, .\pril 10, 1780. and the 
name of the town was not changed to Wavland 



■236 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



till March 11, 1835. He was deputy sheriflf 
of Middlesex county, a major-general in the 
state militia by appointment of Govemor Lin- 
coln, having won the position through succes- 
sive promotions, was a man of great energy of 
character and public spirit and identified with 
all movements intended to promote the social, 
educational and religious interest of his native 
town and county. A short time before he died 
he remarked to a friend at his fireside: "My 
mother taught me the cradle hyiiua 'Now I lay 
me,' when I was a child, and I have never 
failed throughout a somewhat busy life to re- 
peat it on retiring to rest at night." General 
Rutter died in Wayland, Massachusetts, in 

1837- 

Josiah Rutter, son of General Micah M. 
and Abby Eliza (Maynard) Rutter, was born 
in East Sudbury, Massachusetts, and gradu- 
ated at Harvard College, Bachelor of Arts, 
1833. He has the distinction among the alumni 
of Harvard as being the only graduate by the 
name of Rutter, and of having liad as class- 
mates a large number of distinguished educa- 
tors, including Francis Bowen, George Ed- 
ward Ellis, and Abiel Abbot Livermore, Joseph 
Lovering, Robert Thaill, Spence Lowell, Ed- 
ward Josiah Storms, Henry Warren Torrey, 
Jefi'ries Wyman and Morrill Wyman. He 
practiced law in Waltham for more than thirty 
years : was chairman of the Waltham school 
committee for twelve years; trial justice for 
fifteen years ; and represented his district in 
the general court of Massachusetts for three 
terms. He married Abigail Baldwin, a sister 
of Williami H. Baldwin, a distinguished Bos- 
ton merchant, and for forty years (1868-1908) 
president of the Young Men's Christian Union 
of Boston. The children of Josiah and Abigail 
(Baldwin) Rutter were: William B. Rutter, 
who was an artist of local repute, and died 
November, 1888; Frederic Plympton Rutter, 
(q. v.) ; Francis J. Rutter, for many years 
connected with the New England Dressed 
Meats & Wool Company of Boston ; and Na- 
thaniel P. Rutter, a well known citizen and 
hardware merchant of Waltham. Hon. Josiah 
Rutter died in Waltham, Massachusetts, Sep- 
tember 3. 1876, and Mrs. Abigail B. Rutter 
died in Waltham, in May, 1889. 

Frederic Plympton Rutter, second son of 
Josiah and Abigail (Baldwin) Rutter, was 
born in Waltham, RTassachusetts, August 16, 
1851. He was educated in the public schools 
of Waltham. He was a clerk in the drygoods 
store of Clark, Maynard & Company, Wal- 
tham, 1868-72 ; member of the firm of Rutter 
Brothers, coal dealers in Waltham, 1872-76. 



In 1876 the firm sold the business to William 
A. Hunnewell, and Mr. Rutter remained as 
manager of the business up to the incorpora- 
tion of the Waltham Coal Company Corpora- 
tion in 1893, when he was elected president 
and general manager of the corporation, and 
he has continued in that position since that 
time. Under his effective administration the 
business of the corporation has steadily in- 
creased and they now have two extensive 
yards in Waltham. He is also president of 
the Nonantum Coal Company yards at Bemis. 
Mr. Rutter was president of the Waltham 
Cemetery board of managers 1892-96, resign- 
ing in 1896 to take his place on the lx>ard of 
assessors of the city of Waltham, to which 
position he was elected that year, and in which 
he has served to the present time. He is ex- 
president of the Suburban Coal Club; first 
vice-president of the Waltham Business Men's 
Association, and secretary for five years ; past 
master of Monitor Lodge, Ancient Free and 
Accepted Masons ; member of Waltham Chap- 
ter, Royal Arch Masons ; and of Gethsemane 
Commandery, Knights Templar, of Newton. 
He is a member of the Royal Arcanum. He 
joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
early in life, and is a member of Prospect 
Lodge, No. 35. and of the Encampment of 
Waltham. 

Frederic P. Rutter married, February 22, 
1874, Minnie Holden, daughter of Samuel O. 
Upham of Waltham, and they have one daugh- 
ter, Abby Baldwin Rutter, born October 20, 
1879. 

Mr. Upham was born in Waltham, June 21, 
1824, and was a direct descendant of John 
Upham, the immigrant who came from Eng- 
land to New England in 1635, and settled at 
Weymouth with the Hull Colony. At that 
time he was thirty-five years of age, and with 
him came his wife Elizabeth, (probably 
Webb), who was thirty-two years old; his 
sister Sarah Upham, twenty-six years old ; his 
son John Jr., aged seven : his son Nathaniel, 
aged four years, and his daughter Elizabeth, 
aged three years. That he was a man of im- 
portance and worth is evidenced by the fact 
that he was admitted as a freeman on Septem- 
ber 2, 163s ; was a deputy to the great and 
general court of the Colony in 1636 and 1637, 
and from the first term held in Newtown in 
1638, at which session the name of the town 
was changed to Cambridge. His son John 
was buried "5d.4m. 164.0" at Weymouth. He 
was one of six colonists appointed to treat 
with the Indians for lands at Weymouth and 
thev were successful in obtaining a title for the 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



237 



settlers in these lands. He then served as se- 
lectman of the town 1645, 1^4^ ''"<^ 1^)47, and 
he was one of three of the freemen of Wey- 
mouth appointed by the court to "end small 
causes at Weymouth." We next find him a 
selectman of the town of Maiden, 1651 and 
1655, and a commissioner to "end small 
causes" in Maiden, 1657, 1661 and 1662." 
He was a deacon of the church; moderator 
of town meetings in Maiden, 1678, 1679 
and i68u ; w-as interested in the settlement of 
Worcester in 1678. His wife died December 
2, 1670, and in .\ugnst, 1671, he married his 
second wife, Katherine Holland, who was a 
passenger with the Hull Colonists. His grave- 
stone may be seen in the burying ground of 
Maiden, which records the date of his death 
February 25, 1681. His descendant. .Samuel 
O. L pham, was torn in Waltham, January 21, 
1824, attended school and worked in the cot- 
ton mills of the Boston Manufacturing Com- 
pany at Waltham, where General Nathaniel 
Banks had before him served as a bobbin boy. 
He was only twenty-one years old when he 
represented his district in the great general 
court of Massachusetts, and in 1858, when 
General Hanks, his fellow townsman, was 
elected governor of the commonwealth of 
Massachusetts, he made young Upham mes- 
senger tc] the governor and council, and he 
held the p<isition during the administration of 
Governor Banks, 1858-61. He was inspector 
in the L^nited States custom house, Boston, 
1861-65: member board of selectmen of Wal- 
tham, 1867-71 : postmaster of Waltham. 1869- 
86, under the administration of Presidents 
Grant, Hayes, Garfield and Cleveland. He 
again represented his district in the great and 
general court of Massachusetts, 1887, and as 
senior member of the house he presided over 
its deliberations during the election of a speak- 
er, and he was re-elected, and went from the 
state house in 1888 to serve for three years 
as county commissioner of Middlesex county, 
1888-91. He served as vice-president of the 
Middlesex Club, and as a member of Monitor 
Lodge and Royal .Arch Chapter, .\ncient Free 
and .Accepted Masons. 

The only child of Frederick Plympton and 
Minnie Flolden (Upham) Rutter, is Abby 
Baldwin Rutter, who graduated at W^altham 
high school 1897. The Rutter family are 
members of the Unitarian Society, and attend- 
ants of the First Unitarian Church of Wal- 
tham, and Mr. Rutter has been for many 
years a member of the Parish Committee of 
the Societv. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rutter have 



inherited the spirit of usefulness for long lines 
of distinguished ancestors, and in their immi- 
grant forbears they have splendid examples 
of achievements in planting colonies in a new 
world and shaping the destiny of a new nation. 



Benjamin True Soule. of Cam- 
SOULF. bridge, .Middlesex county, Mas- 
sachusetts, son of James and 
.Mar\' (r.ra<lford) Soule, is a direct descendant 
from George Soule, who came over with the 
familv of Edward Winslow in the ".Mayflow- 
er," landing at Plymouth, Decemljer 21, 1620, 
and on his mother's side from William Brad- 
ford, for thirty-four years governor of Ply- 
mouth Colony, and the most reliable and in- 
dustrious historian of the early settlement of 
.\cw England. James Soule was a ship build- 
er, anfl as his years increased he settled upon 
a farm in Duxbury, Plymouth county, where 
he died. James and .Mary (Bradford) .Soule 
had four sons and one daughter. 

Benjamin True Soule was born in Dux- 
bury, Plymouth county, Massachusetts, June 
24, 1832. He was brought up in Duxbury, 
where he attended the public school and Par- 
tridge Academy. Upon leaving the acad- 
emy he went to Boston, where he workeil in a 
restaurant for William Greenwood, and after 
five years service he purchased the business 
from his employer and continued it on his own 
account up to December, 1906, when he re- 
tired. Tn 1861 he served for nine months in 
the Civil war, enlisting in Company H, Cap- 
tain De Forrest, the Forty-seventh Massachu- 
setts Infantry, Colonel Marsh, and while his 
regiment was stationed at New Orleans he was 
taken prisoner, carried to Libby Prison at 
Richmond, Virginia, and when be was ex- 
changed he returned to Boston and resumed 
charge of the restaurant business. He mar- 
ried Margaret, daughter of Simeon and Me- 
hitable (Kcnney) Smith, o.f Boston, and their 
children were: i. Minnie, 1x)rn in Boston, 
Massachusetts, married Thomas C. Smith, of 
Cambridge, Massachusetts. 2. Justus F., born 
in Boston, Massachusetts, was a pupil in the 
public grammar and high school in Cambridge, 
and was professor of Latin and Greek in the 
University of Wyoming, at Laramie, Wyom- 
ing. He married Dora Simpson. 3. Bessie, 
born in Cambridge. Benjamin T. Soule is the 
only representative of the family of James and 
Mary (Bradford) Soule, his sister and three 
brothers resting w-ith their father and mother 
in the family burying ground at Duxbury. 



238 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



The Thayers of New England 
THAYER arc descendants from two 

brothers, Richard and Thomas 
Thayer, natives of Thornbnry, Gloucester- 
shire, England, on the Severn river, but who 
came directly from "Thayerdom," Essex, Eng- 
land, a manufacturing village about eighteen 
miles from London, and from a vicinity that 
gave so many notable families to Xew Eng- 
land history and so many names to Xew Eng- 
land towns and cities, Richard and Thomas 
Tha)'er were shoemakers, and emigrated with 
their families to the new world, landing in 
Boston about 1630, and locating at iMount 
Wooliston, established as Braintree, Alay 13, 
1640, and they were that year admitted as 
freemen. Thomas Thayer married i\Iargery 
Wheeler, and they had three sons : Thomas, 
Jr,, Ferdinand and Shadrach. 

(V) Richard Thayer ( 1772- 1 821), of the 
fifth generation from Thomas and Margery 
Wheeler Thayer, and the founder of the fimi 
of J. H. & J. P. Thayer, of Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts, was born in Braintree, in 1772, but 
removed to Cambridge at an early age, and he 
carried on the business of house painter from 
1790 up to the time of his death in 182 1. It is 
said that Indians from the surrounding wild- 
erness came into the paint shop to purchase 
red paint to decorate their faces, and the wares 
they manufactured were sold to the white set- 
tlers. Richard Thayer married Abigail Pearce, 
and they^ had eleven children ; one of their 
sons, Richard, Jr., was killed by falling from 
the eaves of the Unitarian church in Harvard 
Square, Old Cambridge, while engaged in 
painting that edifice. .A. younger son, James 
H., succeeded to the business, and still a third, 
Joshua P., became a partner in the concern 
in 1837, at which time the business took the 
name of J. H. & J. P. Thayer, which it con- 
tinued to hold for seventy years, and in 1907 
the business, as established by Richard Thayer 
in 1790, had been in existence one httndred 
and seventeen years. 

(VI) James H. Thayer, son of Richard and 
.\bigail (Pearce) Thayer, was born in Cam- 
bridge, ]Massachusetts. 1814. He succeeded 
his elder brother, Richard Thayer, Jr., in the 
paint business established by their father, tak- 
ing entire charge of the business upon the ac- 
cidental death of Richard and continuing up 
to 1837, when he admitted his younger brother, 
Joshua P. Thayer, and formed the firm of J. 
H. and J. P. Thayer. He married Martha T. 
Foster, daughter of John and Martha (Trow) 
Foster, who bore him two sons, Farwell Jacob 
and Edward Everett, mentioned below. 



( \'l) Joshua P. Thayer, son of Richard and 
Abigail (Pearce) Thayer, was born in Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, February 4; 1816. He 
learned the trade of house painter, and in 1837 
became a member of the firm of J. H. and J. 
P. Thayer, above-mentioned. He was mar- 
ried about the same time to Martha Ann, 
daughter of Ebenezer and Eliza Bradle_\- (Fos- 
ter) Tucker, of Old Cambridge. Her father 
was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, and 
was by trade a chaise trimmer, and later a har- 
ness maker, having his shop in Old Cambridge, 
Her mother was born in Boston, Massachu- 
setts, and gave birth to thirteen children. Mr. 
and Mrs. Thayer had four children, namely : 
I. \Mlliam Richard, died young. 2. Joshua 
P., Jr., died when twelve years of age. 3. 
Fannie Louisa, married Charles T. Derry, of 
Barre, Massachusetts, and the children born 
to them were : Cecil Thayer, graduated at Har- 
vard University, A. B., 1903, and became a 
teacher in the Cambridge Latin .School, 
Arthur Tyler, a member of the class of 1910, 
Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard Univer- 
sity. Charles Ralph, died young. Evelyn 
Thayer, a member of the class of 1910, Rad- 
cliffe College. Miriam Frances, a graduate 
of Harvard grammar school, class of 1907, 
now a member of Cambridge Latin School, 
class of 1912. Malcolm Derry, a pupil in the 
grammar school in Cambridge. 4. Hattie 
Ann, unmarried, who became a public school 
teacher. 

(VII) Farwell Jacob Thayer, eldest son of 
James H. and Martha T. (Foster) Thayer, 
was born in Cambridge, jMarch 4, 1844. In 
1 86 1 he began to learn the trade of house 
painting, and in 1872 became a partner in the 
firm of J. H. & J. P. Thayer, the name being 
then changed to "j. H. & J. P. Thayer & Com- 
panv. His father died in 1881, and his uncle, 
Joshua P. Thayer, September 18, 1876, but the 
"business was continued under the same name. 
In 1902, Farwell Edward Thayer, son of Far- 
well Jacob Thayer, born September, 1875, a 
graduate of Harvard, A. B., 1899, was ad- 
mitted as a partner, thU'S representing the 
fourth generation of the house of Thayer in 
the business of house painting in Cambridge, 
the business being founded in 1790. 

(VII) Edward Everett Thayer, second son 
of James H. and Martha T. (Foster) Thayer, 
was bom in Cambridge, 1846. After attend- 
ing the public schools of Cambridge, Harvard 
College and Harvard Medical School, he was 
prepared to take up the profession of a physi- 
cian, but at the age of twenty-five he was 
stricken with a fatal sickness and passed away. 




\ 



\ 





<? 



O-^-^flvt^.^ 




.Mn)i:)LF.SEX COUXTV, 



-'39 



He was 'i ijrumisinij' vfniiig man and would 
undoubtedly liavc acliievod success in lii- 
chosen calling. 



Thomas Gage, the immigrant an- 
GAGE cestor. was born in England 

about 1625. He settled first at 
Yarmouth. Massachusetts, and was a mariner 
by occupation. The first record of him is in 
1650. when his son aged a year and a half 
was drowned in a well. He married before 
1648. Johanna Knight, daughter of William 
Knight, of Salem and Lynn. Knight was a 
mason by trade, deacon of a dissenting con- 
gregation in England, and "came over 
with one Hawthorne and others for 
the enjoyment of liberty of conscience : 
had house walls plastered outside with 
plaster of Pclis ; had estate in land in 
England; also the liberty of killing 
deer and rabbits in certain parks there." In 
1655 Gage w'as charged with "profaning the 
Lord's Uay" by putting forth to sea from 
Sandwich that day. lie took the oath of 
fidelity at Yarmouth in 1657. In King Philip's 
war, in the fight near Scekonk. Captain 
?ilichael Pierce was slain with fifty-one other 
Englishmen and eleven friendly Indians, only 
seven or eight escaping. His three sons, 
John, Henry and William were slain. The 
heirs of these three were grantees of the 
township of Xarragansett Xo. 7 (Gorham, 
Maine), on account of their services in the 
Narragansett war, .\pril 18, 1735. Thomas 
died between June 30, 1695, and July 17. 
His will was proved August 5, 1695. Chil- 
dren: I. Son, born 1648, died 1650. 2. JohU; 
killed March 26, 1676, with his tw-o brothers, 
March 26, 1676: w-as with Captain Gorham's 
expedition against Mt. Hope, June 24, 1675. 
3. William, was killed March 26, 1676, with 
two brothers. 4. Henry, was with Captain 
John Gorham in the Swamp fight. December 
19, 1675; killed March 26, 1675. 5. Thomas, 
born about 1650; mentioned below. 6. 
Benjamin. 7. Adam, was in the expedition 
to Canada in 1690. 8. Moses, born 1668; 
settled in Beverly ; conveyed to son John of 
Dover, Xew' Hampshire, two rights in Xarra- 
gansett No. 7, granted on account of the ser- 
vices of his brothers, late of Yarmouth, John 
and William Gage; Moses was in the exix'di- 
tion of 1690 to Canada, and in 1735 claimed 
a grant of land for his services; in Cajjtain 
William Raymond's company. 

(II) Lieutenant Thomas Gage, son of 
Thomas Gage (i), was born in Yarmouth, 



Massachusetts, in ifis*^'. according to a de- 
position made .Mav 20. 1692, in a witchcraft 
case, stating his age then as thirty-six. Sav- 
age and (jage's "Hi.tory of Rowlev" in 
error in placing him among the children of 
John (iage. of Ipswich. (.See X. E. (Icn. 
Reg., liii, p. 201). He was a blacksmith by 
trade. lie was one of the ISeverly Troopers 
in ifKjG, but a])parently did not go with liis 
brothers to Canada. He was connnissioned 
lieutenant as early as August. 1696. and was 
slain .\ugust 13, 1707, at Port Royal. .Vova 
Scotia, "bx- a great shot in his tent." His 
will was dated April 20. 1707, and proved 
October 20, following. He married first 

Sarah ,who died December 7. 1694, aged 

forty. He married secotid. I{lizabeth. widow 
of Ezekiel .Meighill, and daughter of Ezekiel 
Xorthend. She was borti in Rowley, Octo- 
ber k;. 1656, and married first, July 25, 1682. 
Hum])hrey Hobsoii. and had a son Hum- 
])hrey. July 10, 1684. Humphrey died .\ugust 
8. 1684. and she tiiarried second. ( )ctober to. 
1686, Ezekiel Meighill. who died July 3, 
1694; she married third, June 11, i6<j5, 
Thomas Gage. She died July 14, 1737. Chil- 
dren: I. Thomas, btjrn 1678: mentioned be- 
low. 2. William, born .Xovcmber 20, 1680, 
baptized March 16, 1685: married July 9, 
1709, Mercy Barker. 3. Sarah, baptized 
March 16, 1685; married September 30, 
1706-7, Thomas Wood. 4. Alary, baptized No- 
vember I, 1685; married January 15, 1706, 
Nathaniel Jevvett. 5. Joanna, baptized July 29, 
1688, died young. 6. Joanna, born Decem- 
ber 2Ti. 1689, baptized November 16, 1690; 
married August 11, 1718, I-'benezer Wood. 
7. John, born Xovember 26, 1691. Child of 
second wife: 8. Elizabeth. 

(Ill) Thomas Gage, son of Thomas Gage 
(2). was born in Beverly, in 1678, and was 
bajitized with others of the family, March 16, 
1685. He married. December 10, 1697, Mary 
Smith, born October 6, 1678, daughter of 
Samuel Smith. He settled in Rowley, first 
on land in the district called llobson's Close; 
about 1718 he removed to Mendon (now Mil- 
ford), Massachusetts, and purchased eighty 
acres of land May 25, 1723, from Seth Chap- 
in, on the -Sherborn road, near Great ATeadow, 
in the Bear Hill district. He w-as living there 
in 1742-3, when Cedar street was laid out, 
and gave land for it. He sold the main part 
of his farm in Milford in 1742 to Joshua 
Cireen, of Hopkinton. Children born at Row- 
ley: I. John, born Alarch 7, 1698-9, settled in 
Milford. 2. Sarah, born December 29, 1701. 
3. Moses, born March 26, 1705; mentioned 



240 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



below. 4. Hannah, born December 8. 1708. 
5. Alary, born August i, 171 1. 6. Infant, 
died 1714. 7. Infant, died October 5, 1716, 
not baptized. 

(IVj Moses Gage, son of Thomas Gage 
(3), was born at Rowley, March 26, 1705; 
died October 2, 1774, at Milford. His home 
was in South Hopedale, then Alilford, near 
the old Gershom Nelson farm, on what was 
later called the Amasa Leland place. He 
married January 13, 1731, Sarah Nelson, born 
February 27, 1707, died 1791, daughter of 
Gershom and Abigail (EUithorpej Nelson of 
Rowley and Milford. Children, born at Mil- 
ford: I. Moses, born 1732; married Febru- 
ary 17, 1758, Mary Boynton of New Salem, 
Massachusetts, daughter of Ebenezer Boyn- 
ton. 2. Daniel, born June i, 1734; men- 
tioned below. 3. Molly, born 1737; married 
August 23, 1764, Phinehas Davis. 

(V) Daniel Gage, son of Moses Gage (4), 
was born in Milford, Massachusetts, June i, 
1734. He married there, January 1. 1756, 
Priscilla Jones, daughter of Deacon Nathan- 
iel and Priscilla (Corbett) Jones. She was 
born July 21, 1738. Both were members 
of the Milford Congregational Church, re- 
ceived April 3, 1768, and their children were 
baptized there. They removed to Hubbard- 
ston, Massachusetts, about 1778, and were 
living there April 8, 1784. Daniel Gage was 
a soldier in the Revolution, in the company 
of Captain David Bent, of Rutland, regiment 
of Colonel Job Gushing, from September 5, 
to November 29, 1777. Children, born in 
Milford: i. Daniel, born December 16, 1757; 
mentioned below. 2. Asa, born July 22, 
1758. 3. Millc, born August 15, 1763. 5. 
Nathaniel, born September 10, 1765. 6. 
Elizabeth, born May 4, 1768. 7. Nathan, 
(twin), born April i, 1770. 8. Nabby (twin), 
born April i, 1770, died May 5 following. 9. 
Richard, born December 23, 1772. 10. Abra- 
ham, born May 2, 1775. 11. Moses, born 
April 15, 1778. 

(\T) Daniel Gage, son of Daniel Gage (5), 
was born in Milford, Massachusetts, Decem- 
ber 16, 1757. He went with the family from 
Milford to Hubbardston, and worked on the 
farm there. He may have been the Daniel 
whose Revolutionary service is given above. 
He removed before 1793 to Marlborough, 
New Hampshire, and located on the farm 
now or lately owned by Daniel Towne. He 
had the contract to build the new school 
house in the northwest school district of 
Marlborough in 1807; he was living in that 
district in 1794. He resided there until his 
death, January 15, 1818. He married Sarah 



Newton, who was born March 14, 1763, and 
died January 30, 1818. Children: i. Samuel, 
born March 7, 1782; married April 3, 1805, 
Patty Tenney, daughter of William and 
Mehitable (Jones) Tenney; he died at 
Templeton, .Massachusetts. 2. Abigail, born 
August 9, 1784; married November 23, 1807, 
Jeremy Underwood, of Jaffrey, New Hamp- 
shire. 3. Daniel, born March 28, 1787; men- 
tioned below. 4. Aaron, bom August 8, 1791. 
5. Sally, bom July 20, 1793 ; died January 
26, 1814. 6. Priscilla, born April 2;^, 1795; 
married April 23, 181 5, John Simonds, of 
Templeton, Massachusetts. 7. Phinehas, 
born April 19, 1797; went west. 8. John, 
born June 14, 1799, tanner; settled in Peter- 
sham. 9. Luke, born March 2, 1802; died in 
New York city. 

(VTI) Daniel Gage, son of Daniel Gage 
(6), was bom in Hubbardston, March 28, 
1787, and removed with the family to Marl- 
borough, New Hampsliire. He was a tanner 
by trade. He settled first in Jamaica, Ver- 
mont, later in Berlin, Massachusetts. With 
his brother John he purchased the Aaron 
Barnes tanyard at Berlin, near Carterville, in 
1824. He was followed by Rockwood & 
Bright in 1830. About this time Mr. Gage 
purchased one of the finest farms in North- 
boro, situated in Ball Hill, near the Berlin 
road, where he died in July, 1845. This 
homestead remained in the family for nearly 
seventy-five years, and after the death of Mr. 
Gage was owned and occupied by his eldest 
son Asa, who died at South Boston, January, 
1905. A short time before his death it passed 
into other hands. His brother Samuel settled 
on the William Jones place, now or lately 
owned by Robert Newsome. Samuel's son- 
in-law Converse was fatally injured there, and 
died October 5, 1829, aged nineteen. Daniel 
married at Jamaica, September 8, 1814, Mary 
Gage. Children: Asa, born January 6, 1818. 
2. John, born May 6, 1820. 3. Nelson, born 
September 24, 1822. 4. Eleanor M., born 
June 29, 1825. 5. Daniel, Parker, born Octo- 
ber 28, 1828; mentioned below. 6. Eliza, 
bom February 3, 1832. 7. Samuel, born 
January 16, 1836. 

((VIII) Daniel Parker Gage, son of Daniel 
Gage (7), was born in Berlin, October 28, 
1828. He was educated in the public schools 
of his native town, and in the Newbury (Ver- 
mont) Academy. He studied medicine under 
Dr. Clapp of Wrentham, Massachusetts, and 
under Dr. Clark, of Cambridge, at Harvard 
Medical School, graduating with the degree 
of M. D. in 1855. The following year he was 
on the staff at Bellevne Hospital, New York 




vi 
^ 



M^ 





<c^ 



(5^ 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



241 



City. In 1855 he located in Lowell, Massa- 
chusetts, and began the ])ractice of his profes- 
sion. He establisliecl an excellent business. 
and made a name for himself as a skillful and 
successful physician. He was on the stafT of 
St. John's Hospital. Lowell, where he served 
faithfully many years, taking great interest in 
tiiat institution, lie was also a valued friend 
and su])porter of St. Peter's ( )rphan Asylum 
of Lowell, giving his services always freelv 
and cheerfuil}- to the teachers and children 
there. During the civil war he was assistant 
surgeon of the Twenty-third Regiment, Mas- 
sachusets Volunteers, but resigned to resume 
his practice in Lowell. He was a member 
of the various medical societies of his 
district. In Masonic circles he was very 
prominent, a member of Pentucket Lodge 
of Free Masons of Lowell. In politics 
he was a Republican, and served some years 
on the school board of Lowell. He w^as an 
attendant of the Worthen Street Baptist 
Church of Lowell, and always ready to con- 
tril)ute and assist in the charitable work of 
that society. He was a man of ver\- attrac- 
tive personality, greatly beloved, not only by 
his friends and patients but by a large circle 
of acquaintances. 

Dr. Cage's death was caused by blood 
poisoning of twelve years standing. During 
a post mortem examination he infected a 
scratch on his right hand: within twenty-four 
hours he was prostrated, and the wound did 
not heal for three months, llis arm and his 
whole system became gradually affected, and 
finally the disease settled in his head and be- 
came more aggravated in form during the last 
eight years of his life, baffling the skill of the 
most learned and experienced physicians. 
He was not able to transact any business dur- 
ing the last two years of his life, and was 
able to be outdoors but two or three times 
during that period. One remarkable fact in 
connection with his long illness and terrible 
suffering was that his mind was clear until a 
week before death when the disease attacked 
his brain. He died January 31, 1877. He 
was a quiet, imostentatious citizen, but deeply 
interested in everything j)ertaining to the 
welfare of the city which he loved. At the 
time of his death the Middlesex Xorth Dis- 
trict .Medical -Society, of which he was a mem- 
ber, passed resolutions of sympathy, viz. : 

"That in looking back on the life of our 
deceased associate it is pleasant for us to con- 
template the marked ability and conscienti- 
ousness with which he discharged both offi- 
cial and professional duties. That we bear 

i-16 



witness not only to his Christian character, 
but particularly to the resignation and pa- 
tience with which he submitted to the suffer- 
ings brought on by exjxisure to the perils 
of medical practice." 

At a slated meeting of the society, the 
president, Dr. L. S. Fox, said: "It is fitting 
for us to jiause amid th(< busy cares of life and 
take a retrospective glance over the past; re- 
membeiing with renewed gratitude the noble 
pure and unselfish lives of those who have 
counseled and befriended us in the past and 
reverently cherishing their memories. We 
are too apt in this hurried age to sacrifice 
everything to the luve of gain — pleasure, 
friends and even life and health itself, 
forgetting the great duty of this brief 
life — to live for others and not unto 
ourselves. Of the long lingering sick- 
ness of our deceased brother, we of the 
profession are very well familiar, conmienc- 
ing as it did twelve years ago from accidental 
poisoning, the disease steadily increasing and 
resisting the l)est known remedies till death 
finally released him from his great suffering. 
He left in the assurance of a well-grounded 
hoix' in a blessed future, trusting in Him who 
alone can hel]) us in the dark' hours of life 
and still darker hours of death. His faithful 
and untiring devotion to business, his kind 
anfl genial disposition, won him many friends 
and ]iatrons. made his life a success, and 
placed him in the front rank o* liis profession, 
ft was my jileasure to be well accpiainted with 
him for over twelve years, during which lime 
r never heard an unkind expression from his 
lips or heard of diie unkind act." 

He married, in 1857, lilizabeth Norcutt 
Hammond, of Cambridge. .Massachusetts. 
.She was born in Boston, .April 20, 1832, and 
was educated in the public and high schools 
of Cambridge, graduating in the first class of 
girls that graduated from Cambridge high 
school, that of 1851. They had no children. 
.Mrs. Gage resides at her home, 476 Bridge 
street, Lowell. 

.\fter graduation Mrs. Gage taught for 
several terms in the district schools at North 
Rillerica. Mrs. Gage is a descendant of John 
(ilover, who with others emigrated to New 
England under Governor Winthrop, settling 
in P.oston and Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 
1630. Her great-grandfather, Alexander 
Glover, of Dorchester, served all through the 
Revolutionary War, was honorably dis- 
charged, and drew a pension. She is a mem- 
ber of Lyrlia Darrah Chapter, Daughters 
.\merican Revolution. 



242 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Nathan Cohh Lombard, prr)- 
LOMBARl/) fessional ('raughtsman and 

mechanical engineer. was 
born in (inilford, Alaine. October 2y, 1827. 
He was a son of Joscpli and Ehza (Wharf) 
'Lombard, of Guilford. Maine. 

He was a pupil in the public schols of his 
native town and at l\).\croft Academy. On 
leaving school he engaged as a district school 
teacher frir one year, and then removed to 
Lowell. Massachusetts, to take up his chosen 
vocation of meclianical engineer and' draughts- 
man, in connection with expensive cotton 
mills, these being erected in that city. While 
a resident of Lowell, he was married. June 1. 
1851. to Lucy Sophia f'iper. daughter of 
Aaron and Abigail (Dolbear) Piper, of Han- 
cock, Vermont, and granddaughter of Amasa 
and I\tary (Piper) Piper. Amasa Piper was 
one of the minute-men in the battle at the 
bridge in Concord, April 19. 1775, and a resi- 
dent of tliat ancient town. Her maternal 
grandfather was Nathan Dolbear. a native of 
Royalston. Massachusetts, who took part as a 
soldier in the war of 1812. and married Al)i- 
gail Butts. After residing lor five years in 
Lowell, Nathan C. Lombard removed to 
Boston, where be opened offices at 40 State 
street, as a professional draughtsman, me- 
chanical engineer and solicitor of patents, 
being drawn into the additional profession b}" 
custoniers who employed him in making' 
drawings to be placed in the patent ofifice at 
Washington. D. C, in connection with models 
of machines, on which patents were desired. 
On removing his business to Boston, he also 
removed his residence to 259 Prospect street, 
Cambridge. In the affairs of that city he took 
an active interest, and was identified with its 
government first as a member of the common 
council, in which body he served 1882-83, and 
was advanced to the aldermanic chamber in 
1884, and served as a member of the board of 
city aldermen 1884-85-86. In that body he 
was selected to prepare an ordinance regula- 
ting the building of stores, churches, school- 
houses, theatres, manufactories and dwellings 
in the city of Cambridge, so as to avoid dan- 
gers from fires and panic, and he was chiefly 
responsible for the passage of the building or- 
dinances framed and advocated by him, and 
successfully passed by the board. The laws 
thus enacted were at once popular and well 
observed laws. He was a charter member of 
the Cambridge Club, a member of Dunster 
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
;nid clerk of the board of trustees of the First 
Baptist Church of Cambridge. He was ac- 



tively engaged in business as a mechanical 
engineer, and solicitor for patents in Boston 
for forty years, first alone and then in con- 
nection with his son. In 190 1 the venerable 
father and mother joined with their 
children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren 
and friends in celebrating the golden 
anniversary of their wedding day, fifty 
years having elapsed since that event. They 
at the sime time had passed forty-two vears 
of that happy married life in their home, 259 
Prospect street, and the golden wedding was 
celebrat"il at Odd Fellow's Hall, Cambridge. 
He died at his home, February 14, 1905. 

The children of Nathan Cobb and Lucy 
Sophia (Piper) Lombard are : I. Alfretta IM., 
married Cyprian Frank Southack, no children ; 
he died in 1888. 2. Herbert E.. born in Low- 
ell. INlassachusetts. November 15, 1853, edu- 
cated in the public schools of Cambridge, 
Cambridge English high schocjl and Foxcroft 
Academy. He was employed in the coal busi- 
ness, and in 1907 was superintendent of the 
Alctropolitan Coal Company, with office in 
( 'ambridge, Alassachusetts. He was in frater- 
nal atffliation with the Masons and Odd Fel- 
lows. .He was married at Belmont, Massa- 
ch.usetts, June I, 1876, to Anna Gardner, of 
Belmont, one daughter, Carrie Eva, wife of 
.Mliert Ellison. 3. Carrie Eva, married Sam- 
uel A. Haines, of tialena, Illinois, and had 
children : Norma Pearl, Chester Arthur, de- 
ceased ; Jessamine and Harold Vivian Haines. 
After her husband's death in 1900 she re- 
moved with her children to Cambridge, Mas- 
sachusetts. 4. Major Walter C, born in 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 27, 1861, 
was graduated at the Cambridge English high 
school. He engaged in business as a mechani- 
cal engineer, and had an office with his father 
at 40 State street, Boston, now in business on 
Washington street, Boston. He was a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity. He married. 
188 1. Nellie Jones, of Cambridge. Their chil- 
dren are : Lucy Viola, born in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, 1882, and Nathan Cobb, born 
in Somerville, January 4. 1882, and follows 
the profession of his father and grandfather. 



John Hews, the immigrant an- 
HEWES cestor, was probably born in 
or Wales, as he was called on the 

HEWS records of Scituate, Massachu- 
setts, where he was an early set- 
tler, "the Welshman." His name is spelled 
variously, of course, as Huse. Hues. Hughs, 
Huefhes, and even Hewghs. He was in Scitu- 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



243 



ate as early as 1632 and had been at Plymouth 
[jreviously. His house in Scituate was on 
Kent street, the second house from Meeting 
House Lane. He applied for freemanship 
March 6. 1637-38, and was on the list of those 
able to bear arms in 1643. His will is dated 
February 6. 1671, and was proved shortly 
after death. February 22, 1673-74, bequeath- 
ing to wife Joanna; son. James Hews, and 
son-in-law, Jeremiah Hatch. Children: i. 
John, Jr.. mentioned below. 2. James, men- 
tioned in will. 3. Mary, married Jeremiah 
Hatch. 

(H) John Hews, son of John Hews (i), 
was probably born in England about 1620. A 
John Hews was a proprietor of Watertown 
in 1642. He was later a freeholder of Scitu- 
ate, Massachusetts, and died there in 1661, be- 
fore his father. The only child known is John, 
mentioned below. 

(HI) John Hews, son of John Hews (2), 
was born about 1640. He settled in Hing- 
ham and was perhaps brought up in that town. 
He married there (first), December 9, 1664, 
Mary Hobart, daughter of Edmund and Eliza- 
beth Hobart. She was baptized at Hingham, 
-March 18, 1637-38, and died July 25, 1674, 
aged thirty-six. Soon after her death he re- 
moved from Hingham. He married (second), 
at Watertown. where his father had lived, 
Ruth Sawtelle, March 9, 1676-77. She died 
July 4. 1720: was daughter of Richard Saw- 
telle. His children by the second wife were 
born at Watertown, though the two youngest 
were baptized at Cambridge Farms precinct 
church which the parents joined at its organi- 
zation in iiiQQ. They were living in what is 
now Lexington in 1693 when the precinct was 
organized, and he was taxed as a resident. He 
resided near Captain William Reed. He was 
assessor in 1705. He died December 13, 1721. 
Qiildren of John and Mary Hews, born at 
Hingham: i. Mary, born December 4, 1665. 
2. John, September 21, 1667, died August 22, 
1669. 3. .Samuel, May i, 1669, died Septem- 
ber 13, following. 4. John, July 18. 1672, 
died September 21, following. Children of 
John and Ruth, Ix>rn at Watertown: 5. John, 
February 15, 1677-78. 6. Samuel, Oct<:)bcr 
27, 1679, died 1680. 7. Elizabeth, January 
27, 1681, died January 12, 1720. 8. Jonathan, 
about 1683. baptized September 10, 1699, 
mentioned below. 

(IV) Jonathan Hews, son of John Hews 
(3), was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, 
before September, 1699, when he was bap- 
tized at Lexington. He seems to have re- 
moved from Lexington after the birth of three 



children: 1. Jonathan, Jr., born 1710, bap- 
tized June 20, 1 7 10, mentioned below. 2. Ed- 
mund, born September i6, baptized 27, 1712. 
3. Elizabeth, baptized September 23, 171 1. 

(V) Jonathan ticws, .son of Jonathan 
Hews (4), was I)orn in Lexington, Massachu- 
setts, 1710, and was baptized there June 20, 
1710. The family removed from Lexington, 
judging from the absence of records for some 
years. 

(VI) .Vbraham Hews, son or near relative 
of Jonathan Hews, Jr. (5), was born Novem- 
ber 20, 1741. He was a resident of Weston, 
which was set oft" from Watertown, the birth- 
place of his grandfather. He married in 
Watertown, January 10, 1766, Lucy Jennison, 
of an old Watertown family. She was born 
May 30, 1746, and died October 6, 1830. He 
was a soldier from Weston in the Revolution, 
a sergeant in Captain Samuel Lamson's regi- 
ment on the Lexington alarm, .April 19, 1775. 
He was a prominent citizen of Weston, hold- 
ing various tcjwn offices from time to time, 
lie was warden in 1779 and other years : high- 
way surveyor in 1784 and other years; asses- 
sor in 1803 and otlier years. 1 le died May 7, 
1818. Children: i. Abraham, born Mav 30, 
1766, died July 15, 1854. 2. Lucy, July 3, 
1768. died May 25, 1862. 3. Sally, August 
6, 1770, died May 2, 1841. 4. Amy, March 
28, 1772, died .-\pril 23, 1819. 5. Betsey. Feb- 
ruary I, 1774, died July i, 1863. 6. Mary, 
March 8. 1776, died December 8, 1827. 7. 
Charles, .August 21, 1778, died January, 1822. 
8. Nabby, January 29, 1782, died Jaiuiary 21, 
185 1. 9. Susanna, August 26, 1783, died 
January 7-9, 1857. 10. John, July 30, 1786, 
died March 17, 1870, mentioned below. 

(\TI) John Hews, son of Abraham Hews 
(6), was born in Weston, Massachusetts. July 
30, 1786, and died at Cambridge, March 17, 
1870, aged eighty-three years, seven months 
and .seven days. He resided in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, and was engaged in the furni- 
ture business in Boston; married, January 31, 
181 1. Catherine Cochran Wellington, daugh- 
ter of Samuel Wellingfton, of Lexington and 
Waltham, Massachusetts. (See Wellington 
sketch.) Children, born in Weston and Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts: i. Catherine Welling- 
ton, lx)rn December 17, 1812, at Weston, men- 
tioned below. 2. Emily, mentioned below. 
3. Augustus Henry, mentioned below. 4. 
Ellen Maria, resides in Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts ; unmarried. Four other children died 
in infancy. 

( VIII) Catherine Wellington Hews, 
daughter of John Hews (7), was born in 



244 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Weston, Massachusetts, December 17, 1812. 
Married Charles Whitlock Moore, who was 
born March 29, 1801, died December 12, 1873, 
editor of the Freemason Monthly Magazine 
for thirty-two 3ears. He was a very promi- 
nent Free Mason, a member of St. Andrews 
Lodge of Free Masons of Boston ; Royal Arch 
Chapter ; Royal and Select Masters ; Knights 
Templar ; the Boston Consistory ; and shortly 
before his death was chosen past grand master 
of the Grand Lodge of Miassachusetts. Few 
men in the order were better known or more 
honored than he. Children, born in Boston : 
I. Ella Wellington Moore, married Edward 
O. Cooke, a lawyer, Boston, resides at Scitu- 
ate, Massachusetts. 2. Kate Augusta, Moore, 
resides at home. 

(VIII) Emily Hews, a daughter of John 
Hews (7), was born in Boston, Massachu- 
setts, February 20, 1815. Married Joshua At- 
kins, of Brooklyn, New York, a native of 
Barnstable county, Massachusetts. He is in 
business in New York City. Children: i. 
Fanny Augusta Atkins, died unmarried. 2. 
Emily Maria Atkins, married John Plummer, 
of New York City ; children : Alice, married 

Milliken, a banker and broker of New 

York City, and have two children. Edith, 
married Dr. Whitlock, of New York, and has 
one child. 

(VIII) Augustus Henry Hews, son of 
John Hews (7), was born July 28, 1821, in 
Boston. He became a jeweler and had a store 
on Washington street, Boston. He was a 
member of Amicable Lodge of Free Masons, 
Cambridge. He died January 22, 1904. He 
resided at the corner of Broadway and Nor- 
folk street, Cambridge, for fifty years. 



(I) Roger Wellington, 
WELLINGTON the immigrant ancestor, 
was born about 1609 
and died March 11, 1697-98. He came from 
England to America and became a planter at 
Watertown, Massachusetts, as early as 1636. 
Some of his children are recorded in Boston. 
He deposed December, 1673, that he was 
about sixty-four years old. He was admitted 
a freeman April 18, 1690. His will is dated 
December 17, 1697, and was proved April 11, 
1698, "feeble by reason of age," bequeathing 
to sons, John, Joseph, Benjamin, Oliver and 
Palgrave ; grandchildren, John Matocks, 
Roger Wellington and Mary Livermore. He 
married Mary Palgrave, daughter of Dr. 
Richard Palgrave, of Charlestown. Children, 
born in Watertown: i. John, July 25, 1638, 



admitted freeman 1677, farmer of Cambridge. 

2. Mary, F"ebruary 10, 1641, married, May 
21, 1662, Henry Maddocks and (second) John 
Coolidge. 3. Joseph, October 9, 1643, men- 
tioned below. 4. Benjamin, about 1645, ad- 
mitted freeman in 1677. 5. Oliver, Novem- 
ber 23, 1648. 6. Palgrave, admitted freeman 
April 18, 1690, married Sarah Bond. 

(II) Joseph Wellington, son of Roger 
Welhngton (i), was born in Watertown, Oc- 
tober 9, 1643, and was admitted a freeman 
in 1677. He was admitted to full communion 
in the church July 31, 1687, and he died 
October 31, 1714. He married (second), June 

6, 1684, Elizabeth Straight. Children, born 
in Watertown: i. Elizabeth, born .\pril 27, 
1685, married. May 5, 1701, Zechariah Cut- 
ting. 2. Thomas, November 10, 1686, men- 
tioned below. 3. Mary, October 7, 1689, mar- 
ried, December 8, 1726, Benjamin Barnard, 
Jr., of Hopkinton. 4. Samuel, February 5, 
1691, probably died young. 

(III) Thomas Wellington, son of Joseph 
Wellington (2), was born in Watertown, No- 
vember 10, 1686. Pie married Rebecca Whit- 
temore, who died November 6, 1734, aged 
fifty-three. He married (second) Chary 

: widow married (second) Captain 

James Lane, of Bedford, Massachusetts, Aug- 
ust 7, 1763. Wellington was of Cambridge 
when his will was made, January 6, 1759, and 
it was proved December 24, 1759. He men- 
tioned his brother-in-law, Samuel Whitte- 
more. Children: i. Rebecca, born November 

3, 1709. 2. Joseph, November 21, 171 1. 3. 
Thomas, Jr., .\ugust 6, 1714, mentioned be- 
low. 4. Susanna, married Hill. 5. 

Elizabeth. 

(IV) Thomas Wellington, son of Thomas 
Wellington (3) was born in Cambridge, Aug- 
ust 6, 17 14, and died November 4, 1783. He 
married, March 13, 1734-35, Margaret Stone, 
who died at Lexington, September 7, 1800, 
aged eighty-two years, at the home of her 
daughter Rebecca. He was an innholder. 
Children: i. Thomas, born December 12, 1735, 
married, at Lexington, April 19, 1759, Eliza- 
beth Dix. 2. Elizabeth, baptized March 14, 
1735-36, married Jedediah White. 3. John, 
born October 24, 1737, soldier at Lake George 
in 1758; married, April 10, 1760, Susanna 
Brown. 4. Susanna, baptized September, 
^72>^- 5- Jonathan, born July 27, 1740, died 
November 11, 1758, on the passage from Que- 
bec. 6. Samuel, born November 6, 1742. 

7. Josiah, born April 4, 1745, married, March 
26, 1765, Susanna Stearns. 8. William, born 
July 28, 1746. 9. George, born October 21, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



245 



1749, soldier in Revolution : married, Decem- 
ber 24, 1772, Lucy Peirce; removed to Jaft'rey, 
New Hampshire. 10. Rebecca, born Novem- 
ber 6, 1752, married John Munroe. 11. Su- 
sanna, born May 29, 1755, married, October 
5, 1778, Edward Harrington, Jr. 12. Thad- 
deus, born April 5, 1758, soldier in the Revo- 
lution ; married Ruhaman Brown. 13. Sarah, 
born April 10, 1760, married, December 6, 
1781, Nathan Barnard. 14. Joel, born April 
21, 1763, married, May 22, 1785, Lydia Mixer 
and removed to Lexington, Kentucky. 

(V) Samuel Wellington, son of Thomas 
Wellington (4), was born in Cambridge or 
Lexington, November 6, 1742. He lived at 
Walthain and Watertown and was proprietor 
of the \\'ellington Tavern. He died at Wal- 
tham, June, 1821, aged seventy-eight years, 
seven months. He married (first) May 3, 
1768, Abigail Sanderson, who died at Water- 
town, February, 1802, aged fifty-four. He 
married (second), March 27, 1803, Elizabeth 
Lamson, widow of Colonel Samuel Lamson 
and sister of his first wife. Children: i. Eu- 
nice, born 1768, baptized December 11. mar- 
ried, at Watertown, August 16, 1788, Colonel 
Thomas Hunt. 2. Samuel, born at Water- 
town, unmarried. 3. Lydia, baptized January 
I, 1775. 4. Abner, baptized September 7, 
1777, married. May 3, 1801, Ruth Fiske. 5. 
Abigail, born .\ugust 3, 1779, married, De- 
cember 16, 1807, Samuel Townsend. 6. Sally, 
baptized .Vugust 5, 1781. married Levi Wil- 
lard. 7. Patty (Martha), baptized March 23, 
1785, married William Parker. 8. Daniel 
Sanderson, born October 2, 1785, died young. 

9. Lydia, baptized December 10, 1787, mar- 
ried Isaac Smith, of Chelsea, Massachusetts. 

10. Catherine, baptized December 10, 1787, 
married, January 30, 181 1, John Hews, of 
Weston and Cambridgeport, Miassachusetts. 

See Hewes or Hews sketch.) 



George M. Rogers, deceased, 
ROGERS for many years a successful 
business man of Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, where he was an active fac- 
tor in commercial circles, contributing largely 
to its growth and prosperity, was a lineal de- 
scendant of John Rogers, born 1505, the well- 
known English Protestant, the first of the 
"Marian ^Iartyrs," who preached a sermon 
at St. Paul's Cross, .\ugust 3, 1543, which led 
to his arrest, his condemnation by Gardiner, 
and his burning at the stake, February 4. 
1555. .\nother ancestor of George M. Rog- 
ers, Nathaniel Rogers, was born in Haver- 



hill, England, about 1595, from whence he 
came to Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 
1632, and was pastor of a church in Spencer, 
Massachusetts. The parents of George M. 
Rogers were John and Judith (Rogers) Rog- 
ers, who were natives of Gloucester, Massa- 
chusetts. 

George M. Rogers was born in Newbury- 
port, Essex county, Massachusetts, Novem- 
ber 23, 1819, died in Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, June 9, 1889. He was reared in his 
native town, educated in its public schools, 
and later went to Boston, Massachusetts, 
where he was employed by his uncle. In the 
course of time he changed his place of resi- 
dence to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tie en- 
gaged in mercantile pursuits, in which he 
achieved a large degree of success, and subse- 
quently engaged in the real estate business. 
He was a member of the Congregational 
church, and a staunch supporter of the prin- 
ciples of the Republican party. George M. 
Rogers married (first), July 19, 1835, in Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts. Lucy Maria, daughter of 
Eben and Emeline Stebbins. She died Janu- 
ary 13, 1862, leaving two children: George 
Bliss, and Frederick W., of whom later. He 
married (second), September 27, 1868. Mary 
Ann Hartwell, who bore him one child, 
Edward Hartwell. of whom later. 

Frederick W. Rogers, son of George M. 
and Lucy Maria (Stebbins) Rogers, was born 
in Boston, Massachusetts, March 15, 1859. 
He is a lawyer and trustee of real estate, with 
offices in Cambridgeport. He resides in 
Watertown. He married Edith Soren. of 
Dorchester, Massachusetts, who bore him 
four children: Edith and Ethel, twins, and 
Luc_\- and Winifred, twins, all of whom are 
living at the present time (1907). The mother 
of these children died, and Mr. Rogers subse- 
quently married again. 

Edward Hartwell Rogers, son of George 
M. and Mary Ann (Hartwell) Rogers, was 
born in Lexington. Massachusetts, May 19, 
1870. He is a lawyer by profession. He re- 
sides at 113 Norfolk street, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, and has a summer home at 
Lincoln. He married Carrie Elizabeth, 
daughter of David and Sarah (Peet) Heizer, 
of Iowa. Three children were the issue of 
this marriage: John, born January 3. 1901; 
George Edward. February 24, 1903; Edgar 
Heizer, September 10, 1905, died March 24, 
1907. 

Mary Ann (Hartwell) Rogers, widow of 
George M. Rogers, is a descendant of an old 
and honored family. In the chapter of 



246 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Domesday Book assigned to a description of 
military tenures of lands allotted in North- 
amptonshire, England, by William of Nor- 
mandy to his followers, appears the designa- 
tion of an allotment bearing the name of 
"Hertewelle." Siinilar records are found in 
the descriptions of lands in Bucks and Wilts. 
Several branches of these early families, in- 
cluding three or four baronies and with the 
name transmuted amid the multifarious 
changes of orthography incident to the 
changes and growth of the English language 
to plain Hartwell, have spread over England, 
more than one offshoot having found their way 
to those counties of Ireland within the pale, 
notably about the time of the wholesale 
transplanting of colonists to that island by 
Cromwell. 

From some one of these English families 
came William Hartwell, who appears among 
the early settlers of Concord. It cannot be 
positively stated whether or not William 
Hartwell was of the party of settlers under 
the lead of Major Simon Willard, who led the 
way in cutting loose from a neighborhood of 
their friends to penetrate the wilderness in 
search of homes, and which "made their 
pitch" within the limits of the historic town 
of Cambridge, September 12, 1635, O. S., 
but enough is known to make it extremely 
probable that he must have arrived in the 
settlement in the following year, 1636. 
A tract of land, containing nine acres, "more 
or less," was allotted to him on which to 
erect a dwelling, situated, as near as can be 
judged, nearly a mile eastward of the Public 
Square, along the Lexington or old "Bay" road, 
very nearly at the eastern bound of the property 
occupied, in 1887 by E. W. Bull, Nathaniel 
Ball and Joshua Wheeler. If, as is assimied, 
Mr. Hartwell arrived in Concord in 1636, he 
was twenty-three years old at that time. He 
was made a freeman of the colony in 1642, 
appears as one of the petitioners for a grant 
of the town of Chelmsford, adjoining Con- 
cord on the north, in 1653, was one of a 
committee of nine citizens to frame rules for 
the guidance of the selectmen of the town in 
1672, was a corporal in 1671, and in 1673 
was appointed quarter-master, vice Henry 
Woodis, app. cornet in the Second Troop of 
Horse of Middlesex county. He appears as 
one of the large landholders, with two hun- 
dred and forty-seven acres of land, in nine- 
teen separately described tracts. He died 
March 12, 1690, "in ye 77th year of his age," 
having made his will a short time previous, 
in which he mentions his daughters Sarah 



and Mary, and his sons John and Samuel. 
The youngest child of which anything is 
known, Martha, appears to have died before 
him. His wife Jazan died August 5, 1695. 
The resting place of their remains is not 
known, but was doubtless in the old grave- 
yard on the hill south of the Public Square in 
Concord village, where several of his de- 
scendants are buried. 

Samuel Hartwell, son of Willidm and Jazan 
Hartwell, born January 26, 1645, died July 
26, 1725. He served in the war against the 
Indians under the leadership of Philip of 
Pohanoket, his name appearing in the list of 
those to whom, or their descendants, lands 
were granted in 1735, the share allotted for 
his services passing to his grandson, Eph- 
raim. It seems likely he was one of those 
who made the "hungry march" against the 
stronghold of Philip, and to whom a land 
gratuity was specially promised, as the name 
of John, known to have been out in that year, 
does not appear among the grantees of land 
in 1735. He undoubtedly settled near his 
father at marriage, lived nearer him at 
death than John, but nothing yet appears to 
indicate with certainty whether it was he or 
his son Samuel who settled on the lands in 
the present bounds of Lincoln, now held by 
his descendants. He married October 26, 
1665, Ruth, born February 23, 1641-42, died 
December 9, 171 3, daughter of George and 
Catherine Wheeler, of Concord. He mar- 
ried (second) Rebecca , who died 

January 23, 1721-22. He married (third), 
February 6, 1724. Elizabeth Fletcher, of 
Chelmsford, born June io,'i698, died October 

4, 1732- 

Samuel Hartwell, son of Sanuiel and Ruth 
(Wheeler) Hartwell, born October 6, 1666, 
died November 27, 1744. In 1694 he pur- 
chased of Richard Rice a part of the present 
Hartwell farm in Lincoln, and was living in 
that part of Concord in 1696. He married. 
November 29, 1692, Abigail Stearns, of Cam- 
bridge, who died May 11, 1709. He married 

(second) Rebecca , who died April ig, 

1714. He married (third) Margaret Tomp- 
kins, a widow, who died April 5, 1723. He 
married (fourth) Experience Tarbox, a 
widow, who survived him. 

Ephaim Hartwell, son of Sanuiel and Abi- 
gail (Stearns) Hartwell, was born January 14, 
1706-07, died May 7, 1793. He received in 
1735 the share in the Narragansett lands al- 
lotted as compensation for his grandfather's 
services in King Philip's war. He lived on 
the homestead of his father, which fell just 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



247 



over the line in Lincoln when that town was 
set off from Concord, and kept a tavern on 
the detour formerly made by the Bay road to 
the left of its present course, a little to the 
eastward of the ■"llrooks tavern." In his 
will, made in 1786, he bequeaths a slave, 
Violet, to his widow. This bequest, how- 
ever, in nowise contravened the spirit of the 
law or of the courts, as it was, in point of 
fact, a fitting- provision for an old and faith- 
ful family servant. He married, 1732, Eliza- 
beth Heywood, of Concord, b<jrn June 3, 1714, 
died January 30. 1808. 

Sanuicl Hartwell. son of Ephraim and 
Elizabeth (Heywood) Hartwell, born June 25, 
1742, died August 12. 1829. He was a clock- 
maker by trade. He built a house on part of 
the homestead. He served as quarter- 
master during the Revolutionary war, and 
participated in the battle at White Plains. 
He married Mary Flint, of Lincoln, born 
April 2, 1748, died 1846. 

Samuel Hartwell. son of Samuel and Mary 
(Flint) Hartwell, born .March 28. 1789. died 
August 4, 1837. He followed agricultural 
pursuits, residing on and cultivating the 
homestead formerly belonging to his fa- 
ther and grandfather in Lincoln. He mar- 
ried, July 2. 1818. I'dUy Hagar, born April i, 
1789, died December 14, 1863. daughter of 
Xathan and Annie (Bigelow) Hagar. of 
Weston, Massachusetts. They w"ere the 
parents of the following named children: i. 
George, born May 31. 181 y. married (first). 
March 3. 1875. Margaret Redman, of I'lue 
Hill. Maine, three cliildren: John Redman, 
died April 15, 1906; (leorge. deceased: Sam- 
uel, deceased. George Hartwell married 
(second) Lucy B. Fiskc. a native f)f Lincoln. 
2. Jonas, born June 30. 182 1. died August 5, 
1906. 3. Rev. Charles, born December 19. 
1825, died January 30. 1905; he was a mis- 
sionary in Foochow. China, over fifty years; 
he married Lucy E. .Stearns, of Xew Ipswich. 
Xew Ham]ishire. who bore him si.x children, 
three of whom are now living, namely: 
Charles S., married Carrie Lee, of Wayland : 
Emily S., missionar\' in China: Carrie A., 
married Edward Tupper. of Minneapolis. 
Minnesota. 4. Rev. John, born December 
20. 1827, died December 18. 1878: he mar- 
ried Sarah D. Southmayd, of Middletown. 
Connecticut, who bore liim three children, 
only one of whom is living at the present 
time, Mary .\. Hartwell. a resident of Wash- 
ington. D. C. 5. Mary Ann, born at Lincoln, 
Massachusetts, August 30. 1830, educated in 
public school and ^fotmt Holyoke Seminary. 



lladle\'. .Ma^saclui^ctts, now the widow of 
( ieorge .M. Rogers. .She is the mother of 
one son. I'ldward Hartwell Rogers, born in 
Lexington. .May ly. 1870. 6. .Samuel, born 
January 4. 1834. died February 23, 1906; he 
married Julia Weston, of Lincoln, Massa- 
chusetts, who bore him three children, all of 
whom died in earlv life. 



The surname. Guild, Guld, Guide 
GUILD or Guile, is of Scotch origin, the 
records showing the surname as 
early as 1449 wdien one Alexander Guide 
owned property at Sterling. In the sixteenth 
century we find the family in Dundee and in 
the seventeenth in Forfarshire and Perth. 
The Scotch family may have descended from 
the Guille family of the Isle of Ciuernsey, the 
original seat of which was on the bay called 
-Saint, in the parish of St. Martin. According 
to tradition thev were there before or at the 
time of the Con(|uest. .\t the dedication of 
the St. Pierre du l!ois Church in 1167 John 
Guile is mentioned as one of the honorable 
gentlemen present. The surname is said to 
be Xorman. probably the Xornian form of the 
Latin Aci^ldiiis. or Giles in English. The 
.Scotch coat-of-arms closely resembles the 
arms of the (Guernsey family. 

The American families of Guild and (iuile 
are descended from two brothers. John (iuild, 
mentioned below, and Samuel Guild, who with 
their sister Ann arrived in .Massachusetts 
about i('>36 and settled in Dedham. They were 
probably quite young when they came and it 
is conjectured that Ann was the oldest, being 
about twenty. John about eighteen and Sam- 
uel sixteen years of age. .\nn married, March 
16. 1638. James .Allen, and in 1(^)49 settled in 
I\Iedfield, .Massachusetts, a new town adjoin- 
ing Dedham. Samuel Guild w-ent in 1640 to 
Newbury. Massachusetts, and soon afterward 
joined the settlement at Haverhill. Massichu- 
setts. 

(I) John Guild, the immigrant ancestor, is 
supywsed to have been born in I'.ngland about 
1616. and came to .America in U)36 with his 
brother Samuel and sister Ann. He was ad- 
mitted to the church at Dedham. July 17. 
if'>4o. and botight twelve acres of upland the 
same year. He built on this land a house 
which was occupied by himself and descend- 
ants for more tlian two hundred years. He 
was admitted a freeman .May 10. 1^143. and as 
one of the original grantees had assigned to 
him three roods and twelve rods of land, to 
which he added by further grants and pur- 



248 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



chase much real estate in Dedham, Wren- 
tham, Medfield and Natick. He was thor- 
oughly honest in all his dealings, industrious 
and frugal, modest in his deportment, and 
retiring in his habits. He never held any 
office, and the town records show his attend- 
ance at town meeting but once for several 
years and then on an occasion of considerable 
excitement in relation to making alterations 
and additions to the meeting-house. He mar- 
ried, June 24, 1645, Elizabeth Crooke, of Rox- 
bury, who was dismissed from Roxbury to 
Dedham church, July 4, 1649. She died Aug- 
ust 31, 1669. He died October 4, 1682. His 
will is dated October 3, 1682, and was proved 
November 3, 1682. Children: i. John, born 
August 22, 1646, died young. 2. Samuel, 
born November 7, 1647, mentioned below. 3. 
John, born November 29, 1649, married Sarah 
Fisher. 4. Eliezur, born November 30, 1653, 
died June 30, 1655. 5. Ebenezer, born De- 
cember 21, 1657, died April 21, 1661. 6. 
Elizabeth, born January 18, 1660. 7. Benja- 
min, born May 25, 1664, died young. 

(H) Samuel Guild, son of John Guild (I), 
was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, Novem- 
ber 7, 1647. Married, November 29, 1676, 
Mary Woodcock, daughter of Samuel and 
Ann (Herring) Woodcock, of Dedham. She 
was born March 9, 1631-32. He was a sol- 
dier in King Philip's war in 1675, a private in 
Captain Moseley's company. He was ad- 
mitted a freeman at Salem. May, 1678. In 
1703 he was one of a committee to invest and 
manage the school funds, selectman of Ded- 
ham from 1693 to 1713, and a deputy to the 
general court in 1719. He died in Dedham, 
January i, 1730. Children: i. Samuel, born 
"October 12, 1677, married Sarah Hartshorn. 
2. Nathaniel, born January 12, 1678, married 
Mehitable Farrington or Hartshorn. 3. Mary, 
born May 9, 1681, died May 27, 1768; mar- 
ried. May, 1714, John Fuller, of Dedham. 
4. John, born June 18, 1683. died October 
29, 1684. 5. Deborah, born September 16. 
1685. 6. John, born October 2, 1687, mar- 
ried Abigail Robinson. 7. Israel, born June 
II, 1690, mentioned below. 8. Ebenezer, 
born July 23, 1694, married Abigail Fisher, 
Hannah Curtis and Reulah Peck. 9. Eliza- 
beth, born April 14, 1697. 

(Ill) Israel Guild, son of Samuel Guild 
(2), was born in Dedham, June 11, 1690; 
married Sarah . He settled in Leba- 
non, Connecticut, where he made his will 
March 11, 1766. proved December 18, 1766. 
Children: i. Deborah, born June 26, 1715, 
married. September 6, 1739, John House. 2. 



Hannah, born February 14, 171 7, married John 
Hall. 3. Keziah, born Alay 26, 1719, married 
Timothy Washburn. 4. Jacob, born August 

I, 1722, mentioned below. 5. Israel, born 
November 25, 1729. 6. Sarah, born Decem- 
ber 5, 1732, married, June 23, 1760, William 
Frazier, of Norwich, Connecticut. 

(IV) Jacob Guild, son of Israel Guild (3), 
was born August i, 1722. Married, May 26, 
1757, Hannah Larabee, widow, of Coventry, 
Connecticut. He settled at Lebanon, Connec- 
ticut ; removed thence to Hatfield before the 
Revolution and settled on the Connecticut 
river in the neighborhood called West Farms. 
Children: i. Lavinia, born March 11, 1758, 
married. September 7, 1780, Solomon Snow, 
of Whately, Massachusetts. 2. Joseph, born 
July 23, 1760, an officer in the Revolution 
from Hatfield ; died there without issue ; mar- 
ried ]\Iartha Smith, who was born March 24, 
1774. 3. Hannah, died in 1856; married, 
October 21, 1782, Benjamin Parker, son of 
Abraham and Lois (Blood) Parker. 4. Jesse, 
born April 11, 1765, mentioned below. 5. 
Israel, born September 11, 1767, married 
Rhoda Graves. 6. Nathaniel, born and bap- 
tized 1769: married Mehitable Gaines. 7. 
Silas, born about 1770, married Laura Brown. 

(V) Jesse Guild, son of Jacob Guild (4), 
was born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, April 

II, 1765. Married Zilpah Smith, who was 
born January 4, 1764, and died April 17, 
1841. He joined the Continental army in the 
Revolution at the age of sixteen, serving part 
of his three years as an orderly sergeant. He 
removed to Halifax, Vermont, after the war, 
and cleared a farm. He was a blacksmith by 
trade and besides farming followed that trade. 
He was deacon of the Congregational church 
at Halifax. He died June 5, 1848. Children : 
I. Chester, born 1788, died in Halifax, Ver- 
mont, February i, 1836: married x^nna 
Brown, who died October, 1877; daughter 
Hannah Elizabeth married Jesse Guild, of 
Leona, Pennsylvania. 2. Calvin, born Octo- 
ber 14, 1789, mentioned below. 3. Israel, 
born May, 1791, married Rachel Kellogg. 4. 
Joel, born August 14, 1793, married Marga- 
ret Kennedy. 5. Asa, born about 1795, en- 
listed in War of 1812 and never returned. 6. 
Hannah, born 1800, died unmarried Decem- 
ber I, 1838. 7. Elizabeth, died at Halifax, 
February 15, 1862, unmarried. 

(VI) Calvin Guild, son of Jesse Guild 
(5),. was born in West Halifax, Vermont, 
October 14, 1789. Married, February 15, 
1816, Sally Kellogg, who was born in Brook- 
field. Vermont, August 9, 1793, died at Galva, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



249 



Illinois, August 12, 1875. He was a farmer 
at West Halifax, and died there July 27, 1869. 
Children, born at West Halifax: i. William, 
born October 26, 1816, married, May 16, 
1844, Joanna B. Hawkes ; was a fanner, and 
deacon of the Congregational church at West 
Halifax ; died at Lowell, April 27, 1863 ; child, 
Orlando Hawkes. 2. Asa. Ixjrn October 27, 
1818, mentioned below. 3. Spencer, born 
June 23, 1820, married, October 10, 1850, 
Abby Temple Carleton, born January 29, 
1829, daughter of John and Fanny (Lewis) 
Carleton, of Mount Vernon, New Hampshire ; 
he was a merchant, member of school commit- 
tee and Congregational church ; died 1885 : 
children: i. Famiy Carleton. born September 
17, 1855, graduated at Mt. Holyokc Seminary, 
1876 : principal of Conmionwealth avenue 
school, Boston ; ii. William .Mbert. born 
March 19, 1862, married Kate Louise 
Wheeler; is general secretary of Young Men's 
Christian Association, Bath, Maine ; iii. Frank 
Spencer, born April 12, 1865, married. Sep- 
tember 13, 1886. ]\Iay B. Rogers, of Lynn, 
Massachusetts; is art editor of Ladies' Home 
Journal, Philadelphia. 4. Julia, born Septem- 
ber 13, 1822, married, July 4. 1855, Luke 
Kingsbury ; children : Irving Small and 
Frank W. Kingsbury. 5. Sarah Jemima, born 
September 6, 1824, died 1880; married Al- 
bert Guild. 6. Dr. Phineas Kellogg, born 
March 9, 1827. married at Boston, October 8. 
1868, Susan Caroline Lincoln, daughter of 
Giarles and .Susan C, (Patterson) Lincoln, 
born at Charlestown, Massachusetts, Novem- 
ber 13, 1841 ; he graduated at the University 
Medical College in New York in 1853 ; sur- 
geon of the Fifty-second Illinois Regiment in 
1861-62; surgeon of the C)ne Humdred and 
Twentieth Illinois in 1862, but resigned on 
account of ill health ; began medical practice 
in 1864 at Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, later 
removed to Santa Barbara, California, died 
189 1 ; children: i. Bertha, born September 5, 
1869; ii. Mabel Kellogg, born January 24, 
1871 ; iii. Emeline Ticknor, born May 7, 
1872; iv. Phineas Kellogg, tymi at Siiirley, 
Massachusetts, July 3, 1874; v. Almira Hall, 
born at Santa Barbara. November 2, 1877. 
7. Thomas Ward, born May 23, 1829, head 
tailor for a clothing manufacturing firm in 
Boston, later in mercantile business, died at 
Chicago, February 17, 1879. 8. Rev. Rufus 
Barnard, born July 25, 183 1, married at Gales- 
burg, Illinois, June 27, 1861, .Swsan .A. Ber- 
gen, daughter of Abram S. and Fidelia (El- 
dridge") Bergen ; she was born in Ottawa. Illi- 
nois. August 17, 1838; graduate of Knox 



College, Galesburg, and of the Chicago Theo- 
logical Seminary ; pastor of the Congrega- 
tional church at .Sterling, Kansas ; died De- 
cember 31, 1888: children: i. George .Albert, 
ly)m at (ialesburg, September 28, 1863, presi- 
dent of National Bank of Sabetha, Kansas; 
ii. Harry Lyman, born at Galva. Illinois, 
August 19, 1865; iii. Fanny I^'idelia. l>orn 
April 30, 1867, married. May 3, 1887, .Melvin 
L. Laybourn, of Lyndon, Kansas ; iv. Will- 
iam Rufus, born February 11, 1869, bank 
cashier;- v. Roy Bergen, born December i, 
1871, secretary of Illinois Home Missionary 
Society; vi. Susie May. born May 23. 1876; 
vii. Jessie Swift, born at Seneca, Kansas, 
.\pril 27, 1880. 9. Harriet Maria, born No- 
vember 8, 1834, died April 13, 1836. 

(VII) Asa Guild, son of Calvin Guild (6), 
was born at West Halifax, \'ermont, October 
27, 18 1 8. He was educated in the common 
schools, and became a merchant. They re- 
sided at Heath, Massachusetts, and Milford, 
New Hampshire. He was a Whig in politics ; 
a Congregationalist in religion. He married 
(first), June 12, 1850, Harriet E. Fuller; mar- 
ried (second), September 29, 1852, Catherine 
.Amelia Smith, who was born December 9, 
1828, died January 11. 1898. He died at Mil- 
ford, New Hampshire, January 29. 1858. His 
wife was a descendant of Lieutenant Samuel 
Smith, of Hadley, Massachusetts, who com- 
manded troops in King Philip's war, and 
great-granddaughter of Lieutenant Pienjamin 
Maxwell, born in Bedford, .Massachusetts, 
who took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, 
Her parents were .Aaron and Azubah (Miller) 
Smith, of Heath, Massachusetts. The only 
child of .\sa and Catherine Amelia Guild was : 
Edward Payson, born March 14, 1857, men- 
tioned below, 

(VIII) Edward Pay.son Guild, son of .Asa 
Guild (7), was born at Milford, New Hamp- 
shire, .March 14, 1857. He attended the pub- 
lic schools and graduated in 1877 from the 
scientific department of Williston Seminary, 
Easthampton, Massachusetts. He taught in 
the public schools for three years, was a news- 
paper reporter and correspr>ndent, then en- 
gaged in the publishing and advertising busi- 
ness in Boston. For several years he w'as 
business manager of the Atlantic Monthly, 
and at present is secretary of The Living Age 
Company and conducts a special advertising 
agency in Boston. In literary work Mr. Guild 
has been a contributor to various magazines 
and papers. In 1885 he edited the "Centennial 
History of Heath, Massachusetts," In i()02 
he was elected first president of the Heath 



250 



:\[IDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Historical Socie'iV, and delivered an address 
on "The \'aliie of the Historic Spirit," which 
attracted much favorable attention. In musi- 
cal matters he has always been much inter- 
ested. He was a founder and the first presi- 
dent of the Williston Musical Association, 
Easthampton, .Massachusetts, in 1876, still a 
flourishing organization ; he has written con- 
siderable in the line of musical essays and 
criticisms ; for several years has been a mem- 
ber of music committee of the Congregational 
church of Reading, Massachusetts, of which 
he is a member ; has served several terms on 
executive committee of the Reading Music 
Club, and is an associate member of the Am- 
phion Club of Melrose. In politics Mr. Guild 
is a Republican, although sometimes inde- 
pendent in his support of candidates. He is 
a trustee of the Public Library of Reading, 
Massachusetts, in which town he has resided 
since i88g. 

He married. Mtiv ti. 1881, Clara Ella Stev- 
enson, born in Hampden, Maine, ]\Iay 13, 
1837, died February 6, 1905, daughter of John 
L. and Betsey (Wiswell) Stevenson. Chil- 
dren: I. Mildred Alice, born at Hyde Park, 
IMassachusetts. September 13, 1882, married 
John H. Marshall, clerk, paymaster's office, 
Boston & Maine Railroad, Boston. 2. Theo- 
dore Asa, born at Melrose. jMassachusetts, 
July 15. 1886, clerk in a banking house in 
Boston. 



William Chamber- 
CHAMBERLAIX lain, the immigrant 
ancestor, was born in 
England of an ancient and distinguished fam- 
ily. William, Edmund and Thomas Cham- 
berlain, brothers, all settled early in Massa- 
chusetts. Thomas Chamberlain was one of 
the three original purchasers of the Dudley 
farm at Billerica, but he settled at Chelms- 
ford; Edmund was first at Woburn, but he 
too settled at Chelmsford before 1656, remov- 
ing later to Woodstock. 

William was born about 1620 ; was admitted 
an inhabitant of Woburn. Massa- 
chusetts, January 6, 1648, and removed to 
Billerica in 1654. just about the time his 
brothers removed to Chelmsford, and he 
lived there until his death. May 31, 1706, 
aged eighty-six years. His house in Billerica 
(then Shaw^hin) was on a farm near the 
Woburn road in the southeast part of the 
town. His name first appears on the records 
in October, T654, on a petition to enlarge the 
boundaries of the town and to change the 



name to Billerica (Billerikav in the petition). 
He married Rebecca , who died Sep- 
tember 26, 1692, in the prison at Cambridge, 
where she was held on the preposterous 
charge of witchcraft. Their children: I. 
Timothy, born at Concord, August 13, 1649. 
2. Isaac, born at Concord, October i, 1650, 
died July 20, 1681. 3. John, died March 3, 
1652. 4. Sarah, born at Billerica, May 20, 
1655-56, married John Shedd. 5. Jacob, born 
January 18, 1657-38, mentioned below. And 
these also born at Billerica: 6. Thomas, born 
February 20. 1659. 7. Edmund, born July 
15, 1661, married Mary Abbott. 8. Rebecca, 
born February 25, 1662, married Thomas 
Stearns. 9. Abraham, born January 6, 1664. 
10. Ann, born ]\Iarch 3, 1665-66. 11. Clem- 
ent, born May 30, 1669. 12. Daniel, born 
September 27. 1671. 13. Isaac, born Janu- 
ary 20, i68r. 

(11) Jacob Chamberlain, son of William 
Chamljerlain (i), was born at Billerica, Janu- 
ary 18. 1657-58. It is very difficult to dis- 
tinguish the records of the various members 
of this family bearing the name of Jacob 
Chamberlain in the second and third genera- 
tions. According to the researches of George 
W. Chamberlain for the Chamberlain Associ- 
ation, however, the Jacob of Newton whose 
wife was Experience is the ancestor o^ the 
Westborough and Worcester families. Jack- 
son himself, author of the history of Newton, 
altered the town records by inserting the 
name of Susanna as the wife of this Jacob in 
the copy of the birth record of Jason and 
Ebenezer. Jacob Chamberlain (2), married 

Experience . He removed from 

West Cambridge to Newton about 1699. He 
was admitted a freeman in 1690. Children, 
born in Newton: i. Jason, born February 26, 
1701. 2. Ebenezer, born July 31, 1704, men- 
tioned below. 3. John, married Mercy 

and settled in Westborough. 

(HI) Ebenezer Chamberlain, son of Jacob 
(2) and Experience Chamberlain, was born iif 
Newtown, July 31, 1704, and died in West- 
borough. He married, November 28, 1733. 
Mary Trowbridge, daughter of Thomas 
Trowbridge. 

(I\') Ebenezer Chamberlain, son of Eben- 
ezer (3) and Alary (Trowbridge) Chamber- 
lain, was born at Westborough, October 10, 
1740, and died in the same town, September 
17, i8o6. He married. ,\pril 10, 1766, Esther 
Fav, of Westborough. 

(Y) Jason Chamberlain, son of Ebenezer 
(4) and Esther (Fay) Chamberlain, was born 
in Westborough, Massachusetts, April 18, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



251 



1782, and died in W'cstboro. Dcccnibcr 30, 
1849. He was a prosperons farmer and dairy- 
man, finding a ready market for the produet.s 
of liis dairy in Boston, to which city he 
shipped them. He married May 28. 1810. 
Bet.'iey Burna]), of Hopkinton, Massachu- 
setts, who died Jannary 4. 1844. at tlie age of 
si.xty-two years. Their children, all born in 
West borough, were: i. Ephraim I'"ay. born 
August 18, 181 1. 2. Eliza Maria, born Janu- 
ary 3, 1813. 3. Xancy .Augusta. Iiorn Sep- 
tember 19. 1814. 4. Esther So])hia, l)orn Oc- 
tober 25, 1815. 5. Jason De.xter. burn 1817. 
6. Charles Trowbridge. 7. .\eweli, born 
1821, for many years in partnership with his 
brother, George Dana, died at ("ambridge. 
Massachusetts. February 11, 1905. He was 
an honorary member of the Cambridge 
Young Men's Christian .Association, and of 
John .\. Logan Post. Xo. 186, (irand .Army 
of the Republic. He married (first) .Xancy B. 
Childs. of Natick, who bore him one child, 
^\'illard X., of Brookline. He married (sec- 
ond) Hannah J. Ware, daughter of Deacon 
Ruel Ware, of W'ellesley, wlio bore him the 
following )iamed children: Lizzie F., Carrie 
A. (Oxford), Ella J.. G. Arthur, Frank W. 
and Walter B. 8. (ieorge Dana, sec forward. 
(VD (ieorge Dana Chamberlain, fifth son 
and eighth and youngest child of Jason (5) 
and Betsey (Burnap) Chamberlain, was born 
in Westborough. Massachusetts. June 4, 1823 
and died in Cambridge, -September 8. 1895. 
His education was accjuired in the public 
schools and in Leicester .Academy, and he 
was brought uj) on the farm of his father. He 
left home in 1849 and associated himself in a 
business ])artncrship with his brother Xcwell, 
which continued for many years. They en- 
gaged in the meat and provision business in 
Framingham, and in 1859 removed to Brigh- 
ton, Arassachusetts. w-here for a period of 
over forty years they carried on an extensive 
and i)rofitable business in the slaughtering 
of cattle, etc., under the firm name of N. & G. 
D. Chamberlain, wholesale beef dealers. 
They owned a double house in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, at Nos. 2/ and 29 River street 
and were well know-n residents of the iniiver- 
sity city. The house came to be considered 
as a landmark, and was the center of a de- 
lightful and varied social and church life. It 
was the gathering place for the influential 
men and women of Cambridge and its vicin- 
ity, and many of the most important lueas- 
ures for the advantage of the commonwealth 
had their inception there. Mr. Chainberlain 
was a Republican in politics, and was promi- 



nent in the councils of his part v. He served 
as a member of the board of aldermen in 
1879-80. and as overseer of the poor rendered 
valuable service to the city. He placed (.'am- 
bridge in the van as regards the management 
of the pauper department. He was repre- 
sentative 10 the general court in 1881. and 
served for five consecutive years. His ability 
as a debater made him a cons])icuous and in- 
rtuential tnember of the house, his keen w-it 
putting his opponents to discomfiture, while 
his jiowers of ])ersuasion made him an ex- 
ceedingly valuable committeeman. The rec- 
ord of his famous contests upon the floor of 
the house witli leading representatives is a 
long and brilliant one. In the Tewksbury 
Almshouse Investigation, instigated bv Gen- 
eral liutler. Mr. Chamberlain was an espec- 
ially conspicuous figure, and gained no little 
credit all over the Commonwealth. He w^as 
also closely identified with the movement to 
place the police department of the city of 
Boston under state control, and was one of 
the most ardent champions of this measm-e. 
He was active i:i the "Xo license" movement 
in (.'ambridge, the result of which lias been 
that .'•aloons have been ke])t out of the citv. 
He was an earnest and consistent member of 
the Pilgrim Congregational Church. 

Mr. Chamberlain married. X'oveniber 14, 
1849, Mary .Anna Kendall, a woman of a 
most sweet and amiable dis]josition. who was 
his fitting helpmate for almost fifty years, her 
death occurring Februarv 22, 1895. She was 
the daughter of Timothy and Polly (F'lagg) 
Kendall, of .Sherborn, Massachusetts. The 
children of Mr. and .Mrs. Chamberlain were: 
I. .Sophia -Agnes, born Xovember 10. 1850. 
.She married George B. Caswell, born in Sal- 
isbury. Xew Hampshire, December 16, 1850. 
He was educated in public schools and at 
Tilton .Seminary. .\ew 1 lanipshire. He was 
at one tiiue employed in the Tower Piano 
Factory, and later engaged in the laundry 
business. He resides at No. 27 River street, 
Cambridge. His father. Rev. Enoch H. Cas- 
well, born in Middleton, 'Vermont, t8i8, died 
November ri, 1863. He was graduated from 
Middlebury College, \'ermont, and from .An- 
dover Theological .Seminary, and preached 
for a period of eighteen years in \'ermont 
and Xew Hampshire. He married, 1848. .Sar- 
ah J. Parsons, born .August 20, 1823. daugh- 
ter of Deacon William Parsons, of Salisbury, 
New Hampshire. 2. Lucy .Alice, born July 
18, 1853, died .April 13, 1867. 3. Mary .Au- 
gusta, born October 13, 1855, married, Octo- 
ber 17, 1877, Franklin W. Perry, of Holyoke, 



252 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Massachusetts, born June 27, 1852, died June 
20, 1898, son of George Henry and Laura 
(Wheeler) Perry. Their children were: 
George Herbert, born May 4, 1879, married 
Annie Meadowcroft, daughter of J. K. and 
Sarah Aleadowcroft, of Cambridge, May 6, 
1903. Ralph Dana, born July 7, 1882. Carl 
Chamberlain, born August 29, 1890. 4. Etta 
Frances, born July 24, 1861, married Novem- 
ber 14, 1883, James Kendall, son of Deacon 
Edward Kendall, of Cambridge. Their chil- 
dren are: Alice Chamberlain, born February 
26, 1885. Edward Dana, born May 17, 1888. 
Frances Paton, born July 2, 1895. 



Unusual difficulty has been 
JENNINGS found with the early genera- 
tions of the Jennings family. 
John Jenings or Jenny went to Holland in his 
youth and lived at Rotterdam. He was a 
brewer of Norwich, England, before coming 
in August, 1623, to New Plymouth in the 
ship "James," forty-four tons, built for the 
Pilgrims at Leyden. He married Sarah Car- 
ey, at Leyden, November i, 1614; was a 
prominent citizen at Plymouth; assistant 
1637-39; deputy to the general court in 1641; 
left a widow and children who settled at Dart- 
mouth. In his will he mentions his children, 
but no mention of son Richard, and it is 
therefore reasonable to believe that Richard 
Jennings, of Sandwich, came there from 
Portsmouth. Rhode Island, and was the son 
of Thomas Jennings, who was perhaps a near 
relative of John. 

(I) Thomas Jennings settled in Ports- 
mouth, Rhode Island. His wife Ann died 
there in 1684; he himself died there in 1674. 
He was received as an inhabitant as early as 
1643. He and William Hale were granted a lot 
to be equally divided May 27, 1644. Hale had 
been of Marshfield from 1635 to 1644. In 
1655 Jennings was admitted a freeman. He 
and wife Ann deeded the homestead to their 
son Thomas in 1679. The widow brought a 
suit .May 25, 1684, against Isaac Lawton. 
Children: i. Samuel. 2. Thomas, resided at 
Kingston. 3. Job. 4. Gabriel, of Newport. 5. 
Richard; mentioned below. 6. Joseph. Two 
daughters. Several of the family seem to 
have left Rhode Island. 

(II) Richard Jennings, son of Thomas Jen- 
nings (i), was born perhaps in England. A 
Richard Jennings settled in Sandwich, Massa- 
chusetts, and in 1633 is said to have appren- 
ticed himself to Robert Bartlett, of Plymouth, 
for nine years. He was probably born about 



1620 in England. In 1666 he appears to have 
been living in Bridgewater. A legacy was 
left him in 1666 by Francis Godfrey; in 1694 
William Bassett, Jr., of Sandwich, called him 
kinsman. The children of Richard appear to 
be: I. John, mentioned below. 2. Richard of 
Bridgewater, who had sons Joseph, Samuel, 
Ephraim; daughters, Elizabeth, married Will- 
iam Ames; Ann, married John Carver; Mary, 
married John Tobey; Hannah, married James 
Leonard. 

(III) John Jeimings, believed to be son of 
Richard Jennings (2), of Sandwich, was born 
about 1645. ^^ resided in Sandwich and 

married (first), Susanna ; (second) 

Ruhamah . Their children, born in 

Sandwich: i. Daughter, born September 17, 
1668, probably Remember, who married Sep- 
tember 20, 1686. Joseph Buck. 2. Anne, 
born October 17, 1670. Children of second 
wife: 3. John, born May 12, 1673. 4. Son, 
probably Isaac, born July 3, 1677. 5. Eliza- 
beth, born April 4, 1680, died September 13, 
^682. 6. Samuel, mentioned below. 

(IV) Samuel Jennings, son of John Jen- 
nings (3), was born at Sandwich, February 28, 
1684-85, died there May 13, 1764. He fol- 
lowed the sea and in accordance with the cus- 
tom of the times was impressed on the Brit- 
ish frigate Milford while in a West Indian 
port, .\nother story has it that his brother 
was captain of a merchantman, and that after 
his death Samuel went to England to recover 
his estate, and that when impressed on this 
trip he was eighteen or nineteen years old. 
If only eighteen he was not old enough to 
settle estates, and it is Hkely that the story of 
the brother's estate has been mixed with the 
facts about the impressment. In attempting 
to escape from the frigate by swimming he 
was attacked by a shark, and though he 
escaped with his life and secured his freedom 
he lost a hand and a foot as a result of the 
adventure. But this loss seems not to have 
handicapped him in life. He had a good 
education and made the most of it. For a 
time he was the grammar school teacher in 
Sandwich, about 1710; selectman 1712; deputy 
to the general court, 1714-17-21; town clerk 
thirty years, 1721 to 1751; town treasurer 
from 1719 to 1751; surveyor of lands; he kept 
a general store and was known far and wide 
as a prosperous trader. He acquired a large 
estate for his day. He died 1764. He mar- 
ried (first) Remember Smith, daughter of 
Shubael Smith, January 20, 1713. She was 
the granddaughter of Rev. John Smith. She 
died January 25, 1717, and he married (sec- 




CLARINA A. SAWYER 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



253 



ond) Deborah Newcomb. Children of Sam- 
uel and Remember Jenninijs: i. Lydia, born 
February 6, 1714, married Nathan Bourne, of 
Scituate, September 6, 1733, and both died at 
Hanover, Massachusetts. 2. Ruhamah, born 
May I, 1716. a woman of fine education, 
married, October 11, 1739. Children of sec- 
ond wife: 3. Samuel, born September 9, 1727. 
4. Esther, born April 29, 1731, married Feb- 
ruary 14, 1759, Jabez Tapper. 3. John, men- 
tioned below. 

(V) John Jeimings. son of Samuel Jennings 
(4), was born September 3, 173^, married, 
April 19. 1759, Hannah Sturgis. and she mar- 
ried (second) Deacon Thomas Bassett, March 
15' '^ni- Their sons Samuel and John re- 
moved to Littleborough, Maine, now Leeds, 
in 1783-84, reaching their new home in birch 
bark canoes through streams, rivers and small 
lakes. Children of John and Deborah Jen- 
nings, born in Sandwich: i. Deborah, born 
December 7, 1760. 2. Samuel, born Novem- 
ber 15, 1762, removed to Leeds. 3. Jolui, 
born February 9, 1765, settled at Leeds. 4. 
Hannah, born August 12, 1766. 5. Bath- 
sheba, born August 27, 1768. 6. Sarah, born 
April 2, 1770. 7. Polly, born June 16, 1773. 
8. Nathaniel, mentioned below. 

(VI) Nathaniel Jennings, son of John Jen- 
nings (5), was born in Sandwich, Massachu- 
setts. May 26, 1775. He followed his elder 
brothers John and Samuel to Leeds, Maine, 
but after a time went to live in that part of the 
adjoining town known as North Wayne, and 
his descendants still live there. He married 
; one child, Lewis, mentioned below. 

(VH) Lewis Jennings, son of Nathaniel 
Jennings (6), was born in 1798, in North 
W'ayne. Maine. He married Abigail Foster, 
January i, 1818, and she married (second), 
November, 1832, Sullivan Lathrop, of Leeds, 
son of Captain David Lathrop, a soldier of 
the Revolution. Children of Lewis and Abi- 
gail (Nabby) (Foster) Jennings: i. Sarah F., 
born Februarv 21. 1820, married, June 20, 
1850, at Lowe'll, Willard C. Welch: she died 
January 30, 1891. 2. Sophronia B., born July 
19, 1821, married, 1845, Lewis C. Blood, of 
Andover; she died February 3, 1893, in Ban- 
gor, Maine. 3. Clarina A., mentioned below. 
4. Tillotson L,. born November, 1824, mar- 
ried, September, 1845, at Lowell, Mary Jane 
Randlett; he died June, 1892; she died Janu- 
ary, 1857. and he married (second), June, 
i860, a Miss Frost, of Leeds. 5. Lewis .A., 
born February 21, 1S27, married, July, 1862, 
Abbie Bradbury, of Memphis. Children of 
Sullivan and Abigail (Foster) (Jennings) La- 



throp: I. Daniel, born 1834. 2. Mary .Ann, 
born 1836. married Onslow Savory, of Farm- 
ington, .Maine, now or late of Buckfield, 
.Maine: post office. Turner. 3. Timothy, born 
February, 1837, died aged ten. 4. .\bbie F., 
born 1841, married, 1861, James Baker, of 
Lancaster; she died June, 1874. 

(VHI| Clarina .\manda Jennings, daugh- 
ter of Lewis Jennings (7), was born at Leeds, 
Maine, I'ebruary 13. 1823. She was educated 
in the public schools of her native town, like 
many farmers" daughters of northern New 
Englantl, came \o Lowell to work in the mills. 
She resided there initil her marriage, May I, 
1844, to Charles Sawyer. 

Mr. Sawyer was born in Haverhill, Massa- 
chusetts, July, 1822. He was descended from 
an old Essex county family, the progenitor of 
which was Edward Sawyer, of Rowley, who 
first settled in Ipswich about 1635. He was 
educated in the public schools and learned 
the trade of shoemaking. His father manu- 
factured boots and shoes in Haverhill, which 
was one of the pioneer shoe manvifacturing 
centres of Massachusetts. The son continued 
for some years in the father's business. In 
1840 he removed to Lowell and was employed 
in the machine shops. He finally entered the 
railroad business and accepted a lucrative po- 
sition in Canada, whither he removed with his 
family, .\fter his death, February 11, 1853, 
his wife and daughter returned to their .old 
home in Lowell, where they have since re- 
sided. He was a regular attendant upon the 
services of the Lfnitarian church, and was 
especially interested in the charities and 
benevolences of the church, which he sup- 
ported to the extent of his means. He was 
personally agreeable, genial and kindly and 
made many friends. lie was a member of the 
Odd Fellows. In politics he was a Republi- 
can. Their only child was Clarissa .Adclia, 
born November 4, 1848, married John Wes- 
ley Reed ; children : i. Clare Sawyer, born 
>Iarch 4, 1874, married Colonel Samuel 
Brockmeier, Wheeling, West Virginia, and 
have Charles \\'., Samuel H., Elizabeth B. 
and Clare R. ii. George Edward Reed, born 
November 25, 1881. 



(I) Corporal John Foster, the 
FOSTER immigrant ancestor, was born 

in England in 1626. He came 
to this country with Roger Conant's com- 
pany and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. 
He married at Salem, about 1649. Martha 
Tompkins, daughter of Ralph and Katharine 



254 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(Aboni) 'roiii[)kitis. Slic was liorn in I'-tig- 
land about 1630-35. She testified in 1670 that 
she wa.s about thirty-four years old. He was 
probaljly a carpenter by trade, as in 1657 he 
helped l)uild a bridge at Salem. He deeded 
land to his son John in 1674. He was adniit- 
ter a freeman May 24, 1682. His will is dated 
November 16, 1687, and proved ]\Iarch 14, 
1688, at Ipswich, filed at Boston. Children: i. 
Alary, baptized March 29, 1649-50, married, 
December 31, 1672, Hugh Jones. 2. Samuel, 
baptized March 7, 1651-52, married. May 14, 
1676, Sarah Stuart ; residence, Salem. 3. John, 
mentioned below. 4. Benjamin, born July 3, 
1658. 5. Jonathan, horn December 20, 1660, 
died March 28, 1662. 6. Jonathan, born 
November 22, 1662, died November 6, 
1667. 7. Joseph, born 1664, baptized July, 
1667, resided at Salem; removed to Dor- 
chester in 1704: married, November 21, 
1683, Anna Trask. 8. David, born Oc- 
tober 16, 1665, died 1748; married, January 
13, 1686-87, Hannah Buxton. 9. Elizabeth, 
born November 22, 1667. lo. Jonathan, bap- 
tized June 12, 1678, resided in Boston. 11. 
Hannah, baptized July 21, 1672. 12. Martha, 
baptized September, 1674, married, October 
25, 1698. John Derrick. 13. Ebenezer, born 
August 5, 1677, married Anna Wilkins, 

(IT) Hon. John Foster, son of John Foster 
(i 1, was born in 1647, baptized at Salem, June 
3, 1655. Married there March 18, 1672, Mary 
Stuart, who died in 1690. He married (sec- 
ond). July 12, 1692, Mrs. Mary (Howes) 
Pomcroy. She was received from the church 
at Chebacco to the church at Salem June i, 
1707. Foster was an active, earnest, energetic 
citizen, frequently serving the town as moder- 
ator at town meetings ; acting as magistrate 
under his commission; as justice of the peace; 
representative to the general court in 1723-25- 
31-32-38-39. He was a blacksmith by trade. 
His will was dated at Salem, January 30, 1707, 
and was proved July i, 1714. He died in 
June, 1714. Children, born at Salem; i. John, 
born July 27, 1674, died September 14, 1680. 
2. Mary, born September 12, 1675, married 
John ITarrod. 3. Anna, born April 30, 1677, 
died 1753. 4. Sarah, born November 2j. 
1678, married. 1710, John Symonds. 5. John, 
mentioned below. 6. Jonathan, born June 14, 
1683. 7. Ebenezer, born February 22, 1685. 
8. Benjamin, born March 11, 1687. 9. Mercy, 
born July 15, 1689, married, June 21, 171 1, at 
Wrentham, John Guild. 10. James, born 
.April 12, 1693, married Margaret Pratt. 11. 
Ruth, born January ig. 1694, married, 
-August 13, 1724, Joseph Verry. 12. Patience, 



born December 20, 1696. 13. Nathan, born 
July 5, 1702. 

(HI) Major John Foster, son of John 
F'oster (2), was born in Salem, November 15, 
1680. He removed from Dorchester to Attle- 
borough, iVIassachusetts, about 1712. He was 
a useful and prominent man in his day. At 
Attleborough he served the town as moder- 
ator many years; as surveyor of lands; as 
magistrate in his capacity of justice of the 
peace and as representative to the general 
court. His will was proved at Attleborough, 
January 12, 1760. He died there December 
24, 1759, and his place of burial is marked by 
a gravestone. He resided at Salem, Dor- 
chester and Attleborough. He married, De- 
cember 4, 1704, at Ro.xbury, Margaret Ware, 
daughter of Robert Ware. She died Novem- 
ber 4, 1761, at South Attleborough. Chil- 
dren, born at Dorchester: i. John, born 
March 4, 1706, married Hannah Lovett. 2. 
Robert, born October 20, 1707. 3. Ebenezer, 
(twin) born August 20, 1709, married, Sep- 
tember 17, 1730, Desire Cushman. 4. Robert, 
(twin) born .Vugust 20, 1709, in Wrentham. 5. 
Margaret, born March 7, 1712, married Israel 
Whitake, born in Attleborough. 6. Benja- 
min, born April 17, 1713. . 7. Jonathan, born 
June 8, 1715. 8. Sarah, born April 18, 1718. 
9. Timothy, mentioned below. 10. Nathan, 
born July 23, 1722. 11. Esther, born and died 
in 1723. 12. Alichael, born ( )ctober 19, 1725, 
died April 15, 1726. 13. Michael, born July 
18, 1727. 14. Alary, born November 19, 1729, 
married Benjamin Walcott. 

(IV) Captain Timothy Foster, son of 
Major John Foster (3), was born at Attle- 
borough, May 14, 1720. He settled in Win- 
throp, Maine, in 1765. His farm w-as on the 
west shore of Cobbossecontee Lake about 
two miles from its northerly end. His house 
was on the north end of a lateral moraine 
about ten rods from the lake shore. Their 
home was on the veritable frontier; no settlers 
had then penetrated further into the forests. 
He was active in civil and military life. He 
was a member of the first board of selectmen 
of the town of Winthrop. During the Revo- 
lution he was captain of the Seventh Com- 
pany, Second Lincoln County Regiment, 
commissioned July 23, 1776. He was captain 
in a company in Major William Lithgo's regi- 
ment, September to November, 1779, defend- 
ing Lincoln county. He died April 3, 1785; 
his widow died December 8, 1813. He mar- 
ried at Attleborough, 1744, Sibler (Sibyl) 
Freeman, who was born October 29, 1723. 
Captain Foster's death was caused by a blow 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



-03 



from a falling tree. Of their chiklrcii ten were 
born in .\ttleborougli. the youngest only in 
W'inthrop. Children: i. Tinioihv. Jr., born 
March 21, 1745. 2. Captain liela ( Liilly 1. born 
September 24, 1747, ^ol(lier in the Revolu- 
tion. 3. Eliphalet, born July 2J. 1741). soldier 
in the Revolution. 4. .'^usan, born April 13, 
1751. 5. David, born .May 26. 1753. 0. 
Thomas, born .May 2^. 1755, soldier in Revo- 
hition. 7. Stuart, born .April 8, 1757. 8 
John, born -April 20, 1759, soldier in ivcvolu- 
tion. 9. Oliver, born .March 5. 17(11. 10. 
Sibler, born .April zy, 1763. 11. .Stephen, 
mentioned below, 

(\') Stephen Foster, son of Cajitain Timo- 
thy I-"oster (4), was born at W'inthrop, Maine. 
February 28, 1766, the first white child in that 
township. It was natural that he should love 
the woods and become early in life fond of 
hunting and the chase. He had a robust con- 
stitution, and at the age of fourteen was ac- 
cepted as a soldier in his father's company. 
Captain Timothy Foster, regiment or detach- 
ment of Major \\'illiam Lithgo and took part 
in the disastrous campaign against Bagaduce 
in T779. Late in life he (Irew a pension for his 
service in the Revolution. 

In 1785 Winthrop had become too thickly 
settled' for his business of hunting and trajj- 
ping, and he struck out into the wilderness to 
make a new home, at what is now- Leeds, 
Maine. (_)n the Stinchfield Cape on the north 
side of the Dead river between its bends 
nearly opposite the carrying place some 
stones and a few bricks which he used for his 
fireplace still remain to show where his hunt- 
ing camp was located. The spot is called 
"Old Foster's Camp" to this day. There he 
built a log house and moved his wife and tw'o 
sons, Stephen and John. The house w'as lo- 
cated on the south shore of F'oster's brook, a 
few rods east of where the road crosses it at 
the extreme southeast border of Androscog- 
gin Lake. His farm was redeemed from the 
wilderness and has ever since remained in the 
family. It is now^ or was lately occupied by 
his granddaughter, Mrs. Orrie (Foster) Davis. 
But farming was an incident in his life, the 
main vocation of which was hunting in the 
seasons. He was very expert with his traps 
and his gun, and was widely known. He was 
a member of the Society of Friends and con- 
formed to their dress and habits. His death 
was caused by poisoning from eating what he 
declared not to be dogfwood, but which proved 
to be fatally poisonous. .\t the time he was 
on his way to .\ugusta, whither he walked to 
get his pension. He met Zadoc Bishop, who 



asked him as an e.\])eit in ux)odcraft to tell 
him the name of a sus])icious looking shrub. 
He wa.-< i)ositive that the bush was not poison- 
ous, but, soon after eating some of the leaves, 
he fell violently ill and died at the house of a 
relative, being unable to get home. He was 
buried in the I'airbanks cemeter\- in W'in- 
throp, .Maine, and not long ago a suitable 
headstone was erected to mark the spot, in- 
scribed with tlie sini])le declarations: "lie was 
a Soldier of the Revolution;" "The l-'irst 
Christian (.'liild born in this 1 'lantation." 

He married .Sally .Streeter. Children: I. 
.Stephen, Jr., born 1784-83, al W"inlhr(jp, 
.Maine, married .\(leline Drake: residence. 
West Leeds and LaCrange, .Maine. 2. John, 
born 1786, at W'inthro]), married. 1801, I'ris- 
cilla Ciilbert; residence at Leeds: he died Oc- 
tober 16, 1833; she died February 6, 1861. 3. 
TinKJthx, born December 3, 1787, married, 

1806, .\ancy Mor.-e: resided in the l-'oster 
homestead: died July 27, ^%7 : widow died 
( )ctol)er 2, 1871. 4. Sally, born at Leeds, in 
1790, married, June, 1809, Ebenezer Libby: 
settled at Leeds. 5. .Abigail, born 1800. mar- 
ried Lewis Jennings (See sketch of Jennings 
family). 6. Hannah, born at Leeds, January 
8, 1804, married Daniel Irish: she died Sep- 
tember 2~. 1888. 7. Ann. born .\ugust 28, 

1807, married, December 22. 1822, Robert 
CTunuuett. of Leeds, inn-keeper. 



Walter Piper, progenitor of the 

PIPER Piper family of this lineage, was 

born about 1720. He married 

.Miriam and among their children w-as 

W^alter, born May 3, 1745, mentioned below. 

(II) \\'alter Piper, son of Walter Piper 
(i), was born May 5, 1745, married, .April 
16, 1769, Sarah Everden. He was a ship- 
rigger by trade : lived in Newburyport, Mas- 
sachusetts, and came to Boston in 1798 to help 
lig the famous Constitution, "Old Ironsides." 
He died .April 13. 1806, before the ship won 
its greatest triumphs, but not before it became 
famous in the war with Tri|)oli in 1803. His 
wife Sarah died .September 27, 1798. ^Ajnong 
the children of Weaker and .Sarah Piper w'as 
William, mentioned below. 

(III) William Piper, son of Walter Piper 
(2), was born in Newburyport, Massachu- 
setts, probably about 1775. He resided in 
Newburyport and married, December 23. 
1798, Mary Randall, who died .August 4, 
1817, .Among their children was George Car- 
leton Piper, mentioned below. 

(IV) George Carleton Piper, son of Will- 



256 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



iam Piper (3), was born in Newburyport, 
Massachusetts, March 11, 1812, died June 21, 
1874. Married, January 22, 1835, Susan 
Stuart, who was born March 19, 1816, died 
May 28! 1905. They resided in Boston, Mas- 
sachusetts. His occupation was merchant. 
Among his children was Henry Augustus, 
born December 29, 1836, mentioned below. 

(V) Henrys Augustus Piper, son of George 
Carleton Piper (4), was born in Marlborough, 
Massachusetts, where his mother was visiting 
her father, December 29, 1836. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools of Boston. He 
began his business career in September, 1852, 
as a clerk for the firm of Dutton, Richardson 
& Company, jobbers of dry goods, Boston. 
Except for the time he was absent on a west- 
ern trip he remained with this firm until 1859, 
when he entered the employ of Jewett, Ten- 
netts & Company in the same line of trade. 
Pie was with this house until January i, 1873, 
when he was employed by the firm of Sargent 
Brothers & Company in the same line. In 
1878 he became an expert accountant and 
auditor of accounts in business for himself with 
offices in Boston. His business has prospered 
and he numbers among his clients many large 
corporations. His office at present is at 953 
Old South Building, Boston. Mr. Piper's 
home is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where 
he has lived fifty years. He attends the Uni- 
tarian church. 

He married (first), March 14, i860, Mary 
Gould Roby, of Cambridge, who died Febru- 
ary 15, 1884, daughter of William and Mary 
Gould (Terrell) Roby. He married (sec- 
ond), December 3, 1885, Lillian Maria Clark, 
of Cambridge, born April 29, 1851, daughter 
of Chester Nelson and Mary E. (Glover) 
Clark. Children of Henry A. and Mary G. 
Piper: i. Henry Carleton, born October 5, 
1862, married Jennie Olive Sawin (see sketch 
of Sawin family in this work for her ances- 
try) ; he is of the firm of Henry W. Peabody 
& Co., of Boston and New York City, resid- 
ing in Australia ; children: i. Margaret, born 
May 25, 1892; ii. Warrene, born February 8, 
1898. 2. Mary Stuart, born December 23, 
1867, married Charles W. Barnes, of New 
Rochelle, New York ; no children. 3. War- 
rene Roby, born June 23, 1876, married 
Bryan Scott Palmer ; no children. Children 
of Henry A. and Lillian Maria Piper: 4. 
Eleanor, born May 9, 1887, student in Welles- 
ley College. 5. Madelene, born May 17, 
1888, student in Wellesley College. 



Casper Berry was born Novemr- 
BERRY ber 29, 1846, in Switzerland, and 
was educated in the schools of 
his native place. He came to the United 
States in 1870, and found employment first 
in Newark, New Jersey. In 1878 he removed 
to Somerville, Massachusetts, and engaged in 
business on his own account in bottling beer. 
After a year or two he removed his place of 
business to the adjoining city of Cambridge, 
and later, to 84 Leverett street, Boston. He 
prospered in business from the outset and in a 
few years his Boston quarters were inade- 
quate for his business. He built a large five- 
story brick building adjoining his establish- 
ment on Leverett street, and still further en- 
larged his plant. His business has grown 
until it is now the most extensive in his line 
in Boston. His success has been gained 
chiefly by hard work and close attention to 
business, while practicing fair dealing with all 
men and giving goods of the very best quality. 
Mr. Berry carries a fine line of liquors, ales and 
beer, his brand of ale and beer being deemed 
a standard for others to copy and strive to 
imitate. Incidentally Mr. Berry's business 
success has made him a man of large property 
interests. He resides in a very handsome 
house at 24 Highland avenue, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. He is well known and popu- 
lar in Masonic circles. A member of Ger- 
mania Lodge, Free Masons of Boston : of Sig- 
net Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; of Coeur 
de Leon Commandery, Knights Templar ; of 
the Order of the Mystic Shrine, .Aleppo Tem- 
ple, Boston. He belongs to various German 
social organizations. He is the father of four 
children : John G., educated in the public 
and high schools of Cambridge, now asso- 
ciated in business with his father. Elizabeth. 
May. Anna, married A. Beatty, who is en- 
gaged in the phosphate mining business of 
Florida. 



John Hopewell, merchant 
HOPEWELL and manufacturer. was 

born at Greenfield, Frank- 
lin county, Massachusetts, February 2, 1845, 
eldest son of John and Catherine (Mahoney) 
Hopewell. His father was a native of Lon- 
don, England, who came to the United States 
at fourteen years of age, and settled in Phila- 
delphia, where he learned the cutler's trade, 
and later moved to Greenfield, Massachusetts. 
He was said to be a good mechanic, a great 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



257 



lover of lx)oks, and a well-read man. The .son 
attended the public scliools until he was four- 
teen years of age, al which time he took up 
the trade of his father, entering the employ of 
Messrs. Lanison & Goodnow, manufacturers 
of table cutlery in Shelburne I-'alls, Massachu- 
■ setts, where he remained three years, mean- 
while continuing his studies when opportunity 
afforded by attending night school. In i860 
he removed to Springfield, Massachusetts. 
where for a while he w-as with the W'ason 
Manufacturing Company, and when the Civil 
war began he secured a position in the United 
States armory, and the information he gained 
from study and reading done outside of work- 
ing hours enlarged his ideals and stimulate<! 
his ambition. Becoming convinced that there 
were other and higher objects in life than the 
receiving of a daily wage with contentment. 
he determined to fit himself for a larger ca- 
reer, and carrying out this determination he 
resigned his position, and entered a business 
college in Springfield. His first experience 
in a mercantile business was as agent for a 
publishing house in .Mbany, New York, hut 
his employers met with misfortune, and he re- 
turned to Springfield, where he secured a 
position with Josiah Cummings, a manufac- 
turer of saddlery. Preferring to work di- 
rectly for the manufacturers, he made an ar- 
rangement with L. C. Chase & Company, of 
Boston, to be their travelling representative. 
This business was organized in 1847 by 
Lucius C. Chase and Henry F. Chase for the 
manufacture of saddlery and horse clothing, 
and in 1847 they joined W'ith Thomas Goodall. 
of Sanford, Maine, and built Sanford Mills 
for the manufacture of plush carriage robes 
and furniture plush, becoming the pioneer 
manufacturers of this material in America. 
L. C. Chase & Company became the selling 
agents, and the business grew rapidly, Mr. 
Hopewell being an important factor in its 
growth, and in 1875 he was made a partner 
in the firm of L. C. Chase & Company, and 
in 1885 bought out the business and became 
the head of the firm and treasurer of Sanford 
^1ills. who.se plant covered acres of ground. 
The mills wdiich L. C. Chase & Company rep- 
resent at the present time are Sanford Mills, 
Sanford. Maine; Troy Blanket Mills, Troy, 
New Hampshire ; Reading Rubber Manufac- 
turing Company. Reading, ^lassachusetts ; 
Holyoke Plush Company, Holyoke, Massa- 
chusetts, and L. C. Chase & Company. Cam- 
bridge. L. C. Chase & Company have branch 
offices in New York, Chicago, Cincinnati. St. 
Louis, San Francisco and London. Upon ob- 



taining control, the old firm name was re- 
tained, Mr. Hopewell having associated in the 
business with him his brother Frank, and Mr. 
n. F. Kendall. In 1905 the following part- 
ners were added: l-'rank li. Hopewell, John 
F. .\elson, William H. Mertz and William P. 
I'nderhill. 

Mr. Hopewell is a typical example of the 
self-made naan. Without influence of friends, 
he has worked his way up from the bottom 
round of the ladder by painstaking, persi-stent 
hard work until he has achieved a reputation 
as one of the leading mani'ifacturers and busi- 
ness men of a country wliose captains of in- 
dustry lead the world. Mr. Hopewell has also 
been identified with other interests outside of 
his own business, and has held many positions 
of responsibility and trust. He is president 
of the Reading Rubber .Manufacturing Coin- 
pany. manufacturers of all kinds of rubber 
ducks and drills ; president of the Electric 
Goods Manufacturing Company, a large elec- 
trical manufacturing business of Boston and 
Canton. Massachusetts; director of the First 
National P.ank of Boston, .\lways interested 
in political subjects, especially those connected 
V, itli the manufacturing interests of New 
England, he was one of the organizers of the 
Horiie Market Club of Boston, and has served 
as a member of its executive committee or a 
director ever since its organization. He rep- 
resented his district in the general court of 
Massachusetts in 1892, and was offered the 
candidacy for the Republican nomination as 
congressman, but declined the honor. He was 
also a delegate to the Republican National 
Convention at .St. Louis in 1896, which nomi- 
nated William McKinley. He is a member of 
the Cambridge Club, the Citizen's Trade .As- 
sociation, and the Cambridge Republican 
Club, all of which he has served as president ; 
the .Algonquin Club of Boston, the Boston .Art 
Club, the Boston Athletic As.sociation, and the 
Colonial Club of Cambridge. 
" Mr. Hopewell married, October 20, 1870, 
Sarah W., daughter of Charles Blake, of 
Si)ringfield, Massachusetts, and had five chil- 
dren ; Charles Frederick, Frank Blake, Mabel 
Gertrude. Nellie Harriet and Henry Cha.se. 
While he has been an unusually busy man, he 
has spent considerable time in travel through- 
out the United States, Europe and the Medi- 
terranean. In addition to a beautiful resi- 
dence in Newton, he has a country estate at 
Natick, Massachusetts, where he gratifies hi.s 
taste for agriculture and the breeding of 
Guernsey cattle. 



258 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Louis Breedeii. father of 
BREEDEN George Breeden, real estate 
dealer in Newtonville. Mas- 
sachusetts, and son of Abner Breeden, was born 
in Reading, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, 
and married Mary Baird, of Billerica. Louis 
Breeden was a boot and shoe dealer in Charles- 
town, a LTnitarian in religious affiliation ana 
independent in politics. 

George Breeden, son of Louis and Mary 
(Baird) Breeden, was born in Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, December 29, 1846. He was 
graduated at the high school in Winchester, 
Massachusetts, and engaged in the manufac- 
ture of novelties in wood in company with J. 
J. Mcyutt. on Wareham street, Boston, and 
subsequently in the lumber business with 
Skillings, Whitney Brothers & Barnes, with 
offices at No. 7 Kilby street, on the land now 
occupied by the Exchange Building. On re- 
moving to Newtonville he engaged in the 
real estate business, and was an officer in the 
second ward of the city of Newton for many 
years. He was a Mason of high degree, being 
past commander of Gethsemene Commandery, 
Knights Templar, and of L'nion Commandery, 
Knights Templar, of Rhode Island ; a member 
of the Massachusetts Consistory, Boston Coun- 
cil, Amiable Blue Ix)dge, Cambridge, and 
Newton Royal Arch Chapter. He never mar- 
ried, and made his home in Newton with his 
brother Louis Breeden, at 75 Walker street, 
Newtonville. His sister, Helen Morton 
Breeden, married F. J. Seidenstecker, and re 
sided in 1907 at 178 Thornton street, Roxbury, 
and another sister, Mary R. Breeden, married 
Thomas Emerson, and resided in 1907 at 60 
Brookside avenue, Newtonville. 



John Sherburne was born 
SHERBURNE at Oldham, in Hamp- 
shire, England, and bap- 
tized there as son of Joseph Sherburne, 
August 13, 1615, and died at Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, in the autumn of 1693. 
He was the first of the Sherburnes in 
New England. He early appears on the town 
records of Portsmouth ("Strawberry Banke") 
as a grantee of a house lot next to his brother 
Henry in 1646. lie was assessor in 1653, also 
then and subsequently, selectman. He was a 
man of attainments, held many town offices, 
was on numerous important committees, and 
was a useful citizen of Portsmouth for fifty 
years. He was a large land holder and ac- 
cumulated in Portsmouth, Greenland and 
elsewhere, by purchase and by grants, an 



estate of several Inmdred acres, and left his 
son^ considerable estates. In 1675 he was 
sergeant of the militia. He was executor, in 
1664, of the estate of his wife's father, Robert 
Tucke, "chirurgeon," of Hampton. His will 
was dated November 12, 1691, and proved 
November 2^, 1693. He mentions wife 
Elizabeth, sons John and Henry, daughters 
Elizabeth and Mary, and his "cozen" (i. e. 
nephew) Samuel Sherburne, of Hampton, de- 
ceased, and his father-in-law, Robert Tucke. 
He married, about 1645-46, Elizabeth Tucke, 
daughter of Robert Tucke, of Hampton. He 
died probably in October, 1693, his wife sur- 
viving him. Children: I. Elizabeth, born 
about 1646-47, perhaps married Thomas 
Sleeper, of Hampton. 2. John, born 1650, 
mentioned below. 3. Mary. 4. Henry, born 
1666, of "the plains," Portsmouth. 

(II) Captain John Sherburne, son of John 
Sherburne (1), was born in 1650. He was of 
"the plains," Portsmouth, and appears as a 
taxpayer July 17, 1671. He held various 
minor offices and was selectman in 1694, and 
several years after. He was lieutenant of the 
militia in 1704, and so styled until 1715, when 
lie was called Captain, by which title he con- 
tinued to be known. He was a large land- 
holder in Portsmouth, Greenland, and the 
new towns of Barrington and Loudon. He 
and his wi'e Mary covenanted to form the 
old North Church in 1671, and he was after- 
wards a deacon there. His will was dated 
December 17, 1723, and proved at Exeter, 
February 16, 1731. He married (first), about 
1671, Mary Jackson, who died before 1720. 
daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Johnson) 
Jackson, of Portsmouth. He married (sec- 
ond) (probably), October 20, 1720, Mary 
Moses, widow of Aaron Moses. He died in 
1730, aged about eighty years. Children, all 
by the first wife: I. Priscilla, born 1673. 2. 
Elizabeth, born 1676, married John Cate. 3. 
Hannah, born 1680, married Abraham Jones, 
of Portsmouth. 4. John, born 1686. 5. James, 
born 1688, mentioned below. 6. Thomas, 
born 1689. 7. Ruth, born 1695, married, 
August 13, 1713. Thomas Ayres, of Green- 
land. 8. Samuel, born August 10, 1698. 9. 
Ephraim, born 1702, died 1781 at Lee, New 
Hampshire. 10. Mary, born 1704, married 
Peter Matthews. 

(HI) Deacon James Sherburne, son of 
Captain John Sherburne (2), was born in 1688. 
He was a surveyor many years, a planter, and 
a considerable landholder in new towns and 
Portsmouth. He sealed his deeds with the 
arms of the Sherburnes of Stonvhurst. He 



iMIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



259 



was in covenant with the church at Green- 
land, Xew Hampshire, in 1712, and deacon of 
the South Churcli, i'ortsinouth, 1715 to 1732. 
He married, June 2^, 1709, Margaret Roe or 
Kowe, probably daughter of William Rowe. 
She was a member of the North Church in 
1707. He died November 7, 1760, and in his 
will, proved November 26, 1760, he gave his 
entire estate to his "dear wife Margaret," with 
reversion to his son George, except five hun- 
dred pounds to his son Thomas, and mentions 
all his other children except Isaac and Abi- 
gail. Children: I. Sarah, born 1710, baptized 
August 6, 1 7 10, in North Church; died before 
1760; married, September 7, 1732, Jeremiah 
Holmes, of Portsmouth. 2. Hannah, baptized 
April 17, 1712, married Lieutenant Enoch 
Gove, of Hampton Falls; died 1759. 3- A 
daughter, baptized April 25, 1714, died young. 
4. James, born January 6, 1714, baptized 
March 13, 1716, mentioned below. 5. Mar- 
garet, baptized in South Church, November 
17, 1717; married Captain Samuel Johnson, 
of Greenland. 6. George, baptized .\ugust 9, 
1 7 19, married .Abigail Remick, of Kittery, 
Maine. 7. Jethro, born 1719, lived in Bar- 
rington. New Hampshire; died 1763. 8. Mary, 
baptized .\ugust 2~, 1721, married J<:)hn Sav- 
age, of Portsmouth. 9. Isaac, baptized Sep- 
tember 15, 1723, probably died young. 10. 
Thomas, baptized August 8, 1725, married, 
February 15. 1749, Sarah Johnson, of Green- 
land. II. Abigail, baptized July 4. 1727, 
probably died young. 

(IV) Deacon James Sherburne, son of 
Deacon James Sherburne (3), was born in 
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, January 6, 
1 7 14, and baptized March 13, 17 16, in the 
South Church of Portsmouth. He settled in 
Pelham, New Hampshire, and was a planter 
and chairmaker there. Like his father he was 
a great speculator in land in Portsmouth and 
in new town sites, and he built up a hand- 
some fortime. He was deacon of the South 
Church of Portsmouth in 1755. but removed 
from town that year or the next, locating in 
Pelham, where he owned much land. He also 
had land in Nottingham West, New Hamp- 
shire, Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Massa- 
chusetts. He was associated at one time with 
Ebenezer Odiorne in the manufacture of gigs 
or riding chairs at Portsmouth. He married. 
.August 31. 1731, Sarah Gray, daughter of 
Deacon and Captain John Gray, 01 Bidde- 
ford, Maine. She died at Pelham, New 
Hampshire. December 9, 1760, aged forty- 
eight years. He married (second). January 7. 
1762. Anna Hamblet. daughter of Joseph 



Ilamblet, of Pelham. He had nine children 
by his first wife, but of his five sons only the 
two given below lived to maturity. He had no 
issue by the second marriage. He died June 
I, 1798, aged eighty-four years. Children: i. 
Benjamin, born August 13, 1732, died 1808; 
resided in Pelham, New Hampshire, and 
Gloucester, Massachusetts: was a soldier in 
the Revolution, at the battle of Saratoga in 
1777 in Cajjtain Amos (Sage's company, 
Colonel Daniel Moore's regiment; married, 
.April 22. 1766, Mary Cavendish, daughter of 
Captain Thomas Cavendish, of Marblehead; 
son James Sherburne (6), of Tyngsborough, 
.Massachusetts, was grandfather of Edward 
Raymond Sherbitrne, of Boston, who com- 
piled much of the data here given. 2. Lieu- 
tenant William, born 1755. mentioned below. 
(V) Lieutenant William Sherburne, son of 
Deacon James Sherburne (4), was born in 
Pelham, New Hampshire, in 1755. He mar- 
ried, in 1776, Sarah Butterfield. born January 
17, 1759, died October 23, 1833, daughter of 
Reuben Butterfield (4). born at Tvngs- 
borough. C)ctober 1. 1727, and his wife Mary 
(Richardson) Butterfield, born April 18, 1728. 
lieuben was captain of a company in the 
Revolution and served in most of the import- 
ant battles; died on his farm at Tyngs- 
borough, February 22, 1816. Lieutenant 
Joseph Butterfield, father of Captain Reuben 
(4). was born at Chelmsford. June 6, 1680; 
married Sarah Fletcher, daughter of l-^zckiel 
Fletcher. November 2. 1711 : bought the Scar- 
lett farm in company with his neighbor. Jo- 
seph Perham. This farm contained a thous- 
and acres adjoining Dracut, now in Tyngs- 
borough, and Butterfield erected a house with 
a stockade there in 1757, and there six gener- 
ations of his descendants have lived, the farm 
being still owned by descendants. Joseph 
Butterfield ( 2), father of Lieutenant Joseph 
(3), was born in Woburn, August 15, 1649; 
removed to Chelmsford; married, I''ebruary 
12. 1674, Lydia Ballard, daughter of Joseph. 
The immigrant ancestor, father of Joseph 
Butterfield (2). was Benjamin Butterfield (i). 
born in England, came to Charlestown in 
1638. was admitted freeman in 1643; ta.xed in 
1645 in Woburn, occupied with others at 
W'amesit a tract six miles square, incorpor- 
ated as Chelmsford in 1655. now part of ward 
four of the city of Lowell, Massachusetts; 
bought with others the Governor Dudley 
farm at Billerica; wife died 1661 and he mar- 
ried (second). June 3, 1663. Hannah Whit- 
more, of Cambridge. Children of Lieutenant 
William and Sarah Sherburne: i. William. 



26o 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



mentioned below. 2. John, father of WilHam 
Sherburne, Esq., of Charlestovvn, Massachu- 
setts, one of the compilers of the Sherburne 
records here given. 3. Reuben B., father of 
the Boston millionaires, Reuben and Warren 
Sherburne. 

(VI) William Sherburne, son of Lieutenant 
William Sherburne (5), was born April 6, 
1785, in Pelham, New Hampshire. He served 
in the \\'ar of 18 12 on guard duty. He mar- 
ried, March, 181 5, Betsey Parham. Children: 
I. W'illiam Parham, born November 17, 1815, 
died 1817. 2. Warren. February 6, 1817, 
mentioned below. 3. Betsey, December, 1818. 
4. Sarah, September 26, 1820. 5. William 
October i, 1822. 6. Ruth, September 13, 
1824. 7. James, May 28, 1826. 8. Harriet 
Matilda, Januar\- 14, 1828. 

i\"II) \\'arren Sherburne, son of \\'illiani 
Sherburne (6), was born in Pelham, Xew 
Hampshire, February 6, 1817. He was a 
farmer all his life, at first on the old home- 
stead near Long Pond. His son. William 
G. Sherburne, bought the homestead and 
is now conducting it. He married May 14, 
1846, Mehitable .-\mes, born in Dracut, 
daughter of Josiah Ames. Children of War- 
ren and Mehitable (Ames) Sherburne, born 
at Dracut: i. Elizabeth, born August 4, 1847, 
died .\ugust 24, 1849. 2. W'arren Alvah. born 
March 4, 1850, mentioned below. 3. William 
Gardner, born July 22, 1852, farmer on the 
old homestead, Dracut. 4. Abbie Ames, born 
October 18, 1855, died May i, 1876. 5. Sarah 
Blanche, born February 17, 1865. 

(\'III) Warren Alvah Sherburne, son of 
Warren Sherburne (7), was born in Pelham, 
New Hampshire, March 4, 1850. He was 
educated in the district schools, and during 
his youth worked with his father on the farm. 
At the age of twenty-one he began to work at 
trade of carpenter. He also followed the 
trade of painter, and worked at these two 
trades for some fourteen years. He then 
bought the farm on which he has since lived, 
known as the Butterfield Place, Tyngs- 
borotigh, Alassachusetts. During the Civil 
war there was a woolen mill, also a shoddy 
mill and a stocking mill on the place. He has 
now a well-equipped saw mill, a cider mill and 
a large carpenter shop, and in connection with 
his saw mill and business as a builder he con- 
ducts an extensive lumber business. His 
lumber yard is near the mill. He is a promi- 
nent citizen. He has been on the board of 
selectmen for the past twenty years, also 
served on the school committee and been an 
overseer of the poor. He is a Democrat in 



politics. His family attend the Congrega- 
tional church. He married, June 19, 1884, 
Francena Louisa Davis, born at Chelmsford, 
daughter of Henry P. and Persis (Griffin) 
Davis, and granddaughter of Henry and Han- 
nah (Giles) Davis. Children: 1. Raymond 
W., born September 4, 1885, graduated at 
Dartmouth College in 1908. 2. Dora Blanche, 
born November 22, 1886. graduate of Sim 
mons College, Boston, 1908. 3. Norman 
Russell, bom April 25, 1888, graduate of the 
Lowell high school, class 1906. 4. Edith Ames, 
born July 29, 1889, died August 11, 1897. 5. 
Ada Louise, born November 16, 1894. 6. 
Maxwell Gardner, born Alarch 26, 1896. 7. 
Ruth Evelyn, born April 9, 1897. 8. Lester 
Ames, born December 24, 1901. 9. Allen 
Prescott. born December 2, 1902, died April 
4. 1903- 



This surname is variously 
CHAPIN spelled in the early records of 
England and America, (Thapin, 
Chapun, Chapinne, Chalpin, and several ex- 
planations of the origin of the name have been 
given. Rev. R. D. Chapin, of .Allegan, Michi- 
gan, reports an interview with a well educated 
Swiss physician who said he formerly lived 
in France and was at one time much interested 
in philological studies, especially the history 
of names. He said that the name Chapin was 
one of the oldest and best names in France, 
dating from the Carlovingian era, going back 
at least to the tenth century, perhaps earlier. 
He gives this story of its probable origin. In 
some feudal scrimmage of the middle ages, 
one who had distinguished himself got a 
sword-cut across his head, laying open his 
helmet or head-piece. For this exploit he was 
knighted on the field and dubbed Capinatits, 
which means "decorated with a hat" and his 
coat-of-arms was made a hat with a slash in 
it, thence the name Capinatus the particle of 
the law-latin capino- — and then by the soften- 
ing process of the French made Capin — 
Cliapiii. Of course the root is caput, whence 
cap and chapemi. The Qiapin coat-of-arms 
tends to verify the story, 

(I) Deacon Samuel Chapin, the immigrant 
ancestor, was doubtless born in England, 
though the family perhaps centuries before 
came from France to England. Two immi- 
grants of this name came to New England 
about the same time and both settled in 
Springfield. David Chapin was admitted a 
freeman there April 5, 1649, and was ad- 
mitted an inhabitant of Boston in 1658. He 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



261 



was probably son of Deacon Samuel Cliapin. 
tboiig-h possibly a brotlicr. Deacon Saimicl 
Chapin came from Eng-Jand to Roxbury, Mas- 
sachusetts, in lO^f). with several children. He 
settled permanently at Springfield, where he 
was admitted a freeman June 2, 1641, and 
was elected to a town office in 1642. The 
Chapins of this country are all descended from 
him, according to the best authorities. He was 
a distinguished man in church and state. He 
was Deacon of the Springfield (7hurch, elected 
in 1649, and was employed to conduct services 
part of the time in 1656-57. when there was 
no minister in town. He was appointed com- 
missioner to determine small causes October 
10, 1632, and his commission was indefinitely 
extended by the general court in 1654. He 

married Cicely , who died February 8, 

1682. He died November 11. 1675. His will, 
dated March 4. 1674, and proved March 24, 
1675, bequeathed to wife, son Henry and 
grandson Thomas Gilbert. The widow's will 
mentions sons, Henry Chapin. of Springfield, 
and Josiah Chapin, of Braintree : daughters 
Catharine, wife of Samuel Marshfield. Sarah 
Thomas and Hannah Hitchcock ; Henry Gil- 
bert, and her son Japhet was executor. Chil- 
dren : I. Japhet. mentioned below. 2. Henry, 
died young .April 29. 1668. 3. Henry, died 
.August 15, 1718. 4. Catherine, married, 
February 4, 1712, Samuel Marshfield. 5. 
David, born in England, probably not by wife 
Cicely. 6. Josiah, died .September 10, 1726, 
at Braintree. 7. Sarah, died .\ugfust 5, 1684, 
married Rowland Thomas. 8. Hannah, born 
at Springfield. December 2, 1644. married, 
September 27, 1666. John Hitchcock. 9. 

Daughter married Gilbert, son of 

Henry Gilbert. The order of birth of the pre- 
ceding is not known. 

(H) Japhet Chapin, son of Samuel Chapin 
(i), was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, 
October 13, 1642, and died at Giicopee, Mas- 
sachusetts, February 20, 1712. He married 
(first). July 22, 1664, .Abeline or .Abilenah 
Coolcy. who died at Chicopee. Novemlx^r 17. 

1710, daughter of Benjamin Cooley. The 
gravestones of Japhet and his wife Abeline 
or .Abilenah have been removed to the new 
cemetery. He married (second), May 31. 

171 1, Dorothy Root, of Enfield. She married 
(.second), in 1720. Obadiah Miller, of Enfield. 
He settled first at Milford, Connecticut, where 
he was living November 16, i66g, when he 
took a deed from Captain John Pyncheon. 
March 9. 1666, John Pyncheon deeded to his 
father. Deacon .Samuel, the greater part of the 
land in the valley between the Chicopee river 



and W'illimansett brook. The latter piece of 
land Sanuiel deeded to his son Japhet, April 
16, 1673, and there the latter built his house at 
the upper end of Chicopee street, northwest of 
the house lately owned by Henry Sherman. 
Japhet was in the fight at Turners Falls in 
1675 in King Philip's war, in which he was 
a volunteer, and his son Thomas was grantee 
of a large tract given to the soldiers and their 
descendants by the general court of Massa- 
chusetts. Chapin was a man, like his father, 
of great piety, a bulwark of the Puritan faith. 
Children: i. Samuel, born July 4, 1665, died 
October 19, 1729. 2. Sarah, born March 16, 
1668, married, March 24, 1690, Nathaniel 
Munn. 3. Thomas, born May 10, 1671, died 
August 27, 1755. 4. John, born May 14, 
1674, died June i, 1759. 5. Ebenezer, men- 
tioned below. 6. Hannah, born June 21, 1679, 
died July 7, 1679. 7. Hannah, born July 18, 
1680, married. December 31, 1703, John Shel- 
don, of Deerfield : taken captive and kept in 
Canada two years. 

(HI) Ebenezer Chapin, son of Japhet 
Chapin (2), was born at Chicopee, Massachu- 
setts. June 26, 1677, 'i"d died in Enfield, Mas- 
sachusetts, December 13, 1772. Married, De- 
cember, 1702, Ruth Janes, daughter of Abel 
Janes, of Northampton. She died January 
18, 1736. They had eleven sons, six of whom 
settled on Somers Mount and had farms ad- 
joining. On the homestead at Enfield six 
generations have lived, each Ebenezer by 
name. Children: i. Rachel, born .\ugust 27, 
1703, died at East Windsor, Connecticut, 
aged seventy. 2. Ebenezer, Jr., Ixirn .Septem- 
ber 2T„ 1703, died March I, 1751, aged forty- 
six. 3. Noah, born ( )ctober 25, 1 707, died 
.\ugust 27, 1787. 4. .Scth. born February 28, 
1709, died February 22, 1807. 5. Catherine, 
born January 4, 171 1, married Ells- 
worth, East Windsor, Connecticut. 6. Moses, 
born .August 24, 1712, died November 3, 1793. 
7. .Aaron, born September 28, 1714. 8. F.lias, 
born October 22, 1 7 16, died .September 6, 
1791. 9. Reuben, born September 3. 1718. 
10. Charles, born December 26, 1720. II. 
David, born .August 13 or 18, 1722. 12. 
Elisha, born .\pril 18, 1725, died at Enfield, 
Connecticut. 13. Phineas, born June 26. 1726, 
died at .Albany. New York, unmarried. 

(IV) .Aaron Chajiin. son of Ebenezer 
Chapin (3). was born in Enfielfl. September 
28, 1714, and died .April 19, 1808, aged ninety- 
four. He settled in Somers, Connecticut; 
married .Sybel Markham, of Enfield, who died 
March 11, 1791. aged seventy-two. He re- 
moved with his sons to Surry. New Hamp- 



262 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



shire, and they built the first mills in that 

town. Children: i. Azubah, married 

Root, resided in Vermont and had Thomas 
and Azubah Root. 2. Aaron, married Phebe 
Spencer ; resided at Strafford, Connecticut. 

3. Justus. 4. Gideon, died in the war. 5. 
Jeremiah, married Chloe Cooley and lived at 
Somers ; had Chloe and Cynthia ; he died No- 
vember 19, 1834; wife January 21, 1831. 6. 
Oliver, married Elizabeth Allen, of Surry, 
resided at .Somers. 7. Delight, married 
Phineas Jones, resided and died at Otis, Mas- 
sachusetts. 8. Joseph, died unmarried at 
Somers, February 15, 1817, aged fifty-two. 
9. Hiram, mentioned below. 10. Sybel, mar- 
ried Gurley, of Mansfield, Connecticut. 

[V^ Hiram Chapin, son of Aaron Chapin 
(4), was born in Somers, Connecticut, and 
died March 15, 1783, at Surry, New Hamp- 
shire. He married Sarah Bartlett, daughter 
of Eleazer Bartlett. They resided at Surry. 
He was a soldier in the Revolution, Ensign 
in Captain Daniel Shadduck's company. Colo- 
nel Samuel Ashley's regiment in 1776. Chil- 
dren : Hiram, resided at Granby, Connecticut ; 
died August 2, 1855, aged eighty-three. 2. 
Alpheus, went west or to New Jersey, ac- 
counts differing. 3. Jairus, mentioned below. 

4. Ebenezer, resided in Connecticut. 5. Joseph, 
resided in Connecticut. 6. Samuel, died in 
United States army. 7. Sarah, married Dan- 
iel Taft Sheldon ; resided at Marlborough, 
Vermont, where be died September 7, 1855, 
aged eighty-three. 8. Rebecca, married John 
Russell, of Somers. 

(VI) Jairus Chapin, son of Hiram Chapin 
(5), was born in Surry, December 18, 1773. 
He was a farmer in Surry Langdon, and Wal- 
pole. New Hampshire. He married (first) 
Lucinda Cobb and (second) Mary Fassett. 
Children: i. Laura, married Smith Milliken, 
of Charlestown, New Hampshire. 2. Elmira, 
married John Brown, and resided at Stow, 
Massachusetts. 3. Clinths, mentioned below. 
4. Emily, married and lived in Stow. 5. 
Samuel, resided in Boston. 6. Henry, resided 
in Westminster, Vermont. 7. Arethusa, died 
unmarried. 8. Betsey, married and lived in 
Concord, Massachusetts. Children of Jairus 
and Lucinda Chapin : 9. Rev. Parker, a Bap- 
tist clergyman. 10. Leander, resided in Bos- 
ton. II. Millo. 12. Ebenezer, unmarried. 
13. William. 14. George. 

(VII) Clinths (or Clint) Chapin, son of 
Jairus Chapin (6), was born in Walpole, New 
Hampshire, about 1805, and died at Concord, 
Massachusetts, October 19, 1839, aged thirtv- 



five years. He was educated in the common 
schools and reared on his father's farm. He 
learned the trade of metal worker, and at the 
age of twenty-one left home and established 
himself at Concord, Massachusetts, in the 
nianufacti?re of sheet lead and lead pipe. He 
was killed by falling from a building. He 
married Elizabeth Hallowell, at Concord, Oc- 
tober 17, 1827. She was left a widow with 
five small children to whom she devoted her 
life. She was in many respects a remarkable 
woman. She died in 1893 at the advanced 
age of ninety-two years. Children, born at 
Concord; I. Charles Benjamin, born Febru- 
ary I, 1828, died September 20. 1830. 2. 
Louisa Elizabeth, born February 5, 1830. 3. 
Arthur Benaiah Cook, born July 18, 1832 ; 
resided in Lowell whence he enlisted in the 
Civil war. 4. Sam., mentioned below. 

(VIII) Sam. Chapin, son of Clinths 
Chapin (7), was born in Concord, Massachu- 
setts, June 9, 1834. His education was lim- 
ited to a few terms in the public schools. At 
the age of eight years and nine months he was 
apprenticed to a farmer and from that time 
was self-supporting. Until he was fourteen 
he received his board and clothes and had 
three months every winter for schooling. His 
employer, Mr. Wheeler, died and he went to 
work for Calvin Damon in a cotton mill at 
Concord, now Westvale, Massachusetts, in the 
picker room and as a boy in the card room for 
a year and a half. While the mill was shut 
down to put in a new turbine wheel, young 
Chapin worked in the Maynard mill at As- 
sonet, returning to the Damon mill when it 
started again. He left Concord in March, 
185 1, and worked until September following 
in the card room of the Middlesex mill. He 
went from there to Shirley Village to help 
start the Phenix Mill, now the Sampson 
Cordage Company, and remained about a 
year. From there he went to J. W. Mansur's 
woolen mill at South Fitchburg, long since 
destroyed, and was employed in the weave 
room. The mill shut down in May, 1853, and 
never was started by Mr. Mansur. Mr. 
Chapin returned to Lowell and worked for 
six weeks in the Middlesex Mills, but was not 
satisfied with his wages, and took a position 
in the Merrimack Mills, where he remained 
in the card room for nearly twenty years. 
During the last four or five years there, he 
refused a number of excellent positions be- 
cause he had made up his mind to remain 
there twenty years or, as he put it. he would 
not leave "until he had served twenty years 




SAM ( IIAI'IN 




MRS. SARAH A. t'HAI'IN 



iMlDDLESEX COUNTY. 



263 



apprenticeship," as he "never was one of those 
men, as he found out in after life, tliat could 
learn carding in one year or five, although 
he was under some of the ablest carders in 
their day," for instance Foster Wilson who 
wrote the first book on cotton carding that 
went into the general details of carding in all 
its minor points, a standard work in its day. 
Mr. Wilson often made the remark five years 
before Mr. Chapin left him, that the latter 
was foolish not to accept a better position, but 
Sam said "No." But when his twenty years 
had expired he was ready to go. He left the 
Merrimack Mill and conunenced work for the 
'Fremont & .SufiFoIk Mills, having charge of 
their three sinall card rooms. In less than a 
year he had all of the picking for the Tremont 
& Suffolk added to his carding. Shortly af- 
terward his work was again increased until 
he had entire charge of all the carding of the 
Tremont & Suffolk amounting to some five 
hundred cards at that time, together with all 
the other machinery used in the manufacture 
of cotton from the bale to the spinning room. 
When he retired from active mill work in 
1883 he had an excellent record in the manu- 
facture of coarse cotton goods. He was 
deemed one of the leading experts of New 
England in his line of work, and was often 
called upon by cotton mills when the carding 
was unsatisfactory. He knew how to put a 
mil! into good running order. 

In 1881 Mr. Chapin founded the Cotton 
Overseers' Association and was its first presi- 
dent, serving two years and during that time 
many points of interest and importance in 
cotton manufacturing were discussed, to the 
education and instruction of the members. 
Mr. Chapin felt that this organization helped 
in no small degree to train overseers for high- 
er jx^sitions and many of the members were 
promoted. He took especial pride in the men 
whom he had trained for good positions in the 
W^orld of .manufacture. Previous to leaving 
the mill Mr. Chapin, like all other carders, 
found great trouble in producing perfect rov- 
ing, as the help woulfl make single, double and 
oily roving which, after leaving tlie carding 
room, and being carried to the spinning room 
(the work of different girls mixed up and 
indistinguishable) it was impossible to de- 
tect those at fault. First he conceived the 
idea of painting the Ixibbins, having each girl 
use only her color, but there was a waste of 
time in separating the colors when the empty 
bobbins were returned. From this idea he 
developed that of marking the roving with 
crayon, so that when spun, the bobbins being 



empty, the bobbins could be used again with- 
out sorting. Rut in order to get a crayon 
suitable for the purjjose he had to devise one 
that would make a mark easily and entirely 
erasible. He then began to manufacture the 
cra\'ons on lu's own account in Lowell. From 
a small beginning he built up a large and 
profitable business in his mill crayons. His 
l)usiness is continued under the ownership and 
management of his only child, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Chapin Brady under the coqxirate name of 
the Lowell Crayon Company. 

Mr. Chapin was a popular member of most 
of the fraternal orders of the city. He was a 
soldier in the Civil war and a member of the 
Grand Army of the Republic ; a member of 
Free Masons ; Odd Fellows : Knights of 
Pythias ; Independent Order of Red Men ; 
and of the Old Residents' Association of 
Lt)well. On the occasion of his sixtieth birth- 
day he was visited by a great gathering of 
friends, associates', comrades and old resi- 
dents, bringing him their congratulations and 
best wishes for continued health, prosperity 
and happiness. Almost to the end of life Mr. 
Chapin enjoyed good health. He had a de- 
lightful home and very pleasant surroundings. 
He was interested in the Worthen Street 
Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he 
was a steadfast Rei)ublican : he served one 
vear in the board of aldermen nf Lowell and 
was always interested in public (piestions. He 
gave liberal support to the campaigns and 
candidates of his pai"ty. He died at Lowell, 
January 12, 1902. 

Mr. Chapin was essentially a self-made 
man. b\' what lie would have called a slow but 
sure ])n)cess. He built his character firmly 
and broadly, as he built his knowledge of his 
special trade and his general knowledge of the 
world. He was liberal, charitable, and gener- 
ous in his views of life and in his treatment of 
employees and associates. His personality was 
interesting and attractive. He had a strong 
sense of humor ; he was interested in his 
family history as well as in the history of his 
countrv. .\ few years before his death he 
]jublished a pamphlet entitled "Chapins in the 
.American Wars, 1754 to 1865." 

He married at the age of nineteen years antl 
ten montlis. in Fitchburg. 1854. .Sarah .\. 
Drurv, of P'ramingham. a descendant of Hugh 
Drurv. the immigrant, who settlecl in Sud- 
bury before 1641. Their children: Sanuiel, 
died young: Elizabeth B.. married. 1887, 
Thomas P.rady. and they have one child. Cer- 
trude E. 



264 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



William Haskins, the immi- 
HASKINS grant ancestor, was born in 
England. The surname is 
spelled also Hoskins, Hodgkins. Hodgskins. 
Hodgkinson and even Hodges, and many of 
the descendants differ in their choice of spell- 
ing. William Haskins settled in Plymouth in 
1633, and was admitted a freeman in 1634. 
He married, November 2, 1636, Sarah Cush- 
man, and (second), December 21, 1638, Ann 
Hynes (or Hinds). He settled in Middle- 
borough, Alassachusetts, before the town was 
incorporated, and was town clerk before that 
time, continuing until 1693. The first record 
that is preserved showing his election is dated 
May 24, 1 68 1. Before King Philip's war he 
was living in the house of William Clark, and 
kept the original deed and record of the 
Prince & Coombs Purchase and probably the 
records of the town. He was a soldier from 
Middleborough in King Philip's war and was 
promised a grant of land for services. Pos- 
sibly this service belongs to his son of the 
same name. He was a witness on the will of 
John Atwood in 1644, and juryman on the 
inquest into the death of Deneen, who died of 
want and exposure. He was a witness to the 
will of Ephraim Tinkham, January 17, 1683 
He was on the list of those able to bear arms 
in 1643. He was appointed administrator of 
the estate of Nicholas Hodges, alias Hodges, 
or Haskins, and called "Senior." Nicholas 
bequeathed to John and William, sons of 
William, Sr., who was probably a brother. He 
was one of the men in the Twenty-six Men's 
Purchase and also in the Purchase had three 
shares, but at the breaking out of the war 
in 1675 does not appear to have been owner 
of any of that land. His name is among the 
former proprietors of the liberties of Middle- 
borough, but liefore 1677 his interests passed 
to George X'aughan, Sr. He lived at Scitu- 
ate, Plymouth and Taunton, Massachusetts, 
and in 1680 had grown "old and feeble." 
Children: William, born about 1637. men- 
tioned below. Son, born November 30, 1647. 
Samuel, 1x)rn August 8, 1654. Perhaps others. 
Mary, married. November 28, 1660, Edward 
Cobb. Elizabeth (?). A daughter, Sarah, 
born September 16, 1636, he placed with 
Thomas and Winifred Whitney, of Plymouth, 
to remain until she was twenty years old, 
January 2, 1643-44. The date of her birth 
indicates that perhaps both she and William 
were children of a former wife, the name of 
the mother being unknown. Sarah, married, 
December 4, 1660, Benjamin Edson. 

(H) William Haskins. son of William 



Haskins ( i ) , was born soon after his 
father came to this country. His name was 
on the list of those who applied June 3, 1662, 
to the general court for grants of land, as 
first-born children, of this government for 
disposing of two several tracts of land lately 
purchased there, one by Major Winslow and 
the other by Captain Southworth. He served 
on a jury at Middleborough to try an Indian 
for murder with John Tomson and Sergeant 
Ephraim Tinkham. He or his father had a 
grant of land at Lakenham. Children: i. 
William, married, July 3, 1677, Sarah Cas- 
well, and had nine children at Taunton, 1678 
to 1697. 2. John, mentioned below. 

(HI) John Haskins, son or nephew of Will- 
iam Haskins (2), was born at Middleborough 
or Taunton about 1670. He was a soldier in 
the expedition of 1690 against Canada. He 

married Ruth , and lived at Rochester 

and Middleborough, Massachusetts. But two 
of his children are on the records of Roches- 
ter: I. Mary, born October 31, 1692. 2. Sam- 
uel, born June 6, 1701, mentioned below. 

(IV) Samuel Haskins, son of John Has- 
kins (3), was born in Rochester, Massachu- 
setts, June 6, 1701. He resided at Rochester, 
and probably also at Middleborough. We 
know of but one son, Samuel, Jr.. born 1733, 
mentioned below. 

(V) Samuel Haskins, Jr., son of Samuel 
Haskins (4), was born in 1733, probably at 
Rochester. He was a soldier from Rochester 
in 1759 in Captain Josiah Thatcher's com- 
pany. Colonel John Thomas's regiment, and 
landed at Halifax, ^May it, 1759. (See N. E. 
Reg. 1874, p. 414). He left Rochester in 1763- 
64, and lived at Middleborough, Massachu- 
setts, until 1777, when he removed to Hard- 
wick, Worcester county, buying, August 4, 
1777, a lot of land, house and potash works of 
Josiah Locke, of Hardwick, located in the 
north part of the town. Some of the Has- 
kins and an Erskine family settled about th'e 
same time in Winchester, New Hampshire. 
He died at Hardwick, February 4, 1819, in his 
eighty-sixth year. He married (first) Eliza- 
beth , who died February 23, 1806, 

aged eighty-one, making her some eight years 
older than her husband, if the records are 
correct. He married (second), November 16, 
1806, at Hardwick. Sarah Stetson, who died 
.\ugust 16, 18 14, aged seventy-nine years. 
Children, born at Rochester and Middle- 
borough: I. Esther, born about 1755, mar- 
ried, December 17, 1789, Nathan Allen: she 
died February 16, 1835, aged seventy-nine. 2. 
Samuel. Imrn February 2, 1759, soldier in the 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



265 



Revolution. 3. Shiverick, born August 18, 
1763, the last child recorded at Rochester; 
was baptized there August 12, 1764. 4. 
Bethia, born about 1765. died September 25, 
1804. 5. William, married. September 29, 
1788, Polly Ide. 6. Rebecca, born about 
1767, married, December 17, 1789, Dariua 
Rice, of Grafton. 

(VI) Shiverick llaskins. son of Sanuiel 
Haskins (5). was born .\ugust 18. 1763. and 
baptized August 12. 17^14. at Rochester, 
Massachusetts. He died at Hardwick, .Massa- 
chusetts, June 5, 1836. aged seventy-three 
years nearly. He married Anna l^incoln. 
Children, born at Hardwick: i. .Shiverick. 
born March 29, 1789, died in Ro.xbury, I'eb- 
ruary 2. 1861. 2. Josiah, born October, 1790, 
died November 8, 1790. 3. Martin, born ( )c- 
tober 8, 1791. cliecl .Xovemhcr 3, 1813. 4. 
Anna, born October 5. 1793. 5. Rufus. born 
October 2, 1795. 6. .Amos. born. October 13, 
1797- 7- Joel, born July 17, 1799, mentioned 
below. 8. Jason, born May 3, 1801, married, 
December 28, 1834, Susan .\. Pales : he d'ied 
in \\'orcester. October 23. 1848. 9. Daniel, 
born March 18. 1803, died in Boston by 
drowning March 19. 1829. 10. Mary, born 
January 14, 1805, married (published No- 
vember 14, 1825) Cyrus Chipman : she died at 
Barre, May 9. 1864. 11. Hosea, born Novem- 
ber 27, 1806, died Febriiary i. 1S08. 12. Me- 
linda, born November 7. 1809, married, July 
31, 1831, John Newland. 

(VH) Joel Haskins, son of .'^hiverick Has- 
kins (6). was born in Hardwick, July 17, 1799, 
and died there f-'cbruary 15. 1848. He mar- 
ried. December 31. 1826. Maria Williams. She 
survived him and administered his estate. 
Children, born at Hardwick: i. Frederick, 
born July 6. 1827. 2. Daniel \V., born Janu- 
ary 19. 1829. an attorney at Jaw in Boston, re- 
siding (igoj) at 28 Harvard street, Charles- 
town district. 3. Irene, born June 21, 1830, 
died I'cbruary 3, 1833. 4. Kmily Maria. Ixjrn 
June 30. 1832, died .April. 1835. 5. Rufus 
Chase, born June 7. 1834, died June 16, 1837. 

6. Dr. .Alfred L., born .\larch 10, 1836: a phy- 
sician in Boston, where he died .April 3. 1876. 

7. Lydia P., born F'ebruary 27. 1837, mar- 
ried Richard C. Noyes. and died at Worces- 
ter. -April 17. 1853. aged si.xteen. 8. Erskine, 
mentioned below. 9. Jason .A., born June 
17. 1844. hairdresser, died at Boston, N()vem- 
ber 19, 1874. 10. Joel J., born May 4. 1846, 
died at Worcester, 1850. 

(VIII) Erskine Haskins. son of Joel Has- 
kins (7). was born at Hardwick, February 9, 
1841. He was educated there in the common 
schools and for some years followed farming, 



then left home and worked at teaming in Bos- 
ton. He learned the trade of stone mason 
and became a successful mason and contrac- 
tor. During his later years he kept a hotel 
and sales stable at l^arre Plains, Massachu- 
setts. He died in 1897. In politics Mr. Has- 
kins was a Democrat. He was a member of 
the Free Masons, and he and his family at- 
tended the Universalist church. He married 
Elizabeth Knights, horn March 2-,. 1843, 
daughter of Prince and Lydia E. Knights, at 
New Rraintree, Massachusetts. !-^he has con- 
tinued the business in company with her son, 
Frank .A. Haskins. at Barre Plains. Children: 
Lizzie AL. bom April 8, 1866. Charles E., 
January 24. 1869. mentioned below. Frank 
A.. June 26, 1870. Marv Lydia. October 23, 
1871. Wlmer Mabel. February 28. 1874. 
\'ictor .Adelbert, January 11, 1877, died in 
childhood. Fred. Luther. October 30, 1881. 
Cora, October 24. 1882. Three other children 
died young. 

(IX) Charles Erskine Haskins, son of 
Erskine Haskins (8), was born at Oakham, 
Massachusetts, January 24, 1869. He attend- 
ed school in his native town anrl at Barre, 
whither the family removed when he was 
young. He began his business life in a chair 
factory at W'esttuinster, Massachusetts. He 
viorked at gardening afterward for about six 
years, and a year for the Worcester Construc- 
tion Company, building roads. He then en- 
gaged in the livery stable business at West- 
minster on his own account, removing to Shir- 
ley and continuing in the same line of busi- 
ness, also conducting a hotel. He is one of 
the best known dealers in horses in his sec- 
tion and very successful. He is a member of 
William Ellison Lodge of Odd I-'ellows of 
Gardner, Massachusetts. He and his family 
attend the Universalist church. He married 
(first), December 25. 1889. .Amy F. Knight. 
born May 7, 1869. at Westminster, flied 
1898. daughter of fliram and Lucretia Man- 
ard Knight. He married (second), June, 
1904, Fannie (Tail) Strong, born at ^^ount 
Pleasant, Nova Scotia, daughter of .Alexander 
and Jane fVV^ade) Tait, both natives of Mount 
Pleasant. Children of her parents: Martha 
.Ann, Philetus, Burnham, Eliza, George, 
Fannie, William. Of these. Fannie Tait 
married (first) John Hayward Strang, at Port 
Elgin, New Brunswick, December 23. 1887; 
children by her first husband: James Harold 
and (irace Gertrude .Strang. Mr. Haskins had 
two children by his first wife: Gertrude Lu- 
cretia, born October 19. i8<)5. and George 
Erskine, April 15, 1898. 



266 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



John Ryan was born in Ireland, 
RYAN was educated and learned his 
trade of blacksmith in the old 
country. He came to America during the 
great emigration caused by the famine in Ire- 
land and located first in Providence, Rhode 
Island, then in 1878 in Lowell, Massachusetts, 
where he was for more than twenty years en- 
gaged in the blacksmith business. He had a 
large and prosperous business and was popu- 
lar with his customers. He died in North 
Chelmsford, November, 1903. he married 
Bridget Collins, who died in Lowell in 1887. 
Qiildren : i. John, born 1859, married Mary 
Stratton, of Providence, Rhode Island ; two 
children : John and Fred. 2. Frederick, born 
i860, engineer at sea. 3. Alice Emma, born 
1862, now nurse at Massachusetts Insane Hos- 
pital for Women. 4. Joseph D., born May 8, 
1868, mentioned below. 5. Mary, born 1871, 
died December, 1904. 

(II) Joseph D. Ryan, son of John Ryan 
(i), was born in Providence, Rhode Island, 
May 8, 1868, and attended school there and at 
Lowell whither his parents removed when he 
was ten years old. He engaged in the hotel 
business in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, 
his present business, and has been prosperous. 
He is a liberal supporter of the Roman Catho- 
lic Church in Chelmsford. In politics he is a 
Republican. He is a member of the Benevo- 
lent Order of Elks and of Court Wannalamit. 
Foresters of America. He is now chief of 
fire department, being the first fire chief 
elected in North Chelmsford. As the office is 
new to this township, he with four others as a 
committee of five were selected by the town 
to organize this fire department. It took effect 
June I, 1907. The committee consisted of 
John O'Connor, William J. Quigley, Fred. I. 
Vinal, Thomas H. Murphy, Joseph Ryan. 

Fie married Ella J. Dowd, January 9, 1896. 
She is the daughter of Michael J. and Bridget 
(Grady) Dowd. Her father was born in Ire- 
land. Children of Joseph and Ella J. Ryan : 
I. William John, born January 13. 1897. 2. 
Joseph Leo, March 17, 1898. 3. Gerald J., 
October 24. 1899. 4. Frederick S., May 24, 
1902. 



Members of this family still 
DENNEN vary in the spelling of the sur- 
name. The two prevalent 
forms are Denning and Dennen. The first 
immigrant of the name to this country was 
William Denning, who in 1634 was in the em- 
ploy of William Brenton, of Boston. William 



Denning was admitted to the church March 
23, 1634, and was a proprietor in Boston, De- 
cember 14, 1635. He died January 20, 1654. 
His will was proved January 31, 1653, and 
bequeathed to wife Ann, son Obadiah in Eng- 
land and to his kinswoman, Mary Powell. 

(I) Nicholas Dennen, the immigrant an- 
cestor, was born in England in 1645 and died 
at Gloucester, Massachusetts, June 9, 1725. 
He may have been a nephew or a close rela- 
tion of the William mentioned above. Both 
were doubtless mariners and the surname is 
very uncommon. In fact all the old Colonial 
families of this name may be traced to this 
Gloucester progenitor. His children were 
probablv born before he came to Gloucester 
and their mother may have died in the old 
country. He married (second) at Gloucester, 
November 25, 1697, Sarah Paine; children: 
I. Nicholas, Jr., born about 1675, mentioned 
below. 2. VVilliam, born about 1680, men- 
tioned below. 3. George, born about 1686, 
mentioned below. 

(II) Nicholas Dennen, Jr., son of Nicholas 
Dennen (1), was born about 1675. In 1724 
he had a grant of land where his house was 
then located. He was also doubtless a seafar- 
ing man. He married (first). December i, 
1699, Elizabeth Davis. He married (second), 
January 14, 1732, Ann Fuller. He, his wife 
Elizabeth, his daughters iNIargaret and Han- 
nah were baptized May 9, 1725, in the Glou- 
cester church. Children: i. Elizabeth, born 
1703, married, November 7. 1723, Daniel 
Gordon. 2. Nicholas, born 1706. 3. Em, 
born 171 1. 4. Margaret, born 1714, married, 
November 9. 1736, Thomas Boffet. 5. Han- 
nah, born 1717. 6. Nicholas, born October 
12, 1732. 

(II) William Dennen, son of Nicholas 
Dennen (i), was born about 1680. He also 
settled in Gloucester and had a house west of 
Fresh Water Cove. He married (first), De- 
cember 5, 1706, Hannah Paine and (second) 
Susanna . Children, born in Glouces- 
ter: I. Samuel, born 1707, mentioned below. 
2 Sarah, baptized 1710. 3. William, Jr., 
bom 1713, died young. 4. Mary, born 1716. 
Children of second wife : 5. William, baptized 
1727. 6. Elizabeth, born August 9, 1729. 

(II) George Dennen. son of Nicholas Den- 
nen (i). was born about 1686, was a seafaring 
man and was lost on a voyage to the Isle of 
Sables, August, 1716, aged thirty. He mar- 
ried, March 20. 1708, Hannah Byles. sister of 
Richard Byles. His widow lived in the west 
precinct of Gloucester. Children : i . Job. set- 
tled in Gloucester. 2. James, had children 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



267 



born in Gloucester. 3. George, married. No- 
vember 21, 1738, Mary Eveluth and had .sons 
Francis, George, Simeon, and Joseph, who 
was born May 6, 1752; married, October 16, 
1773. Molly Haskell, and served throug-lioui 
the Revolution. 4. Joseph. 5. Hannah. 

(HI) Samuel Dennen. son of William 
Dennen (2), was born in Gloucester about 
1707. He married there in March, 1754, 
Keziah Bray, of an old family of that section. 
They resided in Gloucester until late in life, 
when they removed to Poland. ]\laine. where 
both of tlieni died. Children of Samuel and 
Keziah (Bray) Dennen (Denning), all born 
in Gloucester : 1. Abigail, 1756. 2. Job, 1760. 

3. Mary, 1762. 4. Sarah, 1764. 5. George, 
1769, mentioned below. 6. Simeon, 1770. 7. 
Abigail. 1774. The descendants residing in 
Poland. Maine, have spelled the name Den- 
ning, while those residing in Gloucester have 
in many cases preferred Dennen. and the rec- 
ords relating to the family of Simeon have 
the name spelled Dennen. 

(IV) George Dennen, son of Samuel Den- 
nen (3), was born in Gloucester, Massachu- 
setts, in 1769. and died in 1833. He married. 
in 1792, Ellenal Rollins, born 1770 and died 
1837. The records are from the family Bible 
of J. J. Denning, who lives on the family 
homestead at .Mechanics Falls, Poland, Maine. 
Children: i. Samuel, born 1793 in Poland, 
died 1864 in Oxford, Maine ; grandfather of 
Rev. Ernest J. Dennen, rector of St. Stephen's 
Protestant Episcopal Qiurch, Lynn, Massa- 
chusetts. 2. .Stephen, 1794. 3. Hannah, 1796. 

4. Ruth, 1799. 5. William, alxnit 1800. men- 
tioned below. 6. Bathsheba. 1801. 7. George, 
1803. 8. Job, 1805. 9. Mbses. 1806. 10. 
Rhoda, 1808. II. James, 18 10. 12. Jacob, 
181 2. Job had the homestead at Poland and it 
descended to his son, J. K. Denning, the pres- 
ent occupant. 

(V) William Dennen, .son of George Den- 
nen (4), was born in Poland, Maine, about 
1800. He settled in the town where his an- 
cestors had lived for generations — Gloucester. 
Massachusetts. He was educated in the com- 
mon schools, and learned the trade of stone 
mason, working in the quarries in his youth 
and later conducting a farm at Gloucester. 
He was a Democrat in politics. He was for 
five 3'ears superintendent of the streets of Glou- 
cester. He was a Congregationalist in relig- 
ion. He married Eliza James. Ixirn at Glou- 
cester. Children, bom in Gloucester: i. Will- 
iam H.. resides at 11 Exchange street, Glou- 
cester. 2. Charles Augustus, born November 
IT, 1842, mentioned below. 



(\^I) Charles Augustus Dennen, son of 
William Dennen (5), was born at Gloucester, 
November II, 1842, and was educated in the 
common schools of his native town. There 
he learned the trade of shoemaker and worked 
in the shoe factories until he was twenty-three 
years old. Then he bought his farm at Pep- 
perell, Massachusetts, where he lived for a 
period of twenty-one years, exchanging it for 
that on w-hich he has lived to the present time. 
He has been prosperous in business and also 
owns another large farm in Pepperell. He 
lias an extensive milk Inisiness in Pepperell 
and vicinity and has tlourishing dairies on 
both farms, the larger supporting a hundred 
head of cattle. He is one of the best-known 
and most influential farmers in that section. 
1 le was appointed state inspector of cattle by 
Governor Greenhalge in October. 1894, and 
has been re-appointed from time to time to the 
present. He has charge of all the quarantine 
stations in the cities and towns of his district. 
He has been prominent in town and political 
affairs many years. He was for three \ears 
member of the board of selectmen, for three 
years on the board of assessors and is at pres- 
ent a director of the cemetery association at 
Pepperell. He is a Republican. Mr. Dennen 
is a member of the North Star Townsend 
I^^idge of Odd Fellows; of Prcscott (irange, 
Patrons of Husbandry, and for twenty-one 
years he has been a member of the Massachu- 
setts .State Grange and was re-elected in 1906 
for a term of three years. He is a Congre- 
gationalist in religion. 

Mr. Dennen married. June 26. 1865. Mary 
P. Phelps, at Gloucester, her native town. She 
is the (laughter of Eli Forbes and Susannah 
(Burnham) Phelps. Children: I. Herbert 
Forest, born in (iloucester, March 17, 1866, 
died August 30, 1886, at the a,ge of twenty 
years. 2. Williairi Forbes, born at Pepperell, 
Tune 23. 1868, married, December 28, 1892, 
Carrie L. Tarbell, who was bfirn at Pepperell, 
.September 8, 1873. daughter of Otis J. and 
Fannie CSliattuck ) Tarbell; he is associated 
with his father in business ; children : i. 
Dorothea, born March 21, 1901 ; ii. Charles 
Otis, .\ugust 10, 1905 ; iii. Catherine Forbes, 
died young. 3. Einma J., born at Pepperell, 
June 27, 1870, married. .April 11, 1894. Ehrier 
H. E. E. Boynton, of Pepperell. 4. Dr. 
Joseph Horace, born at Pepperell. July 24, 
1872, educated at Harvard, receivefl the de- 
gree of Doctor of Veterinary .Surgeon at Har- 
vard, i8g8. studied medicine at Harvard 
Medical College, graduating in 1901. and now 
practicing at \\'atertown, Massachusetts. He 



268 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



maried, June 30, 1903, Alice Beckworth, of 
Somerville, Massachusetts. 



In the early Colonial rec- 
PHILBROOK orris of New England 

there is much variation in 
the spelling of this family name, but Philbrick 
and Philbrook predominate, and although no 
signature of the emigrant has been preserved 
showing the form of spelling used bv him, 
there is no question but that they are identical. 

(I) Thomas Philbrick, a master-mariner, 
came from Lincolnshire, England, about 1630, 
accompanied by his family, and settled "in 
Watertown, Massachusetts, where his name 
first appears in the town records in 1636. He 
was granted eight lots of land, which he sold to 
Isaac Stearns in 1645-46, and in or prior to 
1650 removed to Hampton, where his sons 
had preceded him. His wife, whose christian 
name was Elizabeth, died in Hampton, De- 
cember ig, 1663, and his death occurred there 
in 1667. His children were : James, John, 
Thomas, Elizabeth, Hannah and Martha, all 
of whom came from England except the 
youngest, who was born in Watertown. 

(II) Sergeant Thomas Philbrick. third son 
of Thomas and Elizabeth Philbrick, was born 
in England in 1624, and was six years old 
when his parents brought him to America. 
He went to Hampton, New Hampshire, 
shortly after its settlement, and in 1647 pur- 
chased of William Sanborn several lots of 
land, one of which contained buildings. This 
property he conveyed to his father "in 1651, 
and removing to the .south part of the town 
(now Seabrook) settled on what was after- 
ward known as the Joseph Philbrick place. 
He held various offices, including that of rep- 
resentative to the general court, served in the 
militia, and was a deacon in the church. He 
died November 24. 1700. His first wife, whom 
he married in 1647, was Anne Knapp, daugh- 
ter of Deacon William Knapp, Sr., of Water- 
town, and .she died May 17, 1667. On July 
22, 1669, he married Mrs. Hannah White 
(vec French), daughter of Edward and Ann 
French, of Hampton, and widow of John 
White, of Haverhill, Massachusetts. 'The 
children of his first union were: Mary, Bethia. 
Jonathan, Samuel and Elizabeth, who died 
an infant in 1667. Children of second mar- 
riage were: William, Jane and Hannah. 

(III) William, eldest son and child of Ser- 
geant Thomas and Hannah (French-White) 
Philbrick, was the first of the familv to give 



its name the form of Philbrook. He was born 
in Hampton, April 27, 1670. In 1694, or 
perhaps earlier, he settled in Greenland Par- 
ish, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he 
served as constable in 1695, and with his wife 
he united with the church at its organization 
in 1706. He died in Greenland, in 1714. He 
was married, October 10, 1689, to Mary Neal, 
daughter of Walter Neal, of Greenland, and 
had a family of seven children : Walter, Jona- 
than, Mary, Samuel, Olive, Abigail and Sarah. 

(IV) Walter Philbrook, eldest son and 
• child of William and Mary (Neal) Philbrook, 

was born November 10, 1690. He was a 
blacksmith and a gunsmith in Greenland, and 
dealt C|uite largely in real estate. His death 
occurred in 1732. He married Elizabeth Tuf- 
ton, whose father Robett is said to have 
changed his name to Mason. She bore him 
six children : Robert Tufton, Mary, Deborah, 
Simon, Walter and Elizabeth. Mrs. Phil- 
brook survived her husband, and became the 
wife of Rev. William Allen, of Greenland. 

(V) Robert Tufton Philbrook, eldest son 
and child of Walter and Elizabeth (Tufton) 
Philbrook, was born in Greenland, in 17 15. 
He joined the church in 1733, and was an in- 
fluential man in the community. His occupa- 
tion was that of a gunsmith, and in the Green- 
land records of October, 1745, there is an 
item to the effect that "Robert Tufton Phil- 
brook was allowed two pounds ten shillings 
and three farthings for mending ye volun- 
teers guns." He died in 1801, and his will 
was probated August 24 of that year. The 
maiden name of his wife does not appear in 
the records at hand. His children were : 
Catherine, Walter, George, Abigail, Elinor, 
Robert Tufton, Jr., Simon and Mary. 

(VI) George Philbrook, second son and 
third child of Robert Tufton Philbrook, was 
baptized in Greenland, in 1741. He evidently 
resided in his native town, but the date of his 
death does not appear in the records. On 
June 20, 1768, he was married in Rowley, 
Massachusetts, to Jennie Johnson, born Feb- 
ruary 26, 1744, daughter of John Johnson, of 
that town, and she died in 1818. Of this union 
there was one son, Thomas. 

(VII) Thomas Philbrook, only son and 
child of George and Jennie (Johnson) Phil- 
brook, was born in Greenland, December 16, 
1772. He was a farmer upon the homestead, 
where he resided his entire life, which termin- 
ated October 27, 1839. He served for many 
years as town clerk. He married Mary .\yres, 
born in 1775, died September 6, 1850, daugh- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



269 



ter of Saimiel and I'hebc Ayres. Their chil- 
dren were: Mary Ann, I'liebe, Robert. 
Thomas, Jr.. Daniel and ."^amuel. 

(VTIl) Daniel l'hilbrix>k, third son and 
fifth child of Thomas and .Mary (Ayres) Phil- 
brook, was born in Greenland, September 20, 
1813, and died August 11, 1875. He inherited 
the homestead farm, which he conducted suc- 
cessfully during his active years. He was 
noted for his musical ability, and was an ac- 
tive Congregntionalist. On June 14, 1847, he 
married Sarah Ann Simpson, horn at Hamp- 
ton Falls, December 18, 1814, died January 
19, 1889, daughter of John Simps<jn. Their 
children were : Thomas Henry, who had two 
children, Effie M. and Ormand. Napoleon 
B., died in 1865, aged sixteen years. John 
W., died in infancy. Mary J., married, No- 
vember 29, 1888, Fred (X Hart. Franklin P. 
Anna A. 

(IX) Franklin Pierce Philbrotik, youngest 
son of Daniel and Sarah Ann (Simpson) Pliil- 
brook, was born in Greenland, December 18, 
1852. Fie was a natural mechanic, and in 
many respects a genius in his particular line 
of work. [Xjssessing the happy faculty of 
promptly solving the various intricate prob- 
lems which frequently occur in the planning 
and constructing of buildings. For many 
years he was a prominent builder in Maiden, 
acquiring a high reputation for the reliable 
character of his w-ork. His many commend- 
able qualities gained for him the sincere re- 
spect and esteem of his fellow-citizens, and his 
death, which occurred in Mialden, December 
25, 1904. was the occasi(jn of general regret. 
In his earlier years ]\lr. Philbrook was a Re- 
publican, but later in life he acted independ- 
ently in politics. He was a member of the 
Masonic order, and of the New England Or- 
der of Protection. On June 6, 1888, Mr. Phil- 
brook w-as married", in Boston, to Annie L. M. 
Scammon, who was lx>rn in Stratham, New- 
Hampshire, .April 24, 1853, daughter of Ste- 
phen and Maria (Gordon) Scammon. The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Philbrook were: 
Florence, born February 29, 1892. Maria 
Gordon. March 14. 1894. Ralph. September 
18, 1897. Mrs. Philbrook resides in Mnlden. 
and is a member of the Baptist church. 

Mrs. .Annie L. M. (.Scammon) Philbrook is 
a lineal descendant in the seventh generation 
of Richard Scammon, who arrived in Boston 
from I'.ngland prior to 1640. in which year he 
was residing in Portsmouth, New Flampshire. 
The Scammons are of ancient and honorable 
lineage, and in 1637 Captain Edmund Scam- 
mon commanded a British war vessel under 



.Admiral Rainslxirough. Several families of 
the Scammon name are now laniled proprie- 
tors in Lincolnshire. England. The children 
of Richard .Scammon, tlie immigrant, were: 
Richard, see forward. .Anne, who became the 
wife of the famous .Major Richard Waldron, 
of Dover, New Hampshire, who was killed by 
the Indians in 1689. John, of Kittery, Maine. 
Humphrc)'. who settled in Saco, same state. 

(II) Richard Scammon, eldest son of Rich- 
ard the immigrant, accompanied his father 
from England, resided in Portsmouth and 
Dover until 1665, when he settled on what is 
known as the Shrewsbury Patent, located on 
the east bank of Swamscot river, in the south- 
ern portion of what is now the town of Strat- 
ham, and became sole proprietor of the entire 
tract. .Although his estate was not within the 
limits of Exeter, he was considered a resident 
of that town, held public offices, and was one 
of the largest taxpayers. He died previous to 
1697. In 1664 he married Prudence, only 
daughter of William \Valdron, recorder of 
the court at Dover. His children were : Rich- 
ard. William, Jane, Prudence, Elizabeth and 
Mary. 

(III) William .Scammon. second son of 
Richard and Prudence (Waldron) .Scammon, 
was Ixirn February 26, 1664, place of l)irth 
not given. He served in the Indian wars 
which took place in the latter part of the sev- 
enteenth century, and in 1699 and 1700 was a 
selectman in Exeter. When the town of 
Stratham was incorporated ( 17 16) he was 
chosen a member of its first lj<")ard of select- 
men. He died in Stratham, September 28, 
1743. He married Rachel Thurber, of Reho- 
both. Massachusetts, January 4, 1621, and her 
death occurred .September 25. 1761. She was 
an active member of the Baptist denomination, 
and instrumental in organizing several 
churches. 

(lA') Richard Scammon. son of William 
and Rachel (Thurber) Scammon, was born in 
.Stratham, November 17, 1722. He was a 
prosperous farmer, and an able business man, 
becoming a shipowner in his latter years, and 
engaging quite extensively in the West India 
trade. .At the commencement of the war for 
independence he served upon the committee 
of safety. He died .August 26, 1806. In 1753 
he married Elizabeth Weeks, born in June, 
1734, daughter of lieutenant Samuel Weeks, 
of Greenland, and their children were : I. 
Rachel, bom October 6, 1754. 2. William. 
.April 12, 1756. 3. Elizabeth, February 5, 1757. 
4. Samuel, February 24, 1759. 5. Mary, Sep- 
tember 24, 1760. 6. Richard, May 31, 1762. 



270 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



7. Samuel, June 10, 1764. 8. Elizabeth, May 
9, 1768. 9. James, April 26, 1771. 10. Heze- 
kiah, March 26, 1773. Of these children, Rich- 
ard became father of Hon. Eliam Scammon, 
of East Pittston, Maine, grandfather of Hon. 
John Young Scammon, a noted lawyer and 
banker of Chicago, Illinois, and also of Gen- 
eral E. P. Scammon, U. S. A. 

(V) James Scammon, second son of Rich- 
ard and Elizabeth (Weeks) Scammon, was 
born in Stratham, April 26, 1771. He inherit- 
ed the homestead, and gave his principal at- 
tention to farming, but engaged in other en- 
terprises with marked success, and was a man 
of excellent business capacity and good judg- 
ment, and the largest real estate owner in 
Stratham. He was active in church work, 
also in local public affairs, holding various 
town offices, and in politics was a strong Dem- 
ocrat. He died April 6, 1859. He married, 
Fcbruarj' 28, 1777, Lydia P., daughter of Ste- 
phen \Mggin, and she died October 15, 1840. 
Their children were: i. John, born August 22. 
1797. died March, 1863; appointed judge of 
court of common pleas, 1853; married, Oc- 
tober 31, 1824, Mary G. Barker. 2. Lydia, 
born February 9, 1800, died December 31, 
1887; married, June 15, 1822, Benjamin Bar- 
ker, who died November i, 1863. 3. Ira J., 
born June 11, 1803, died January 14. 1852; 
married, June II, 1828, Ann Lyford, who died 
March 4, 1857. 4. Stephen, born January 25, 
1805, see forward. 5. Richard, born October 
24. 1809, died February 21, 1878, aged sixty- 
eight years; married, 1841, Abigail Batchelor, 
who died September 6, 1873. 6. Elizabeth W., 
born May 9, 1812, died March 28, 1874; mar- 
ried Michael Dalton, who died November 16, 
1869. 

(VI) Stephen Scammon, fourth child and 
third .son of James and Lydia P. (Wiggin) 
Scammon, was born in Stratham, January 25, 
1805. He was an able and progressive farmer, 
and a highly respected citizen, taking a special 
interest in the moral welfare of the commun- 
ity, and supporting the Baptist church. He 
died January 28, 1883. He married, Novem- 
ber 2, 1834, Maria Gordon, of Epping, New 
Hampshire, born September 30, 1808, died 
October 4, 1887, aged seventy-nine years. Her 
parents were John S. and Sophia (Reding^on) 
Gordon. John S. Gordon was born March 19, 
1796, and died July 28, 1845; married, June 
14, 1801, Sophia Redington, born October 22, 
1773, died August 2, 1856; their children 
were: i. Marian, born July 14, 1802, died 
June 29, 1803. 2. Maria (see above) who be- 
came the wife of Stephen Scammon, and 



mother of Mrs. .\nnie L. M. (Scammon) 
Philbrook. 

The children of Stephen and Alaria (Gor- 
don) Scammon were: i. Maria A., bom No- 
vember 8, 1835, married, August 21, 1871, 
Rodney A. Killam. 2. Elizabeth G., born 
July 8, 1837, married, April 6, 1863, Jenness 
Brown, and had children : Xelson, born No- 
vember 3, 1864, and John, born September 11, 
1872. 3. John S. G., born June 3, 1839, died 
January 11, 1842. 4. Stephen G., born July 
25, 1842, died July 22, 1861. 5. Arianna S., 
born July 2, 1844, died February 12, 1864. 6. 
Lydia S., born ^lay 7, 1847, married, October 
13, 1866, Isaac N. Stockbridge, and had one 
child, James E., bom January 28, 1867, mar- 
ried Nettie Rubins, November 25. 1886, had 
two children: Earle, born June, 1889, and 
Carl, born 1892. 7. Annie L., born April 28, 
1849, died January 5, 185 1. 8. Annie L. M., 
born April 24, 1853, became the wife of 
Franklin Pierce Philbrook. 



Abraham Morrill, the pro- 
.MORRILL genitor of the Alorrills of 

Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire, appears on the record of the early 
settlement of Massachusetts Bay Colony as to 
have been in February, 1642 (O. S.), in con- 
junction with Henry Saynod, granted "three 
score acres of Upland so near the falls as may 
be convenient, on the condition that they shall 
before October next set up a mill which may 
be sufficient to grind all the corn which the 
town (Salisbury) may need." This grant was 
from the town authorities of Salisbury, 
Massachusetts Bay Colony, established Octo- 
ber 7, 1640, to these two freemen of Cam- 
bridge to encourage the settlement of Salis- 
bury the land so granted being on the Merri- 
mack river. Abraham Alorrill had a wife 
Sarah and eight children, and from one of 
these, probably Jacob, born August 24, 1648, 
married and had children, Leonard Morrill 
descended. 

(VI) In the sixth generation from Abra- 
ham the freeman, of Cambridge and Salis- 
bury, appears the name of Greene Morrill, 
who married Nancy Carr but with no dates 
as to birth or marriage. They had a son Ben- 
jamin who represents the seventh generation 
from the founder. 

(VII) Benjamin Morrill married Nancy, 
daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Lowe) Bat- 
chelder, and their children were: David, not 
married; Nancy, who married John Church, 
and secondly, George Richardson, and died 



IMIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



271 



quite youiij;; Leonard {q. v.); Susan, wlm 
married Philip Ijabb ; Horace, who did udt 
marry: Ira. who married Sarah Walker: Al- 
fred, who married Almira liatchelder, and 
Ezra, who never married. 

(\TII) Leonard .Morrill, second son and 
third child of Jlenjamin and Xancy ( Batchel- 
der) Morrill, was born in Xortiiwocjd, New 
Hampshire, February 18. 1817. He was mar- 
ried November, 1842, to Mary Jane, daug^htor 
of Smith and Eliza Batchelder. of Xorthwood. 
New Hampshire, and their daughter and only 
child, Melissa Morrill, died May 31. 1876, un- 
married, at the age of twenty-eight years 
eight months and twenty-nine days. He mar- 
ried (second), October 5, 1862. Prudence H., 
daughter of Zachariah and Prudence H. 
(Jones) Coburn, and she had no children. His 
early life was spent in his father's farm up to 
his thirteenth year, when he left home with 
all the clothing he had, besides the suit he 
wore, done up in a bundle and with a cash 
capital of seventy-three cents to make his way 
in the world. He walked to ( ireat Lalls, New 
Hampshire, twenty-one miles from his home, 
and found employment in a woolen factory 
and he remained at work in the factory for 
one and a half years. He then removed to 
Omcord, tlie state capital, where he appren- 
ticed in a shoe manufacturer and after filling 
out two and a half years of his apprerUiceship 
he bought out the remainder of his time and 
returned to his home on the farm where he 
worked alternately at farming and shocmak- 
ing. He then went to Lowell, Massachusetts, 
and for ten years worked in a cotton factory. 
He removed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 
1875, and he there built two cottages and re- 
tired from any active business, devoting his 
attention to caring for the property. His 
brother. Alfred Morrill, engaged in tlic man- 
ufacture of boilers and steam engines in Cam- 
bridge, and he i)urchascd the plant of Allen 
& Endicott and continued the business un- 
der the firm name of Morrill & Hooker for 
five years, when they admitted as partner Al- 
bert Allen, son of Caleb C. Allen, of the form- 
er firm of Allen & Endicott. In 1907 Leonard 
Morrill was the sole survivor of the eight chil- 
dren of Benjamin and Nancv (Batchelder) 
Morrill. 



The name of Dyer is of English 
DYER origin, and, like many other fam- 
ily names, was doubtless derived 
from the occupation of its original bearer, 
who if his given name was John would have 



been designated John the dyer. The name 
ap])ears in the records as early as 143(1. and is 
to be found in the ■■^'ork?hire Pedigrees." 
The family coat-ol'-arms, which appears upon 
a tombstone in Copjjs Hill Cemetery, Bos- 
ton, is a plain shield surmounted by a wolf's 
head, (ieorge Dyer, who came over in the 
"Mary and John" in 1630, and settled in Dor- 
chester, Massachusetts, was first of the name 
in .\'ew England. William, who wrote his 
name Dyre. was a milliner from London, and 
arrived at lloston in 1635. His wife -Mary, 
who was a Ouaker, suffered on the scaffold at 
Boston in 1660 for the sake of her religious 
opinions. She was the mother of Mahershal- 
alhashbaz Dyre (Isaiah viii). the length of 
whose name caused Mr. Savage, autlior of 
the "Genealogical Dictionary," to wonder what 
they called its bearer for short. The IDyers 
of I>righton and Watertown, about to be men- 
tioned, are in all probability descended from 
Thomas Dyer, an emigrant who settled in 
Weymouth. Massachusetts, about the year 
1632. He appears in the records as a cloth- 
worker and he was admitted a freeman in 
1644. He was a representative to the general 
court in 1646, and for four subsecjuent years; 
was a deacon of the church, and otherwise 
prominent in the community. His death oc- 
curred at Weymouth in 1676, at the age of 
sixty-three years. He married .\gnes Reed, 
who died December 4. 1667. Their children 
were: .Mary, John, Thomas (who died young), 
.Abigail, Sarah, Thomas, Joseph and Benja- 
min. Of these John and Thomas went to 
Windham, Connecticut, and became the pro- 
genitors of the Connecticut Dyers. 

Ca])tain Isaac Dyer, son of Lieutenant Pe- 
ter Dyer, and a descendant of Deacon Thom- 
as and Agnes (Reed) Dyer, of Wevniouth, 
was born in Braintrce, Massachusetts, No- 
vember 3, 1782, and resided in his native 
town. He married Sarah Thayer, of Brain- 
tree, who was born July 22. 1787, daughter of 
Xeheiniah and Sarah (Hobart) Thayer. She 
was a descendant of Richard Thayer, the emi- 
grant, through .Shadrack (2) and Deliverance 
Thayer, Ephraim (31 and Sarah (Bass) Thay- 
er, Shadrack (4) and Rachel (White) Thayer, 
Captain Jonathan (5) and Dorcas (Heyden) 
Thayer, and Nehemiah (6) and Sarah (Ho- 
■ bart) Thayer. Mrs. Sarah (Thayer) Dyer, 
was the mother of five children: Jane Bailey, 
Isaac Thayer, Lavinia. Nehemiah F. and 
Lorenzo. 

Isaac Thayer Dyer, son of Captain Isaac 
and Sarah (Thayer) Dyer, was born in Brain- 
tree May 28, 1809. He settled in P.righton. 



272 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Massachusetts, the principal cattle market in 
New England. April 13, 1836, he married 
Martha Harriet Glover, who was born in 
Dorchester, May 22, 1810, daughter of Elijah 
and Martha (Pope) Glover. 

Martha Harriet (Glover) was a descendant 
in the eighth generation of Thomas and Mar- 
gery (Deane) Glover, the first known English 
ancestor of all who bear the name in America. 
The name of Glover is undoubtedly of Saxon 
origin, and was originally Golofre. Its present 
form of spelling first appeared in the middle 
of the fourteenth century, and the name is 
found in the ancient records of the older 
counties of England, especisUy in Warwick- 
shire and Kent. Prior to the period of Puri- 
tan emigration, the Glovers were landholders 
and men of wealth. Thomas Glover, Esq., 
previously mentioned, who died in Rainhill 
parish, Prescott, Lancashire, December 13, 
1619, was married there Eebruary 10, 1594, 
to Margery Deane, daughter of Thomas 
Deane. According to the Rainhill Parish rec- 
ords their children were: Ellen, John (who 
died in infancy). Elizabeth, John, Henry, An- 
nie, Thomas, William, Cieorge, Jane and Pe- 
ter. 

John Glover, eldest surviving son of Thom- 
as and Margery (Deane) Glover, was born in 
Rainhill Parish, August 12, 1600. About the 
year 1625 he was married in Rainhill, and the 
Christian name of his wife was Anna. He in- 
herited a large estate from his father, but in- 
stead of remaining in England to enjoy his 
wealth he joined the large company of colon- 
ists gathered by Governor Winthrop in 1630, 
and came to New England. His property in 
the old country he afterwards conveyed to 
his eldest son, who remained there, and was a 
merchant in London in 1652. Prior to his 
emigration John went to London, where he 
joined the Honorable Artillery Company, be- 
coming its captain, and in the records of that 
period is referred to as "the worshipful Mr. 
Glover." He was one of the organizers of 
the London Company for promoting coloni- 
zation in New England in 1628, and came as a 
passenger in the "Mary and John," bringing 
with him, besides a large number of cattle, 
the necessary servants, appliances and other 
supplies to establish and carry on a tannery. 
Settling in Dorchester, he opened the first tan- 
nery in New England; was one of the organ- 
izers of the town in 1631; and when the 
church was organized in 1636 under the pas- 
torship of Rev. Richard Mather, he and his 
wife Anna were among the subscribers to 
the covenant. Aside from holding important 



town offices he represented Dorchester in the 
general court from 1636 to 1652, when he be- 
came an assistant governor, and in all he 
served the colony some eighteen years. In 
1650 he removed to Boston, where he died 
Eebruary i, 1653, while still serving as an as- 
sistant. He was not only prominent in Dor- 
chester and Boston, but elsewhere as well, as 
he is mentioned in the records of Salem, 
Charlestown, Cambridge and Barnstable. His 
children, born in Rainhill and Dorchester, 
were : Thomas, Habakuk, John, Nathaniel and 
Peletiah. 

Nathaniel Glover, fourth son of John and 
.Anna CJlover, was born in 1630-31. He re- 
sided in Dorchester, and his death occurred 
there May 21, 1657, at the age of about twen- 
ty-seven years. He married Mary Smith, 
born in Texteth Park, near Liverpool, July 
20, 1630, daughter of Quartermaster John 
and Mary (Ryder) Smith. She married for 
her second husband Thomas Hinckley, of 
Barnstable, who was subsequently chosen 
governor of the Plymouth Colony, and died 
at Barnstable July 23, 1703. By her first 
husband, Nathaniel Glover, she had four chil- 
dren: Nathaniel, Mary, Sarah and Melatiah. 

Nathaniel (2) Glover, was born in Dorches- 
ter, January 30, 1653, eldest son of Nathaniel' 
and Mary (Smith) Glover. At the age of sev- 
en years, when his mother became the wife of 
Thomas Hinckley and went to Barnstable, he 
was placed under the guardianship of his un- 
cle Habakuk Glover, and went to reside with 
his grandmother. Mrs. Anna Glover, in Bos- 
ton. In 1672-3 he married Hannah Hinckley, 
of Barnstable, (born April 15, 1650), and oc- 
cupied the homestead in Dorchester, a portion 
of which he inherited, and he died at New- 
bury farm in that town, January 4, 1723-4. 
His children were: Nathaniel, who died in 
infancy ; another Nathaniel, also died in in- 
fancy; a third Nathaniel; Mary, Hannah, 
Elizabeth, John and Thomas. The mother of 
these children died in Dorchester. April 30, 
1730. 

Thomas Glover, youngest son and child of 
Nathaniel and Hannah (Hinckley) Glover, 
was born in Dorchester, December 26, 1690. 
He resided at Newbury farm, and died June 
16, 1758. He was married June 7, 1722, to 
EHzabeth Clough, of Boston, and was the 
father of twelve children: Thomas, Elijah 
Elizabeth (died young), Anna (died young). 
William, James, Ebenezer, Elizabeth, Dorothy, 
John, Jerusha and Anna. 

Thomas (2) Glover, eldest son and child of 
Thomas and Elizabeth (Clough) Glover, was 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



273 



born September 1. 17^3, at the home of his 
maternal grandfather, Deacon John Cloiigh, 
in Boston. He was reared in Dorchester, and 
for several years prior to 1748 he served as a 
soldier at L'astle William, Boston Harbor, a 
portion of the time as an officer. In 1748 he 
went to Stoughton, Massachusetts, where he 
was married I-'ebruary 20, 1752, to Rebecca 
Pope, born in that town ])eccmber 29, 1730, 
daughter of Dr. Ralph and Rebecca (Stubbs) 
Pope. He died in .Stoughton, January 11, 
1811, in his eighty-ninth year, and his wife 
died .August 12, 1812. Their children were 
Elizabeth, Rebecca, Hannah. Thomas. Wil- 
liam. Rachel, Sanuiel. Ebenezer, Jerusha, .\n- 
na and Elijah. 

Elijah Glover, fifth son and youngest child 
of Thomas and Rebecca (Pope) Glover, was 
born in Stoughton, .April 20. 1770. When a 
young man he engaged in mercantile business 
at Dorchester, and erecting a residence on 
Meeting-house Hill he occupied until 1810. 
when he removed to Stoughton, where he 
spent the rest of his life, which terminated 
March 9, 1855. He inherited the family 
homestead in Stoughton. February 13. 1805. 
he married Martha Pope, born in Dorchester 
December 12, 1780. daughter of Elijah and 
.Martha (W'hite) Pope. Her death occurred 
in Stt)ughton, July 16, 1813. His second wife, 
whdin he married December 2, 18 14, was 
Sarah Howe, l)orn in Dorchester, Mav 21. 
1786. daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Wiswall) 
Howe. .She died October 21, 1850. Tlic 
children of his first union were; Louisa, born 
in Dorchester. August 5, 1808. became the 
wife of Joseph Parshley of Braintree; .Martha 
Harriet, who married Isaac Thayer Dyer, as 
previously stated: and Mary Smith, born in 
Stoughton. May 25. 1813. died July 6 of that 
year. Those of his second marriage were: 
Ashabel, Howe, Isaac Howe. John Clough. 
Rebecca, Elijah, Frederick Pope, and Na- 
thaniel. Mrs. Martha Harriet (Glover) Dyer 
became the mother of six children: Louisa 
Harriet, born (October 7. 1837: .Almeda. born 
June 24. 1839. married Henry C. Foster, of 
Dorchester: Isaac Henry, who will be again 
referred to: Nehcmiah Franklin, bom I'\'bru- 
ary 10. 1844, died April 5. 1866: .Sarah Jane, 
born .September i, 1848: and Katie .Adelaide, 
born lanuarv 31, 1854, died Februan- 10, 
1862. • - ■ 

Isaac Henr)' Dyer, third child and eldest 
son of Isaac T. and Martha H. (Glover) Dyer, 
was born in Brighton. November 20. 1840. 
He was reared and educated in Brighton. 
January 8, 1862, he enlisted as a private in 

1—18 



Company H, Ninety-ninth Regiment New 
York Volunteers, with which he served three 
years in the civil war, and was honorably dis- 
charged January 9, 1865. After his return 
from the army he engaged in the provision 
business at l*'aneuil Hall .Market, Boston, and 
was widely and favorably known among his 
business contemporaries. For many years he 
resided in Watertown, and his death occurred 
there Alarch 4, 1904. Politically he supported 
the Republican party. In his religious faith 
he was a Unitarian. He was a comrade of 
Isaac Fatten Post, (irand .Army of the Re- 
public. On November 3. 1868, .Mr. Dyer mar- 
ried .Miss -Abbie P>aker Cook, who was bom 
in ISrighton, January 9, 1844, daughter of 
John and Betsey (Flarding) Cook, of Brigh- 
ton, Massachusetts. Mrs. Dyer survives her 
husband, and resides in Watertown. .She is 
the mother of five children: Minnie Frances, 
bom in Brighton, .April 7. 1870. now the wife 
of Elmer \\'hitne_\-. of Boston: -Abbie .Anna, 
born in Brighton, January 16, 1872, now a 
teacher; Madeleine, born in Brighton, July 11, 
1874. resides in Watertown: Sarah, born in 
Watertown. .August 30. 1876, now the wife of 
William L. Locke, of Watertown: and Charles 
Henry, born in Watertown. .May 26, 1878. 
The latter is now a well-known furniture 
salesman in Boston. 



Henry W. Clark was born at 
L'L.VRK I'rincetnn. .Mas.sachusetts. .May 
10. I1S2J. (lied at Watertown, 
Massachusetts. July 27. if)oj. In 1835. at 
the age of thirteen, he went to I'oston. Massa- 
chusetts, and entered the employ of Gray & 
Danforth. hardware merchants, remaining 
until 1866, a period of thirty-one years, when 
he becamfe a partner in the firm of Horace 
McMurtrie & Company, engineers and ma- 
chinery agents, which firm was succeeded a few 
years later by Hill. Clark & Coinpanv, and 
the character of the business was changed to 
the buying and selling of machinerv; thus 
they became the pioneer machinery mer- 
chants in the country, as distinctive from ma- 
chinery agents. Mr. Clark continued in ac- 
tive business for a period of seventy years, re- 
tiring in 1905. He was succeeded by his son 
Charles A., who is now president of Hill, 
Clark & Company. Incorporated. New A'ork 
and Chicago. Mr. Clark was of a genial and 
kindly nature, thoroughly just in all his deal- 
ings, and was personally known to an inuis- 
ually large part of the trade, having had close 
business and friendlv relations for nianv vears 



274 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



with manufacturers and users of machine 
tools. Mr. Clark was an attendant of the Uni- 
tarian Church. 

Mr. Clark married (first) Abbie Fisher, of 
Boston, Massachusetts, who bore him one 
son, Frank W.. who is employed m the 
United States (ieological Surveys. He mar- 
ried (second), April 16, 1851, Mary C. Whit- 
ing, daughter of Enoch and Sarah Whiting, 
of Boston, Two children were the issue; Ab- 
bie and Charles ,\. Clark. 



tendant of the Congregational denomination, 
which faith she inherited, and in which she 
was brought up. She was a sister of Mrs. 
William Barber (q. v.). 



Thomas Small, father of James 
SM.\LL Small of Lowell, Massachusetts, 
was born in Staffordshire, Eng- 
land, March 10, 1810, and died in Walsall, 
England, September 3, 1888. He was mar- 
ried to Phoebe Penn, born July 5, 1794, and 
died at Staffordshire, England, June 5, 1870. 
James Small, son of Thomas and Phoebe 
(Penn) Small, was born in Staffordshire, Eng- 
land, April 7, 1846, and learned the trade of 
mason and builder. He came to New Eng- 
land in 1871. and settled in Lowell, Middlesex 
count V. -Massachusetts, where he found em- 
ployment at liis trade with the Lawrence 
Corporation, and he worked for this corpor- 
ation for nineteen years. 1871-90. He was 
subsequently interested with his brother, Jo- 
seph Small, in building the Lowell water- 
works. He also had a contract with the Tal- 
bot woolen mills at Billerica, Middlesex coun- 
ty, where he did the mason work in connec- 
tion with their mills at that place. James 
Small was married, September 3, 1873, to 
Sarah, daughter of Luke and Elizabeth 
(Socrofts) .Ashworth. of Lancaster, England, 
and widow of Miles Veevers, of Park Lane, 
England, the mother of Miles Veevers, a gro- 
cer and supply merchant of Lowell, Massa- 
chusetts, who was born in Burry, England, 
June 6, 1862, removed with his mother to 
Lowell, Massachusetts, and was married to 
Lillie Dorson, by whom he had two children 
— Vera May, born in Lowell, Massachusetts, 
October 31, 1891; and Victor Gordon Veev- 
ers, born in Lowell. Massachusetts, March 5, 
igo2. James and Sarah (.Ashworth) A^eevers 
Small had no children. Mr. Small was a com- 
municant of the Protestant Episcopal church, 
and an earnest charity worker in St. Ann'.» 
Parish, Lowell. L^pon becoming a citizen of 
the United States and a voter in the Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts, he affiliated 
with the Republican party, but was not a poli- 
tician in the field of office seeking. Mrs. 
James Small was a member and church at- 



Governor Thomas Welles, the 

WELLS immigrant ancestor, was born 
in Esse.x county, England, in 
the year 1598, and came from Nortliampton- 
shire, England, to America, in 1636. Li the 
English calendar of Colonial State Papers is 
found the following: "1635, Record Conmiis- 
sion State Papers. Thomas Welles and Eliza- 
beth, his wife, recusant (that is nonconform- 
ists or Puritans) in Rothwell, Northampton- 
shire. -As he disappeared from Rothwell in 
1635, and having lost all his property by con- 
fiscation, he doubtless at that time entered the 
service of Lord .Saye and Seal as private sec- 
retary, and came to .America early in the 
spring of 1636. - 

"Recusant signifies refusal to subscribe to 
the oath of conformity to the established 
Church of England, which required the ac- 
knowledgment of the King as the head of the 
church, instead of the Pope. The Puritans 
would not subcribe an oath to either, and 
hence their emigration. Thomas Welles was 
secretary to Lord Saye, and the families were 
undoubtedly connected." 

Thomas Welles was an original proprietor 
of Hartford, Connecticut, and also of Weth- 
ersfield. He was chosen a magistrate of the 
colony of Connecticut in 1637 and held this 
office every fuccessive year until his decease 
in 1659-60. He held various other offices; 
was deputy-governor in 1654; governor of the 
Connecticut colony in 1655; deputy governor 
again in 1656 and 1657; governor in 1658 and 
deputv governor in 1659. which office he held 
at the time of his death. January 14, 1659-60. 

He married (first) in England Hunt, 

who was mother of all his children. He mar- 
ried (second) in Wethersfield, about 1646, 
Elizabeth Foote, widow of Nathaniel Foote, 
and daughter of John Deming, of England. 
She died July 28, 1683. Children: i. .Ann, 
born about 1619 in Essex, England; married, 
.April 14, 1646, Thomas Thompson, of Farm- 
ington; (second) Anthony Plawkins. 2. John, 
born about 1621, mentioned below. 3. Rob- 
ert, born about 1624, died before 1659. 4. 
Thomas, born about 1627. 5. Samuel, born 
about 1630. 6. Sarah, born about 1632, mar- 
ried, February, 1654, Captain John Chester, 
and died December 16. 1698. 7. Mary, born 
about 1634 in Essex. 8. Joseph, born 1637 
in Hartford, Connecticut. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



275 



(II) John Welles, or Wells, son of Gover- 
nor Thomas Welles ( i ) , was born in Essex, 
England, about 1621. and came to America 
with his father in 1636, landed at Sa\brook 
and came thence to Hartford in the autumn 
of that year, and in 1645 to Stratford, Con- 
necticut, where he resided until his death. He 
was admitted a freeman at Hartiord, April i, 
1645; was deputy to the general court 1656- 
57"59- ^" 1658 he was elected magistrate of 
Stratford and judge of probate for Stratford, 
Fairfield and Xorwalk. He married, in Strat- 
ford, Elizabeth Bourne, who came from Eng- 
land with Arthur Bostwick, presumably a 
near relative. Wells's will was dated October 
19, 1659, and he died soon after, as he was 
deceased before his father, who died the fol- 
lowing January. He bequeathed to wife Eliz- 
abeth and his children; gave his son Robert 
to his father to be educated and, though the 
grandfather died a little more than two 
months afterward, Robert went to Wethers- 
field, lived and died there, receiving a consid- 
erable portion of his grandfather's estate. The 
widow Elizabeth married (second), in 1663, at 
Stratford. John Wilcoxson. Children of John 
and Elizabeth Wells: i. John, married 5lary 
Hollister; he died March 24, 1713-14. 2. 
Thomas, died January 7, 1719-20, aged seven- 
ty. 3. Robert (twin of Thomas), born 1650, 
mentioned below. 4. Temperance, born about 
1653. married John Pitman. 5. Samuel, set- 
tled at Bridgeport. Connecticut. 6. Sarah, 
born September 28, 1659, married Ambrose 
Thompson. 7. Mary, born August 29. 1661, 
married Joseph Booth. 

(HI) Captain Robert Wells, twin son of 
John Wells (2), was born about 1650, died 
June 22, 1714. aged si.xty-five years. He set- 
tled at \\'ethersfield and inherited part of the 
estate of his grandfather. Governor Thomas 
Welles. He married, at Wethersfield, June 9, 
1675, Elizabeth Goodrich, daughter of Ensign 
William Goodrich and his wife Sarah (Mar- 
vin) Goodrich. His wife died at Wethersfield 
February 17, 1698. Children, born at Weth- 
ersfield: Thomas, born May, 1676. 2. John, 
June, 1678. 3. Joseph, September, 1680, 
mentioned below. 4. Prudence, married 
Rev. Anthony Stoddard, of Woodbury, Con- 
necticut. 5. Robeil, Jr. 6. Gideon. 

(IV) Joseph Wells, son of Captain Robert 
Wells (3), was born in Wethersfield, Connect- 
icut, September, 1680. Married there Janu- 
aoi" 6, 1709-10, Hannah Robbins, daughter of 
Captain Joshua Robbins. Children, born at 
Wethersfield: i. John, born November 13, 
1710. 2. Prudence, February 12, 1712. 3. 



Esther, .May, 171O. 4. Hannah, August 5, 
1718. 5. Joseph, September 17, 1720, men- 
tioned lielow. 6. Eunice, .March 25. 1723. 
7. Joshua, September, 1726. 8. Christopher, 
December, 1729. 

(\') Joseph Wells, son of Joseph Wells (4), 
was born in Wethersfield, September 17, 1720. 
Married there March, 1745, Mary Robbins. 
Children, born at Wethersfield: i. Joseph, 
April 14, 1746, mentioned below. 2. Sarah, 
September 13. 1747. 3. Seth. August 3, 1749. 
4. Elijah, January 10. 175 1. 5. Samuel, De- 
cember 10, 175 — . 6. Mary, February 4, 1756. 
7. Elisha, ^larch 12. 1758. 8. Christopher, 
March 11, 1760-61. 

(\I) Joseph Wells, son of Joseph Wells 
(5), was born at Wethersfield, Connecticut, 
April 14, 1746. Married Mary Robbins, child: 
Joseph, born May 26, 1782, mentioned be- 
low. 

(MI) Joseph Wells, son of Joseph Wells 
(6). was born in Wetliersfield, Connecticut, 
May 26. 1782. and died there October 24, 
1836. He married Lucy . Children: Jo- 
seph. John. Samuel, Albert Stanley, horn 
April 3, 1820, mentioned below: Thomas, 
Lucy, Jerusha and Mary Ann. 

(\Tir) Albert Stanley Wells, son of Joseph 
Wells (7), was born at Wethersfield, April 3, 
1820. He was educated in the common 
schools of his native town. He followed 
farming in Enfield, Connecticut, where he 
owned a place. In politics he was a Republi- 
can after that party was organized. He was 
an active member of the Congregational 
church at Enfield and held various offices 
in the church and society. He was 
a member of no secret orders. A man 
of sterling character, he had the confidence 
and esteem of all his townsmen and exerted a 
wide influence. He married (first), at Weth- 
ersfield, Caroline Galpin, who was born at 
Wethersfield, Connecticut, 1840. He married 
(second) Caroline Chapin, about 1852. Chil- 
dren, born at Enfield, Connecticut: i. Ed- 
mund Galpin, born 1845, flJed January 29, 
1890. 2. Carrie, born 1847, married Edward 
?Iigby, and lives at Milford, Connecticut. 3. 
George Stanley, born July 10. 1851, men- 
tioned below. Children of second wife: 4. 
Albert, bom at Newton. 5. Hattie, born at 

Enfield, married Dewey, proprietor of 

a large stock-farm at Granby, Connecticut. 
Mr. Wells died January 30, 1901 ; his first 
wife died August, 1851 ; his second wife died 
fall of 1907. 

(IX) George Stanley Wells, son of .Albert 
Stanley Wells (8), was born in Enfield, Con- 



2/6 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



necticut, July lo, 1851. He was educated 
there in the pubHc schools and in the acade- 
m}' at Granby, Connecticut. He began to 
work on his father's farm at an early age. 
When he was about fifteen years old he went 
to work for a street railroad business in the 
repair shop for Hartford and Wethersfield, 
continuing for about two and one-half years. 
Then for five years he conducted a restaurant 
in Boston on his own account. With his sav- 
ings he started in the liotel and livery stable 
business in Townsend, Massachusetts. After 
five years he sold out to good advantage and 
engaged in the same line of business in Shir- 
ley, Massachusetts, where he has continued 
with much success to the present time. By 
his industry and enterprise he has built up a 
large and flourishing trade. Mr. Wells is a 
Republican in politics, and was formerly tax 
collector of the town of Shirley. He was a 
member of Hamden Lodge of Odd Fellows, 
at Springfield, but is not now affiliated. He 
is a member of the Shirley Congregational 
church. 

He married, at Shirley, July 21, 1891, Ab- 
bie J. Meader. born November. 1869, at New- 
Haven, X'ermont, daughter of Nathan and 
Jeiniie L. (Sterling) Meader. Her father. 
Nathan, born 1837, died December, 1897, was 
a farmer all his life. Her mother was a native 
of Moriah, New York. Children of Nathan 
and Jennie L. (Sterling) Meader: Caroline E. 
Phinney W., Ranleigh E., Roy L., Abbie J. 
Children of George Stanley and Abbie J. 
(Meader) Wells: i. Clayton Meader, born 
July 14, 1892. 2. George Stanley, February 
22, 1894. 3. Blanche Irene, May 25, 1895. 
4. Leslie Carl, June 23, 1897. 



Richard Farwell, believed to 
FARWELL be the ancestor of the Ameri- 
can emigrant, Henry Farwell, 
one of the pioneers of Concord, Massachusetts, 
was born in England. He married about 1280 
the daughter and heiress of Elias de Rille- 
stone, and brought that estate and others into 
the family. These continued in the family un- 
til about 1500, when they were passed on to 
the family of Radcliflfe, although some portion 
of the estate remains to this day in a Farwell 
branch bearing the same arms and claiming 
descent from Richard Farwell. About the time 
the estates passed to the Radcliflfes, Simon 
Farwell migrated from Yorkshire to Somer- 
setshire, and built at Bishop Hall, near Taun- 
ton, the Btanor house on which is carved the 



Farwell arms, quiartered with de Rillestone 
and others. 

(I) Simon Farwell, mentioned above, of 
Hill-Bishop, died in 1545; married Julia 
Clark. 

(II) Simon Farwell, son of Simon Farwell 
(i), of Hill-Bishop, married Dorothy Dyer, 
heiress of Sir James Dyer, speaker of the 
house of commons and judge. She died 1580. 
Children: i. Simon. 2. John, of Holbrook. 
3. George, born 1533; mentioned below. 4. 
Richard. 5. Christopher, founder of the 
Devonshire branch of the family. 6. Four 
daughters. 

(III) George Farwell, son of Simon Far- 
well (2), was born in 1533 and died in 1609; 
married Philippa Parker, daughter of John 
Parker. She died in 1620. They lived at 
Hill-Bishop. Children: i. Sir George, Knight, 
of Hill-Bishop : mentioned below. 2. Eliza- 
beth. 3. Sir John. 4. Arthur. 

(IV) Sir George Farwell. son of George 
Farwell (3), Knight, of Hill-Bishop, died in 
1647. He married Lady Mary Seymour, 
daughter of Sir Edward Seymour, Duke of 
Somerset, and brought into the family royal 
Plantagenet blood. They had twenty children, 
some of whom were : Thomas, John, mention- 
ed below ; George, Nathaniel, Edmund, and 
James. 

(V) John Farwell, son of Sir George Far- 
well (4), married Dorothy Routh, daughter 
of Sir John Routh. Children: i. Henry, men- 
tioned below. 2. John. 

(\'l) Henry Farwell, believed to be the son 
of John Farwell (5), of Hill-Bishop, England, 
was one of the first settlers in Concord, Massa- 
chusetts, and is ancestor of most of the sur- 
name in America. In this connection it is in- 
teresting to note that Thomas Farwell was in 
Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1643, where he 
made a contract with his servant, James 
Bishop. (Note— The name Bishop may have 
been derived from the place where the Far- 
wells lived in England, Hill-Bishop.) Henry 
Farwell was admitted a freeman May 14, 
1638-9. He served on important committees 
for the proprietors and the town. He removed 
to Chelmsford, Massachusetts, an adjoining 
town. His will was made July 12, 1670, just 
before his death. The inventory of his estate 
was filed August 5 following. He married 

Olive . Children: i. John, born at 

Concord about 1639; married first Sarah 
Wheeler ; second, Sarah Fisk. 2. Mary, born 
December 26, 1640; married John Bates. 3. 
Joseph, bom February 20, 1642 ; mentioned 
below. 4. Olive, married October 30, 1668, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



277 



at Chelmsford. I!eiijamin Spaulding. 5. 
Elizabeth, married W'ilkins. 

(V'll) Ensign Joseph Farwell, son of 
Henry I-'arwell (6), was born in Concord, 
Massachusetts, February 20. 1642. He re- 
moved with his father to Chelmsford. About 
1609 he bought the Waldo farm in Dunstable. 
Massachusetts, part of which he deeded to his 
son, Henry Farwell, in 1702. He settled there 
in 1699. and was selectman in 170 1-02-05- 10, 
and highway surveyor in 1706. His will was 
dated November 13, 171 1, and he died De- 
cember 31, 1722. He was deacon of the 
church. He married, December 25, 1666. 
Hannah Learned, who was born in Woburn, 
August 24, 1649, daughter of Isaac and Mary 
( Stearns) Learned. Her father was born in 
England, son of William and Judith Learned, 
who came from England to Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, in 1632. Her mother was the 
daughter of Isaac and Mary Stearns, who set- 
tled in Watertown in 1630. Children: i. Han- 
nah, born January 20, 1667-8. 2. Joseph, born 
July 24, 1670; mentioned below. 3. Elizabeth, 
Iwrn June 9, 1672 ; married, January, 1693, 
John Richardson. 4. Henry, born December 
iS, 1674; married Susannah Richardson. 5. 
Isaac, born at Chelmsford, removed from Mil- 
ford to Mansfield, Connecticut. 6. Sarah, born 
September 2. 1683. 7. John, born June 15, 
1686. 8. William, lx)rn January 21, 1688; 
settled in Groton, Massachusetts. 9. Oliver, 
born 1689; killed by the Indians. 10. Olive, 
born November, 1692. 

(V'lII) Joseph Farwell, son of Joseph Far- 
well (7), was born at Chelmsford. Massachu- 
setts. July 24. 1670. He removed to Groton. 
where he died August 21, 1740. aged seventy 
years. He married, at Chelmsford. Hannah 
Cobum. Children, born at Chelmsford: i. 
Joseph, born August 5, 1696; married Mary 
Gilson. 2. Thomas, born October 11, 1698; 
died December 16, 173 1 ; married, December 
24, 1723, Elizabeth Pierce. Children born at 
Groton : 3. Hannah, born May 6, 1701 ; died 
May II, 176 — . 4. Elizabeth, born December 
31, 1703. 5. Edward, born July 12, 1706. 6. 
Mary, born February 5. 1709. 7. John. Ix^rn 
June 23, 171 1. S. Samuel, born January 14. 
1714. 9. Daniel, born May 20. 1717; mention- 
ed below. 10. .Sarah, bom February 26, 1721. 

(IX) Daniel Farwell, son of Joseph Farwell 
(8), was born at Groton, Massachusetts, May 

20, 1717. He married Mary . Children, 

bom at Groton: i. Daniel, .^pril 22. 1740. 2. 
Anna, May 4, 1744. 3. Timothy, February 21, 
1745-6. 4. Mar)-, February 6, 1747-8. 5. Ed- 
mund, July 13, 1750; mentioned below. 6. 



Zaccheus, June 27, 1753 ; soldier in the Revo- 
lution. 7. Benjamin, July 2, 1756; soldier 
in the Revolution. 

(X) Edmund Farwell, son of Daniel Far- 
well (9), was born July 13, 1750. He mar- 
ried, July 15, 1773, I\Iary Russell, born Sep- 
tember 20, 1752, twin sister of Elizabeth Rus- 
sell and daughter of Jason and Elizabeth Rus- 
sell, of Cambridge and Bolton; (see sketch 
of Daniel Russell, of .Arlington, elsewhere in 
this work). Children: i. Mary. 2. Lucinda. 
3. A daughter. 4. Thomas. 5. Morse. 6. 
Richard. 7. Daniel, mentioned below. 

(XI) Daniel Farwell, son of Edmund Far- 
well (10), was born alx)ut 1780. He settled 
in Harvard, Massachusetts, where he followed 
the occupation of farmer and cooper. In 1825 
he removed to New Ipswich, New Hampshire, 
and died there July 25, 1825, leaving his 
widow with a young family to support and 
w'ith very little property. He married Susan 
Estabrook, daughter of Joel Estabrook, of 
Westford, Massachusetts. (See Estabrook 
family.) Children of Daniel and Susan (Esta- 
brook) Farwell: i. Mary, born December 25, 
1807, died August, 1886. 2. Lucinda. born 
September 12, 1809, died March 2, 1820. 3. 
Russell, born June 10, 1813, died January, 
1899. 4. Sophia, born .August 11, 1815. died 
1887. 5. Royal E., l^oni October i. 1824; 
mentioned below. 

(XII) Royal Estabrook Farwell. son of 
Daniel Farwell (11), was born in Harvard, 
^lassachusetts, October i, 1824. His father 
died at New Ipswich. New Hampshire, when 
he was but nine months old, and his education 
was acquired as opportunity offered in the 
winter terms of the district school, and one 
term in the Appelton Academy. He began to 
work at farming when a mere child, and from 
the age of ten years he has been self-support- 
ing. During his minority he lived part of the 
time with an aunt, and part of the time with 
his brother, Russell Farwell, v^-ho was a black- 
smith. He lived for a time at Pepperell, Massa- 
chusetts, near his native town, and finally in 
1845 came to Natick, Massachusetts, and en- 
gaged a short time in the blacksmith business. 
.About 1848 he engaged in manufacturing 
shoes and was one of the pioneer manu- 
facturers of boots and shoes in Natick, 
which at that time was a small village, 
and he continued in this line until the 
civil war broke out. .At that time his 
health was not good and he gave up business 
and. being disqualified for the service, he en- 
tered upon the work of the Christian Commis- 
sion to aid the Union nnin- and relieve the 



278 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



hardship and sufferings of the Union soldiers. 
Even before the Emancipation Proclamation 
the negroes flocked to the Federal army and 
had to be cared for. It was an important part 
of Mr. Farwell's duty to look after these un- 
fortunate runaway slaves and to furnish them 
transportation north. To some extent the 
white population left destitute by the ravages 
of war had also to be fed and clothed. After 
the slaves were set free the work of the Com- 
mission became enormously increased. At 
Camp Nelson, Kentucky, where Mr. Farwell 
was then stationed, great numbers gathered. 
It was out of the question to provide for them 
in the South, and when he attempted to send 
them north the railroad men refused to allow 
them aboard. He had to make a requisition 
upon General Bartlett for troops before the 
conductor and engineer would transport the 
negroes. He accompanied the troops and fifty 
negroes to the train, saw them aboard, and, 
when the conductor and engineer refused to 
proceed, placed both under arrest, ordered out 
another engineer, and appointed a conductor 
and fireman, but the railroad men capitulated 
and begged to be allowed to perform their 
dulties, saying that they recognized the author- 
ity of the United States as higher than that of 
Kentucky. At the close of the war he was 
appointed agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, a 
difficult position for which his service in the 
war had given him excellent preparation. It 
was his duty to start the former slaves on their 
new paths as free and independent Americans, 
to save them from suffering and want, and 
provide for educating the young. Against the 
prejudice, hatred and bitterness of the defeat- 
ed Rebels the work of this bureau, unpopular 
though it was in the north as well as the south, 
was carried forward bravely and persevering- 
ly. The very life of a man in this bureau was 
in constant danger. He became intimately as- 
sociated with Rev. John G. Fee, who assisted 
in establishing Berea College for Freedmen. 
He continued in this field of duty until the 
spring of 1866, when he returned to Natick. 

He established a fire insurance and real es- 
tate agency in Natick, and has been in active 
business to the present time, though during 
the past few years he has taken life easily and 
let his son and junior partner have the labor- 
ing oar. He admitted to partnership in his 
business his only son Edwin, in 1882, and the 
firm name since then has been R. E. Farwell 
& Son. For many years the firm had offices in 
Clark's Block, but removed to their present lo- 
cation in Walcott's Block when that building 
was completed, in 1888. For many years Mr. 



Farwell has been the most prominent real es- 
tate expert of the town, and one of the best 
known insurance agents of that section. Mr. 
Farwell has always been prominent in public 
affairs. He was a prime mover in the pro- 
curing of a system of municipal water supply 
for Natick, and from the beginning of con- 
struction was chairman of the board of water 
commissioners of that town. In p>olitics he 
was anti-slavery before the war, and a mem- 
ber of the Free Soil party, and since the or- 
ganization of the Republican party he has been 
one of its most loyal supporters. He has never 
sought public office for himself, though for 
many years he served the town on the board 
of assessors. Mr. Farwell is a prominent 
member and generous supporter of the First 
Congregational Church, Natick. He married 
first, Sarah WaJcott, born July 20, 1823, died 
October 11, 1861. He married second Martha 
S. Walcott, born February 22, 1824, sister of 
his first wife, daughter of John Walcott. One 
child by first marriage : Edwin, born August 
21, 1861. 



Thomas Estabrook, the 
ESTABROOK immigrant ancestor, was 

bom at Enfield, county 
Middlesex, England, about 1640. He was the 
brother of Joseph Estabrook, mentioned else- 
where in this work, and came to this country 
in 1660. He settled at Concord, Massachu- 
setts, and married there Sarah Temple, May 
II, 1663. He was a planter. He lived at 
Swansea, Alassachusetts, for a time, and was 
admitted an inhabitant by the town August 
13, 1666, and was selectman there in 1681. He 
died January 28, 1720-21. Children: i. Thom- 
as, mentioned below. 2. .Abraham, married 
September 30, 1718, Martha Brabrook. 

(II) Thomas Estabrook, son of Thomas 
Estabrook (i), was born August 6, 1685. and 
married, December 18, 1707, Elizabeth Park- 
er. He lived at Concord and Dunstable, 
Massachusetts, and died at Dunstable. July 29, 
1743. Children, born at Concord: i. Joel, 
born May 15, 1708; died July 28, 1708. 2. 
Sarah, born November 6, 1709. 3. Samuel, 
born Alarch 8, 1710-11; married Huldah Tem- 
ple. 4. Thomas, born April 2, 1713; men- 
tioned below. 5. Robert, born November 28, 
1715; married Olive Townsend. 6. Abraham, 
born November 10, 1718. 7. Aaron, married 
February 17, 1740, Bethia Ball. 8. Moses, 
born April 15, 1723: married Esther Corey. 
9. Joseph, born .April i, 1726; married Lydia 
Wheat. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



279 



(III) Thomas Estabrook, son of Thomas 
Estabrook (2), was Ixirn in Concord, ^Nlassa- 
chnsetts, April 2, 1713: married Prudence 
. He removed to Westford from Dun- 
stable about the time Samuel l'"ar\vell and oth- 
ers came from tJrotun. Children: i. Benja- 
min, born at Dunstable, February 29, 1744; 
married Sarah Heal; settled at Westford. 2. 
Joel, born at Westford, .March 3, 1748-9; men- 
tioned below. 3. Jonah, born April 2. 1751. 

(I\') Joel Estabrook, son of Thomas Esta- 
brook (3), was born at Westford, March 3, 
1748-9. He was a soldier in the Revolution, 
credited to Dunstable, a private in Captain 
Ebenezcr Bancroft'.s company. Colonel Eben- 
ezer Bridge's regiment (the Twenty-seventh) 
during the summer of 1775, about Boston, 
and took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. He 
was paid for articles lost during the battle, 
by order of the House of Representatives 
dated June 24, 1776. He married at Chelms- 
ford, in 1778, Abigail I'nderwood. Children: 
I. Abigail Underwood, born 1779. 2. Sophia 
born 1 781. 3. Polly, born 1782. 4. Susan- 
na, bom 1782. 5. Susanna, born 1784. 6. 
Joel, Jr., bom 1788. 7. Sarah, born 1790. All 
were born at Westford. .\ daughter married 
Daniel Farwell and settled in Harvard. (See 
Farwell familv). 



The name of Trow- 
TROWBRIDGE bridge is of high an- 
tiquity in England as 
persons bearing that name are found to have 
lived during the reign of William the Con- 
queror. The first of the name are found in 
Trowbridge, a market town and parish in 
Wiltshire, England, which town received its 
name from that of one of the family, being 
their residence for many centuries, and the 
property of one of the name in the reign of 
Edward I. The name Trowbridge first ap- 
pears in the Domesday book. Trowbridge 
formerly had a castle, but no trace now re- 
mains. It was besieged by .Stephen about .A. 
D. 1 135. .\ younger branch of the Trow- 
bridges settled in .Somersetshire as early as 
1541. They resided at Taunton in that coun- 
ty, and from this branch sprang the Trow- 
bridgcs of America. That the Taunton fam- 
ily descended from that of W'iltshire is suf- 
ficiently proven by their arms, precisely the 
same as those seen in the stained glass win- 
dow of the chancel of St. James' Church, 
Taunton, England. (Cojiied from the history 
of Woodbury. Connecticut.) 

(I) John Trowbridge lived at Hutton, Som- 
erset county, England, and died there in 1575. 



In his will, dated February 17, 1575, he names 
two sons. Thomas, and Edmund, mentioned 
below, the former being remembered to this 
day for his becjuest to the poor, the income 
of which is annually distributed in the parish 
church of St. Mary .Magdalen, at Taunton, 
England. John Trowbridge named as execu- 
tor of his will his two brothers, Thomas, Sr. 
and Thomas, Jr. 

(Ilj Edmund Trowbridge, son of John 
Trowbridge (i ), lived in Taunton, Somerset 
county, England. He had a son, Thomas, 
mentioned below. He received a bequest 
from his father John of five silver spoons and 
a gold ring. 

(HI) Thomas Trowbridge, son of Edmund 
Trowbridge (2), was born in England about 
1610. He came from Taunton, Somerset- 
shire, England, and settled in Dorchester, 
Massachusetts Bay Colony, as early as 1636. 
His wife joined the church there in 1636, and 
their son was born there that year. He drew 
a lot of land January 2, 1637, and at various 
times after that. Later in 1638 or early in 
1639 however, he removed to New Haven. 
He was in the foreign shipping business and 
he continued in business, making voyages be- 
tween the Barbadoes and England. He owned 
a house and lot in New Haven as early as 
1639, but ap])arently was not living there. He 
and his wife and three children were living 
there in 1643, and he was rated as one of the 
richest men of the colony, paying taxes on 
five hundred pounds. In 1644 Mr. Cheever, 
the celebrated pedagogue, received payment 
for teaching Trowbridge's children: evidently 
the children were well educated for their day. 
He went to England in 1644, leaving his three 
sons and all his American property in charge 
of Henry Gibbons, who proved unfaithful to 
his trust. Sergeant Thomas Jeffries took the 
boys into his own family. Thomas Trow- 
bridge wrote often from luigland to have 
(iibbons brought to account, but without 
avail. Even a power of attorney to his sons 
was not effective. Thomas Trowbridge died 
in 'J'aunton, England, hebruary 7, 1672-73, 
and soon afterwards (lilibons gave to the sons 
a deed of everything he had, even to the bed 
he slept on, in an endeavor to make good the 
property nf the family. When Ciibbons died 
in if!cS6 Thomas Trowbridge was ap]iointcd 
his adniini.'^trator and recovered all there was 
left of his father's estate in .\ew iiaven. The 
sons of Thomas Trowbridge were: i. Thom- 
as, born 1632 at Taunton. England. 2. Wil- 
liam, born 1634. 3. James, born 1636. at Dor- 
chester, Massachusetts, mentioned below. 



^8o 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(IV) Deacon James Trowbridge, son of 
Thomas Trowbridge (3), was born at Dor- 
chester, Massachusetts, in 1636, and bap- 
tized two years later. In 1641 he re- 
moved with his father to New Haven, 
Connecticut. He lived in New Haven until 
nearly twenty-one years old, when he re- 
turned to Dorchester and occupied the land 
his father had owned before removing to New 
Haven. He removed in 1664 to Cambridge 
Village, now Newton, Massachusetts. His 
wife Margaret, Thomas Wiswan, Goodman 
Kinwright, were dismissed by the Dorchester 
church July 11, 1664, to the church gathered 
at Cambridge Village. James Trowbridge 
was elected deacon to succeed his father-in- 
law in 1675, '>'''fl l^^lfl tli^ office forty-two con- 
secutive years. In 1675 he bought of Deputy- 
Governor Danforth a farm of eighty-five 
acres with house and other buildings, where 
the governor had lived several years, adjoin- 
ing his fariu, and the descendants of James 
Trowbridge have ever since kept in their pos- 
session a considerable part of the original 
homestead in Newton. In the seventh gener- 
ation the place was owned by Nathan Trow- 
bridge. James Trowbridge was selectman on 
the very first board, elected August 27, 1679, 
and served nine years. He was clerk of writs 
1692-93, lieutenant of the military company, 
deputy to the general court from 1700 to 1703. 
He made his will in 1709, and added a codicil 
in 1715; it was proved in June, 1717. He men- 
tioned his rights in land at Dorchester re- 
ceived from his father, Thomas Trowbridge. 
The estate amounted to two hundred and for- 
ty pounds and seven shillings. 

He married December 30, 1659, Margaret 
Atherton, daughter of Major General Hum- 
phrey Atherton. She died August 17, 1672, 
and he married (second). January 30, 1674, 
Margaret Jackson, daughter of Deacon John 
Jackson. She died September 16, 1727, aged 
seventy-eight years. Children of the first 
wife: I. Elizabeth, born October 12, 1660, 
married John Myrick. 2. Mindwell, June 20, 
1662, married Jonathan Fuller. 3. John, May 
22, 1664, married Sarah Wilson. 4. Margaret, 
April 30, 1666. married Hon. Ebenezer Stone. 
5. Thankful, March 4, 1668, married Deacon 
R. Ward. 6. Hannah, June 15, 1672, mar- 
ried John Greenwood. Children of the second 
wife; 7. Experience, November i, 1675, mar- 
ried Samuel Wilson. 8. Thomas, December 
4, 1677, mentioned below. 9. Deliverance. 
December 31, 1679, married Eleazer Ward. 
10. James, .Se])tember 20, 1682, married (first) 
Hannah Bacon; (second) Hannah Jackson. 



II. \Mlliani, November 19, 1684, married 
Sarah Ann Ward; married (second) Sarah 
Fullam. 12. Abigail, April 11, 1687, proba- 
bly never married. 13. Caleb, November 9, 
1692, married Sarah Oliver: married (second) 
Hannah Walter. 

(V) Lieutenant Thomas Trowbridge, son 
of James Trowbridge (4), was born Decem- 
ber 4, 1677, and died in 1724. He settled in 
Newton and removed to New London, Con- 
necticut. He married his first wife about 
1700; married (second), March 3, 1709, ]\Iary 
Goffe, of Cambridge. He married (third), 
January 7, 1716, Susanna . In 1725 Ed- 
mund Goffe was appointed guardian of Trow- 
bridge's minor children Edmund and Lydia, 
and Mr. Nathaniel Longley of Mary Trow- 
bridge, aged thirteen. Child of the first wife. 
I. John, born about 1702, mentioned below. 
Children of the second wife: 2. Edmund, born 
1709, Harvard graduate, 1728; married Mar- 
tha Remington and resided in Cambridge. 3. 
Lydia. born 1710-11. married, 1737, Richard 
Dana, and was mother of Chief Justice Dana. 
4. Mary, born 1713, married Eben Chamber- 
lain, in 1733. 5. .\bigail, born about 1720 
(see guardianship papers at Middlesex pro- 
bate)." 

(yi) John Trowbridge, son of Thomas 
Trowbridge (5), was born about 1702, and 
died May 19, 1762. He was a housewright 
and came to Framingham, Massachusetts, as 
early as 1723. He bought fifty-five acres of 
land, part of the present Nathan Hosmer 
place, by deed dated February 3, 1726-27, 
from Joseph Buckminster. He exchanged this 
farm March 16, 1732, with Samuel Bullen for 
fifty acres of land and buildings, paying also 
fifty-five pounds. This farm adjoined Eze- 
kiel How's. He also bought the Joshua Ea- 
ton place, now Captain Russell's and Mrs. 
Parsons, in 1742, and the Peter B. Davis farm 
in 1747. .\11 his land was formerly of the six 
hundred acres of "reserved land," and the 
original title given by Colonel Buckminster 
or derived from him proving defective, Trow- 
bridge recovered damages and gained new ti- 
tle of the heirs of Governor Danforth. Trow- 
bridge was selectman and a prominent citizen 
of I'Vamingham. He married Mehitable Ea- 
ton, daughter of Jonas Eaton. She was bur- 
ied March 26, 1777. Children: i. Mehitable, 
born January 26, 1725-26, married Oldham 
Gates. 2. Mary, born July 27, 1728, married 
Amos Gates. 3. John, born May 22, 1730, 
married Margaret Farrar and lived in Fram- 
ingham. 4. Lydia, born December 24, 1731, 
married, January 7, 1752-53, Ralph Hemen- 



MlDuLESEX COUNTY. 



281 



way. 5. Thomas, born April i, 1734, men- 
tioned below. 6. Ruth, born Alarch 3, 1736, 
married Peter Rice. 

(\ 11) Thoma.s Trovvbridge, son of John 
Trowbridge (6), was born in Framingliani, 
April I, 1734, and died at Swanzey, New- 
Hampshire, January 12, 1804. lie lived in 
Framingham until 1771, when he settled in 
Fitzwilliam, where he was admitted to the 
church in 1772, removing to Swanzey. He 
was dismissed to the Swanzey church Decem- 
ber 26, 1784. He resided on the J. O. Gary 
place in Swanzey. His son Thomas suc- 
ceeded to the homestead, and his grandson. 
Colonel Thomas Trowbridge, lived in Swan- 
zey on the C. E. ilill place. Mr. Trowbridge 
married Hannah Perry, of Framingham, born 
1735, died December 2, 1809, aged seventy- 
four years. Children, born in Framingham, 
except the two youngest: i. Luther, born 
June 3, 1756, married Elizabeth Tallman and 
lived in .Albany, New York. 2. Hannah, De- 
cember 19, 1759, died 1804; married. Novem- 
ber 22. 1781, Jonathan W'hitin, Jr. 3. Ed- 
mund. -March 2, 1762, died 1766. 4. Alehita- 
ble, February 6, 1764, married, July i, 1781. 
Abijah Wetherbee; she died February 6, 

1844. 5. Polly, June 6, 1766, married 

Page and lived in Ohio. 6. Thomas, June 5, 
1768. 7. Joseph, }ilay 5, 1770. mentioned be- 
low. 8. Margaret, .Vpril 6, 1774, married 

Belden and lived in W-rnnint. i>. Martha. 
born in Fitzwilliam, Ma_\' in. 1778, married 
Jonathan Whitcomli; she died September 3, 
1822, at Dumiuerston, \"erniont. 

(VHI) Joseph Trowbridge, son of Thomas 
Trowbridge (7), was born in Framingham, 
May 5, 1770. He married, at the age of 
eighteen, April 27, 1788, Lucy Barnes, of 
Marlborough, born September 16, 1756, 
daughter of Frederick Ilarnes. .\ certificate 
on file at the Middlesex probate records states 
that "Joseph Trowbridge of Marlborough, a 
minor, and husband to Lucy, daughter of 
Frederick Barnes, late of Marlborough, chose 
John Stowe for his guardian," May 6, 1789. 
The guardian's bond states that his father 
Thomas Trowbridge was "late of Framing- 
ham, now of New Hampshire." John and 
Simon Stowe and Uriah Brigham were on the 
bond. Joseph died November, 1808, and his 
widow Lucy administered his estate. The in- 
ventory filed December 21. 1808. showerl 
property valued at $1910.98. 

I'rcderick Barnes, on account of whose 
<leath the guardian was appointed, was son of 
Daniel (31: married, March 22. 1750, Mary 
Howe, daughter of Abraham and Rachel 



Howe; his wife died .March 25, 1813, aged 
eighty-seven. Children: i. Benjamin, born 
February 2"/, 1752, married Sarah Woods; 
ii. Asa, June 28, 1754, married Matilda 
Woods; iii. Lucy, mentioned above, said to 
have married, in 177''), C )l)a<liah Barce, in the 
.Marlborough history: if so, Trowbridge was 
her second husl)and. 

Daniel Barnes, father of Frederick Barnes, 
died May 24, 1775, aged seventy-four; mar- 
ried, .May 23, 1723, Zerviah Eager, daughter 
of ,\l)raham and Lydia Eager; his wife died 
September 12, 1781. aged seventy-six; he was 
deacon of the church at Marlborough: captain 
of militia; lived a short time in .Shrewsbury, 
but in 1733 returned to Marlborough. 

John Barnes, father of Daniel Barnes, died 
April 5, 1752, aged eighty-six; wife Hannah 
died November 8, 1742. aged sixty-six; was 
deacon of Marlborough church. 

Thomas Barnes, father of John Ijarnes, was 
horn in England in 1636. bought land in Marl- 
borough, Alassachusetts. in 1663, and died 
tliere in 1679; he and his wife .Abigail came in 
the ship "Speedwell" in May, 1656, with 
Shadrach Hapgood, John Fay, Nathaniel and 
John Goodnow, all of whom became promi- 
nent in Sudbury, Marlborough or vicinity. 
Trowbridge was lieutenant in the state militia. 
Children of Joseph and Lucy (Barnes) Trow- 
bridge; born at Marlborough; i. William, 
July II, 1788, mentioned below. 2. Betsey, 
.April 3, 1791. 3. Mary, May 23. 1793. mar- 
ried, 1812, James Symmes. 4. Ephraim, No- 
vember 15, 1795. 5. Luther, .September 13, 
t8oi. 6. Lucy, August 15, 1803. 

(IX) William F. Trowbridge, son of Joseph 
Trowbrid.ge (8). was born in Marlborough, 
July II, 1788. He was educated there in the 
public schrxjls and learned the trade of ma- 
chinist, following that calling afterward in 
Worcester. Stow and Sutton, Massachusetts, 
returning again to Marlborough. After the 
death of his wife he went to Matteawan, New 
York, thence to Oswego, where he married 
again. Then he settled in the little town of 
Chelsea, in Canada, and engaged in business 
as a contractor and builder. He erected the 
woolen mills there and installed the machinery. 
.About 1850 he returned to his native place and 
made his home in Ilud.son where he lived the 
remainder of his days. He died at seventy- 
six years of age. He was a very prominent 
Free Mason, a member of the Lodge, Chapter, 
and took all the degrees to the thirty-second. 
He married (first) \Iary Stevens, Ixirn .April 
3, 1791. daughter of Daniel and Levina (Mar- 
nard) Stevens. He married (second) .Sarah 



282 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Cramp, born in England. Children of first 
wife: I. William F. 2. Joseph S., born in 
Vv'orcester, Alay 20, 1823, mentioned below 
(Joseph S. Bradley). 

(X) Joseph S. Bradley (formerly Trow- 
bridge, changing his name after the death of 
his mother), son of William F. Trowbridge 
(9). was born in Worcester, May 20, 1823. 
He had a common school education, complet- 
ing liis schooling at the early age of twelve to 
work at shoe-making. He worked for various 
manufacturers of boots and shoes until 1850, 
when he began business on his own account 
in partnership with Francis Brigham. They 
began to manufacture boots and shoes in the 
building now occupied as a store by C. L. 
Woodbury, cutting the stock and conducting 
the other details of the work as then carried 
on, sending most of their stock to Berlin shoe- 
makers who made it up by hand in their own 
little shops on the farms. Gradually the busi- 
ness changed and the machinery in the factory 
took the place of the hand-work on the farms. 
In 1857 the firm occupied the brick building 
and installed machinery with an output of two 
to three thousand pairs of shoes per day. This 
firm continued for nearly thirty years and the 
business grew to large proportions. In 1879 
he withdrew from the firm, and in 1880 en- 
gaged in business again, establishing the firm 
of Bradley & Sayward in a factory equipped 
with the latest machinery for the manufacture 
of ladies' and misses' boots and shoes. This 
firm has been very successful, and ranks high 
for the extent and quality of its product. He 
is one of the best known and most prosperous 
shoe manufacturers in Hudson. 

Mr. Bradley has been active in public af- 
fairs. He is a Republican in politics. He has 
been town treasurer for twenty years and has 
held other offices of trust and honor. He is 
also prominent in the financial world. He was 
one of the organizers and original stockhold- 
ers of the Hudson National Bank, being elect- 
ed a director November 28, 1881, vice-presi- 
dent July 7, 1896, and president July '13, 1897. 
He has been a member of the investment com- 
mittee and vice-president of the Hudson Sav- 
ings Bank since the bank was established. He 
is also a director in the Wachusett National 
Bank of Fitcliburg, and was an organizer and 
a director nf the People's National Bank of 
Marlborough. He is a member of the Uni- 
tarian church of Hudson, and was on the 
standing committee in charge of building the 
present church edifice. He belongs to Trinity 
Eodge of Free Masons of Clinton. 

He married (first), February 11, 1845. 



Lucy Phillips, of Hubbardston. Massachu- 
setts; (second) Lucy Sawyer, daughter of 
Seth Sawyer, of Charlestown, Massachusetts ; 
(third) Mary Stevens Sawyer, of Athol, 
Massachusetts. 

Children by the first marriage: I. Walter, 
died in infancy. 2. Eva, born May 2, 1847, 
married Frederick Dawes. 3. Emily Jane, 
married Charles Getchel. two children : Ger- 
trude and Beatrice. 4. Herbert Franklin, died 
at the age of fourteen years. Child of second 
wife: Susan, born 1891, died Februarv 9, 
1898. 



The early history of this fam- 

.\!{WF.LL ily is identical with that of the 
Xutes. The Newells men- 
tioned in this article came to Massachusetts 
from New Hampshire, and are descended 
from the Xutes, the first of whom in the Gran- 
ite state was James Nute, who went to Dover 
in 1631 in the interest of Mason and other 
patentees. He was still living there in 1659. 
He had two sons, James and Abraham, both 
of whom had families. 

William H. Xute. a descendant of James 
Xute. of Dover, had his surname changed to 
X^ewell by act of legislature, and although the 
publishers of this work have made an earnest 
endeavor to obtain the names of his parents 
and ancestry in line of descent from the Dov- 
er settler, the effort has proved fruitless. Wil- 
liam H. Newell, born Nute, settled in Barn- 
stead, New Hampshire, and his son Albert 
M. Newell was born in that town. 

Albert M. Newell, son of William H., set- 
tled in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. He 
married Amelia Jane Fish, a native of the 
province of Ontario. Canada. Although of 
foreign birth there is some reason for believ- 
ing that she descended from one of the Rhode 
Island families of this name, the first of whom 
to settle there was Thomas Fish, who went 
to Portsmouth in 1655, but the various avail- 
able records relative to the Fishes fail to men- 
tion Amelia Jane or her father. Ethan Fish. 
She bore him three children: Ada May, born 
in May, 1859, now the wife of Charles R. 
Walker, of Haverhill, Massachusetts: Frank 
Ethan: see next paragraph: and John W., 
born in January, t868; married Annie Good- 
win, of Northwood, New Hampshire. 

Frank Ethan Xewell, eldest son of .-Mbert 
M. and Amelia J. (Fish) Newell, was born in 
Gilmanton, September 16, 1861. Concluding 
his attendance at the public schools when six- 
teen vears old, he left home to begin the ac- 





'c^yi t^ c^Le^ 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



283 



tivities of life as a farmer's assistant, but later 
worked in a woolen mill, and still later was 
employed at slioeniaking. Ever on the alert 
for advancement, he sought for and obtained 
a clerkship in the railway postal service, 
where he remained for eight years, at the ex- 
piration of which time he withdrew and in 
1896 engaged in the coal business at Melrose 
as a member of the firm of Hellen & Newell. 
The firm was subsequently changed to Newell 
& Walker, and in 1903 Mr. Xewell became 
sole proprietor of the business, which he is 
now carrying on with ]:)rofitable results. In 
politics he supports the Republican party in 
state and national issues. InU in local matters 
he acts independently, favoring the candidates 
W'hom he considers mo^t qualified to hold 
public office. He is a prominent Odd Fellow, 
affiliating with all of the bodies connected 
with that order, and is a past noble grand of 
the local lodge. 

On September 15. i88t, .Mr. Xewell was 
joined in marriage with Miss Frances Maria 
Nutt, daughter of .Alonzo Xutt, a native of 
Maine. This family was established in Knox 
county, Maine, by Colonel David and John 
Nutt, who were either of Irish or Scotch de- 
scent, and were cousins. Colonel David Xutt. 
born about the year 1738, settled in Camden, 
where he died .\pril 30. i/yj. He partici- 
pated in the Revolutionary war. John Xutt 
was a farmer in Camden for some years ancl 
went from that town to Knox. 

Mr. and Mrs. X'^ewell have one son, Her- 
bert P., born June 29, 1882. The family at- 
tend the Advent church. 



Elizabeth Cutter, widow, was 
CUTTER the immigrant ancestor. She 
was born in England, and lived 
at Newcastle under the ministry of Mr. Rod- 
well. Fler husband, probably Samuel Cutter, 
died before she came to .\merica. and she 
seems to have followed her sons William and 
Richard to this country. She lived in Cam- 
bridge with her daughter Barbara, wife of 
Elijah Corlet, the memorable old schoolmaster, 
for a score of years. She died at Cambridge, 
January 10, 1663-4, aged about eighty-nine 
years. Children: i. William, wine cooper by 
trade, proprietor of Cambridge ; town officer ; 
removed to Charlestown, where he was also 
town officer: returned to England, and lived 
at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 2. Richard, born about 
162 1 : mentioned below, 3. Barbara, married 
Elijah Corlet, M. A. 

(II) Richard Cutter, son of Widow Eliza- 



beth Cutter (i), was born in England, about 
1621. and died June 16, 1693, aged about sev- 
enty-two years. He probably came before his 
motlier. He was a cooper by trade, and his 
descendants have the small oaken chest to keep 
his clothes when he was serving his appren- 
ticeship. He was admitted a freeman June 2, 
1641, when he was doubtless over twenty-one. 
He joined the Artillery Company of Boston in 
1643. He married, about 1644, Elizabeth 
^-^— — ■—, who died March 5, 1661-2, aged, ac- 
cording to the gravestone, forty-two years. 
He married second, February 14, 1662-3, 
Frances .Amsden, widow of Isaac Amsden, of 
Cambridge. He owned various parcels of land 
in the vicinity of Cambridge. His homestead 
was in Menotomy, then Cambridge. His will 
was made April 19, 1693 ; proved July 24, 
1693. Children: i. Elizabeth, born July 15, 
1645 : probably died unmarried. 2. Samuel, 
born January 3, 1646-7, at Cambridge. 3. 
Thomas, born July 19, 1648. 4. William, born 
I~ebruary 22, 1649-50; see forward. 5. Cer- 
shom, born 1653, 6. Mary, born 1657 ; mar- 
ried Nathaniel Sanger, son of Richard : resid- 
ed in Sherborn, Roxbury and Woodstock, 7. 
Nathaniel, born December 11, 1663; married, 
October 8, 1688, Mary Fillebrand, daughter of 
Thomas. 8. Rebecca, born September 5, iC^yf,; 
married, December 19, 1688, Thomas Fille- 
brand. 9. Hepsibah. born November 11, 
\<'(<y: died February 27, 1667-8. 10. Eliza- 
beth, born May I, 1668-9: married, .April 16, 
1690, Xathaniel Hall. 11. Hepsibah, born 
.August 15. 1671 ; married June 7, 1698, Jabez 
Bnx>ks, of Woburn. 12. Sarah, lx>m August 
31. 1673: married, December 5. 1700, James 
Locke, of Woburn, 13. Ruhamah. born 1678; 
married. February I, 1665-6, Joseph TIartwell. 
(Til) William Cutter, son of Richard Cut- 
ter (2) and grandson of F'lizabeth Cutter, 
widow (i), was born at Cambridge, February 
22, 1649-50, and baptized in the church there. 
He married Rebecca Rolfe, daughter of John 
Rolfe, of Cambridge, formerly of Xewbury, 
originally from the island of Nantucket. Wil- 
liam and his wife were admitted to the (Jam- 
bridge church July 28, 1700. His family Bi- 
ble is in the possession of descendants. His 
residence was in that part of the town called 
Menotomy, on the banks of the stream flow- 
ing from Lexington through Arlington into 
Mystic river. He received from his father- 
in-law's estate an acre of land October i. 1681, 
bought of his brother-in-law. John Rolfe, four 
acres adjoining and built his house thereon 
This house occupied the site of that of his 
descendant, Cyrus Cutter. .Arlington, on the 



284 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



west corner of the Rolfe homestead, and with 
his purchase Cutter had the right to dam the 
stream for a saw mill, together with "the half 
part of a saw mill" on Sergeant Francis Whit- 
more's estate also. He dwelt in the house 
mentioned until he sold it for sixty pounds to 
his son John, April 9, 1717, with ten acres of 
land, adjoining the place called the "Rocks" 
and lying on both sides of the mill brook. He 
then removed to that comfortable old-fash- 
ioned house of two stories, once doubtless the 
home of the Rolfe family, which is still re- 
membered as the mansion of his lineal de- 
scendant, "The Valiant." In 1844 it was pur- 
chased by Albert Winn, Esq., torn down and 
on the site a cottage erected. A beam was 
found in the old house inscribed with the 
figures "167 1 ", probably the date of building-. 
William Cutter was e.xecutor of his father's 
will, carpenter by trade, owned much real es- 
tate, and was a miller and husbandman also. 
His will was dated June i, 1722, and was 
proved May 6, 1723. He was buried beside 
his parents in Old Cambridge and his grave- 
stone is still standing. 

Rebecca, widow of William Cutter, married 
(second), June 3, 1724, John Whitmore, Sr., 
deacon and prominent citizen of Medford. She 
gave six pounds towards the fund for "com- 
munion utensils" for the Menotomy church in 
1739: died November 23, 1751, aged ninety. 
Her husband. Deacon Whitmore, died Feb- 
ruary 22. 1739-40, aged eighty-four. Children 
of William and Rebecca Cutter: i. Elizabeth, 
born March 5, 1680-81, married, April 12, 
1705, John Harrington, Jr., of Watertown, 
and lived at Lexington; she died February 8, 
1749-50. 2. Richard, born November 13, 
1682, married, August 20, 1706,, Mary Pike, 
daughter of John, one of the first settlers of 
Woodbridge, New Jersey, where Richard 
died December 17, 1756. 3. Mary, born Jan- 
uary 26, 1684-85, died April 6, 1685. 4. Han- 
nah, born May 20, 1688, married, June 17, 
1708, Ephraim Winship, of Lexington; she 
died April g, 1764. 5. John, born October 15, 
i6go, mentioned below. 6. Rebecca, born 
January 18, 1692-93, married. January 18, 
1710-11, Lieutenant John Adams, of Menoto- 
my. 7. William, born 1697, died at Menotomy, 
November 16, 1756. 8. Samuel, born June 14, 
1700, married Anne Harrington, daughter of 
John; died September 27, 1737. 9. Sarah, 
baptized October 18, 1702, married Ebenezer 
Cutter. 10. Ammiruhamah. baptized at Cam- 
bridge, May 6, 1705, graduate of Harvard 
College and became the first settled minister 
of Nortli Yarmouth, Maine, in 1729. 



(IV) John Cutter, son of ^\'illiam Cutter 
(3), was born October 15, 1690, and baptized 
at Cambridge September 15, 1700. Married 
Lydia Harrington, daughter of John and 
Hannah (Winter) Harrington, of Waltham. 
She was baptized at Old Cambridge, March 2, 
1689-90, and both joined the church there 
June 4, 1710. He lived in the house that was 
built about 1684, purchased of his father in 
1717, on the site of the present Cyrus Cutter 
house, Arlington. He was a husbandman and 
doubtless had a share in the work of the mill 
with his brothers William and Samuel. He 
purchased of Moses Rolfe, of Woodbridge, 
New Jersey, a fifth of Cooke's farm, and May 
24, 17 12, of John and Elizabeth Harrington 
one-half of Harry Rolfe's lot in Cambridge. 
He bought various other lands later. He was 
chosen with Captain Ephraim Frost, of Me- 
notomy, (See sketch) as a member of a com- 
mittee of nine for a "Vigilance committee of 
ye Church." This committee, appointed orig- 
inally by the desire of Rev. Dr. Appleton, pas- 
tor, and perpetuated many years through his 
influence, "was a kind of privy council to the 
minister, though without authority," and ap- 
pears to have been very serviceable to the 
interests of religion. John and wife were 
among the founders of "the church in the Sec- 
ond Precinct of Cambridge, now Arlington, 
established September 9, 1739, and the fol- 
lowing November 17 John was chosen dea- 
con, one of the first two to fill that office. The 
gravestones of John and his wife are standing 
near the center of the Arlington burial 
ground. She died January 7, 1755, in the 
sixty-fourth year of her age; he died January 
21, 1776, aged eighty-six. His epitaph states 
that he was in the thirty-seventh year of his 
office of deacon. "An honest man, ye noblest 
work of God." "His surviving children 8, 
grandchildren 68. Great grandchildren 115. 
Of the fifth generation 3." To be progenitor 
of two hundred at the time of death is an hon- 
or deserving of record, even in the days when 
large families were the rule. 

Children: i. Lydia, born April 10. 1710, 
married Seth Reed, of Charlestown. 2. Re- 
becca, born July 13, 1712, married, February 
ID, 1732-33, "Zechariah Hill, of Menotomy; 
(second), December lo, 1770, Captain Samuel 
Carter. 3. Hannah, born June 14, 1715, mar- 
ried John Brooks. 4. Mary, born June i, 
17 1 7, married Captain Ephraim Frost (See 
sketch). 5. John, bom Jime 13, 1720, mar^ 
ried, May 21, 1745, Lucy Adams. 6. Abigail, 
born April 24, 1722. married. February 19, 
1741-42, Samuel Frost. 7. Richard, born 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



28; 



March y, 1725-26, Kezia Pierce, daughter of 
James. 8. Thomas, born Nqvember 2, 1727. 
9. Martha, born March 31, 1731, married, 
May 21, 1747, Jonathan Stone, and lived in 
Shrewsbury. 10. .\nimi, born October 27, 
1733, mentioned below. 11. Kuhamah, born 
October 27, 1733. 

(V) Ammi Cutter, son of John Cutter (4), 
was born October 27, 1733, and baptized No- 
vember 4 following. He married. May, 1751, 
Esther Pierce, daughter of James and Hannah 
Pierce, of W'oburn, sister of Kezia Pierce, 
who married his brother Richard. Esther was 
born in Woburn, }^ larch 14, 1733-34. Both 
joined the Menotomy church .April 15. 1753, 
and she was then baptized. She died Januar\ 
8, 1772, aged thirty-eight years, ten months. 
He married (second), November 12, 1772, 
Abigail Holden, daughter of Simon and Abi- 
gail Holden, of Qiarlestown. She was born 
September 28, 1744; became a member of the 
-Menntomx' church November i, 1772: died 
June 29, 1773, aged twenty-eight. He mar- 
ried (third), October 27, 1774, Hannah Hold- 
en, sister of his second wife. She was lx)rn 
August 5, 1752. The English law forbids 
marrying a deceased wife's sister, and the 
legality of the marriage being questioned in 
Massachusetts, the ceremony was performed 
in New Hamp.shire, at Seabrook, (October 27, 
1774. She joined the church September 7, 
1783: was the mother of ten children: died 
August 23, 1801, aged forty-eight years, eigh- 
teen days. 

Ammi Cutter was a miller and husband- 
man ; resided on his father's homestead. His 
mill stood upon the dam. He was held in es- 
teem by his townsmen and held many posi- 
tions of trust and honor ; was clerk of the 
church and for thirty years or more was chor- 
ister. On the day of the battle of Lexington 
he participated in the capture of a convoy of 
provisions at r^Ienotomy, belonging to Lord 
Percy's reinforcement and detained at the pas- 
sage of Charles river until beyond the pro- 
tection of the main body of troops. Under 
David Lamson, a mulatto, who had previously 
seen service, some twelve exempts from the 
alarm list. Cutter among them, waited in am- 
bush, surprised the convoy. .At the first volley 
the drivers and guards fled in terror to Spy 
Pond, into which they threw their muskets 
and ingloriously surrendered afterward to an 
old woman who delivered the wliole party to 
the Provincial soldiers. After this adventure 
some of the same party of Americans met 
Lieutenant Gould of the Fourth Infantry, 
wounded at Concord Bridge, returning alone 



on horseback to Boston, made him prisoner 
and took him first to Ammi Cutter's house, 
then to Medford. As the British troops re- 
treating from Lexington, entered Menotomy, 
Ammi hastened from his house to advise his 
neighbor, the heroic Jason Russell, to leave his 
dwelling for a place of greater security. Rus- 
sell, refusing, exclaimed, "An Englishman's 
house is his castle." Ammi left him, and get- 
ting over the wall on the oUier side of the 
road, saw the advance of the enemy's flanking 
party close behind him. He was tired upon 
as he fled and stumbling, in crossing the logs 
at the mill, fell between the logs, which shel- 
tered him from the i:^>ritisli bullets. The bul- 
lets scattered the bark from the logs that shel- 
tered him and one struck his pocket and scat- 
tered a parcel of silver coins. The British 
supposed he had been killed and passed along. 
He lived twenty years after the battle and died 
of apoplexy. His gravestone bears this in- 
scription : "'.Memento mortem. In memory of 
.Mr. .\mmi Cutter who died April 19, 1795, 
in the sixty-second year of his age. He left 
17 living children and 46 grandchildren." 

"Suddenly call'd his work was done 
Example speaks tho' dead and gone. 
Think, mortal, then, as you pass Gy. 
As you are now, so once was I. 
Remember that faith and holy love 
Kipen the soul for joys atiove. 
As 1 now am so you must be. 
Prepare for death and follow mi-." 

Children of Ammi and Esther Cutter: I. 
Esther, lx>rn November 10, 1751, died De- 
cember 18, 175 1, 2. Joh"h, born October 25, 
1753, married, February 4, 1777, Lucy Adams. 
3. Ammi, born October 22-23, 1755, married, 
February 5, 1776, Esther Winship. 4. Lydia, 
born October 26, 1757, married Jonathan 
Teel, April 7, 1776. 5. James, born December 
14, 1759, mentioned below. 6. Benjamin, born 
November 7, 1761, married .Vnna Wyeth. 7. 
Jonas, born October 13-14, 1763, married, 
October 19, 1786, Lydia Frost (See sketch). 
8. Esther, born September 26-27, ^7^5> m«ir- 
ried, March 26, 1786, F.henezer Hall. 9. 
Ephraim, born October 31, 1767, married, 
.March 13. 1791. Del»rah I^Kke : their son, 
Benjamin, born June 4, 1803, married, Sep- 
tember 26, 1824, Mary Whittemore; gradu- 
ated at Harvard in 1824; M, D. at Harvard 
in 1827; began the researches that resulted in 
the publication of the Cutter Genealogy ; prac- 
ticed his profession in Wobuni, Massachu- 
setts, where he was prominent as an antiquar- 
ian, founder and first president of the Middle- 
sex East District Medical Society. 10. 
Frances, born December 30, 1769, married, 



286 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



June 26, 1788, Walter Russell. Child of 
Ammi and Abigail: 11. Child, died young. 
Children of Ammi and Hannah : 12. Joshua, 
born December i, 1774, died December 16, 
'^77^- 13- Thomas, born November i, 1776, 
died November 25, 1795. 14. Joshua, born 
March 14, 1779, married Sarah Mont at King- 
ston, Isle of Jamaica ; was carpenter's mate on 
the frigate "Constit\ition" when she took the 
"Guerriere" and the "Levant" and "Cyane:" 
he died in New Orleans in 1819 on his way 
home to Jamaica. 15. Abigail, born March 
20, 1 78 1, married, July 3, 1802, Calvin Howe, 
of Rindge, New Hampshire. 16. Hannah, 
born October 25, 1783, died July 6, 1786. 17. 
Rebecca, born May 24, 1786, married, April 5, 

1807, Benjamin B. Foster, of Falmouth, 
Maine. 18. Simon, born April 17, 1788, mar- 
ried in 1808 Christiana (Dyer) Simonton, of 
Steuben, Maine ; he was a school teacher, mer- 
chant and manufacturer; resided at West- 
brook, Maine, a distinguished citizen. 19. 
Hannah, born July 29, 1790, married, April, 

1808, Thomas Gibson ; she died in Ashby, 
Massachusetts, February i, 1842. 20. Arte- 
mas, born August 16, 1792, married (first), 
June 13, 1819, Mary Parker; resided in ?vlal- 
den. 21. Abiel, born August 27, 1794, mar- 
ried December 11, 1822, Dorcas Elwell, of 
Wells, Maine; resided at Westbrook, Maine. 

(VI) James Cutter, son of Ammi Cutter 
(5), was born December 14, 1759, in West 
Cambridge. Married (first) Anne H. Russell, 
daughter of Seth and Dinah (Harrington) 
Russell. She was born March 17, 1767, died 
December 14, 1806. He married (second) 
Mehitable Cutter, May 28, 1807; married 
(third), July 20, 1809, Lydia Adams, daugh- 
ter of William and Sarah (Hill) Adams, and 
widow of Edward Russell. She died August 
25, 1818, aged fifty. He married (fourth) 
Mrs. Rebecca Parker, of Harvard, Massachu- 
setts, August 29, 1819. James Cutter occupied 
the homestead of his father; he was a farmer 
and grain-dealer ; upright and honorable in his 
character ; interested in every good work ; lib- 
eral in giving to church and charity; of con- 
spicuous public spirit. He died in West Cam- 
bridge, December 15, 1823. Children: i. 
Esther Pierce, died August 15, 1787, aged 
eighteen months. 2. James, born November 
8, 1787, married (first), June 13, 1808, Lydia 
Marian Hall; (second), August 30, 1819, 
Maria Whittemore ; resided in Cincinnati. 3. 
Seth Russell, baptized June 13, 1790, died 
February 15, 1796. 4. Benjamin, born 1792, 
baptized February 19, 1792; married, June 11, 
1815, Hannah Adams. 5. Cyrus, born Febru- 



ary 17, 1794, mentioned below. 6. Anna, bap- 
tized February 7, 1796, married (first), No- 
vember 13, 1812, William Tufts, of West 
Cambridge; married (second) Captain Ed- 
ward S. Dennis, of New York and Baltimore. 

7. Mahala, baptized November 26, 1797, mar- 
ried William B. Winnek, of Boston, June 7, 
1818; widow resided at Madison, New Jersey. 

8. Seth Russell, baptized February 16, 1800, 
was a trader on the Ohio and Mississippi 
rivers ; died uiuuarried at Golconda, Missis- 
sippi, about 1825. 9. Esther Pierce, baptized 
Deceml>er 13, 1801, died September, 1802. 10. 
Maria, born October 12, 1803, married. May 
21, 1826, Leonard Cutler, of Lexington. 11. 
Hannah, baptized October 16, 1806, died Oc- 
tober 18, 1806. 

(VIl) Cyrus Cutter, son of James Cutter 
(6), was born at West Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, February 17, 1794. Married, July 12, 
1817, Hannah Hall, daughter of Ebenezer and 
Esther R. (Cutter) Hall. He was educated in 
the common schools. He was employed on 
his father's farm at West Cambridge, and for 
a time during his youth by a physician on 
Franklin street, Boston, where his wages were 
six dollars per month. Before he came of age 
he decided to leave home and strike out for 
himself, and he tramped to Ohio with his pack 
on his back. There he learned the trade of 
wheelwright and at length bought out his em- 
ployer. He sold out after a short time, mak- 
ing a good profit, and engaged in the brick- 
making business at Marietta. Ohio. His next 
venture was in partnership with his brother, 
James Cutter. Before the days of steamboats 
on the Mississippi river, they started as trad- 
ers on a boat of their own and engaged in the 
buying and selling of hogs, making four trips 
a year. During the famine at New Orleans, 
they arrived opportunely with a large cargo 
and sold out at high prices. Business pros- 
pered and from 18 15 to 1823 he did a large 
business in pork in Boston, New Orleans and 
Cincinnati. He then returned to his native 
town and bought the saw and grist mills of 
Stephen Cutter at West Cambridge, living on 
the homestead of his father. His death was 
caused by an accident while he was repairing 
his mill. He was a prominent citizen of West 
Cambridge, highly esteemed by his townsmen, 
and successful in business. He was an active 
member of the Universalist church, donating 
the site on which the building was erected. 
He was a Whig, later Republican, in politics. 
Children, i. Hannah Lemira, bom February 
I, 1818, died August 7, 1819. 2. Hannah Hall, 
bom May 27, 1821, married, October 17, 1839, 




f' 





u/t 



tle^ 




CLyru-rx^y^i^ U^ ,^ci<yUtx. 



■A/ 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



287 



James Porter, of West Cambridge: accidental- 
ly killed by the bursting of a cannon at Aca- 
piilco, while on a voyage to California, in 
1848; children: i. Alden, drowned in West 
Cambridge in childhood : ii. Almena, died 
young: iii. Mary Frances, married Bissell 
Hunt, of Oswego, Illinois. 3. Cyrus Hall, 
born May 13, 1823, mentioned below. 4. 
James, died in early life. 5. James Russell, 
born July 17, 1825, died ^lay 20, 1826. 6. 
James Russell, born February Z',, 1829, mar- 
ried, March 29, 1855, Amanda M. Jolly, 
daughter of David and Isabella (Crnwthers) 
Jolly, of Greenfield, Ohio : children : i. Mary 
Anna, born at Oswego, Illinois, Jaiuiary 26, 
1856: ii. Eva, born May 2, 1858: iii. Ella 
Maria, born June 26, i860, died 1861. iv. 
Isabella, born May 20, 1862, died March, 
1866; V. Elizabeth Jolly, born January 11, 
1865 ; vi. Martha, born May 25, 1867 : vii. Lil- 
lian, born at Chicago, October 14, 1869; two 
who were twins died in early life : Richard 
James, now deceased, and .\rthur Cutter. 7. 
Henry Clay, born January 26, 1S30. married, 
February 16, 1854, Mary Fo.x, daughter of 
Stephen and Mary Fox, of Oswego, Illinois ; 
went to California in 1849 : successful ; re- 
turned after two years and settled on Fox 
river, C)swego, Illinois ; children : i. child, 
died in early life. ii. Cyrus Henry, born June 
I, 1857: iii. Watts Devilla, born February i, 
i860: iv. .Mary Hlanche, born May 26, 1864; 
V. SlaJe Fox, born August 29, 1867; vi. 
Scott Clay Cutter. 8. .Vmmi Pierce, bom June 
18, 1833, mentioned below. 9. listher Anna, 
born July i, 1835. married William Bates 
(second), January i, 1857; child, Lillian 
Esther Bates, born March 29, 1858, unmar- 
ried. 10. Benjamin Franklin, born February 
13, 1838, died -August 10, 1839. 11. Ella Ma- 
hala, born May 13, 1842, married Edwin L. 
Sterling, of Boston, December 30. 1869; no 
children. 

(VIII) Cyrus Hall Cutter, son of Cyrus 
Cutter (7), was born in West Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, May 13, 1823, died .August 28, 
1901. He attended the public schools of his 
native town until he was fifteen, and worked 
on his father's farm there until a year after his 
marriage. In 1847 he bought his farm, which 
is a short distance to the west of the old 
homestead. In 1851 he erected the present 
dwelling place on the homestead. He was a 
prosperous farmer. In 1872 and again in 1878 
his barns were destroyed by fire. He followed 
market gardening, sending his produce to 
the Boston market. He had about seventy- 
five acres in his farm, which was in manv re- 



spects a model. L'pright and honest, he sup- 
ported every good movement in the town and 
was especially active in the cause of temper- 
ance. He was strongly built, of medium 
height, and always active and hard-working. 
He was an active member and liberal supi)ort- 
er of the Universalist church, serving on the 
standing committee and on the building com- 
mittee. In politics he was a Rej)ul>lican. He 
was on the comnnttee that erected the sol- 
diers' monument, and subscribed to the fund. 
He married, December 24, 1846, .Maria 
Louisa Russell, born at West Cambridge, Oc- 
tober 14, 1822, died .September 19, 1893, 
daughter of Captain Jeremiah and Esther 
(Hall) Russell, of West Cambridge. Her 
father was a grain dealer: captain of the mili- 
tia company of his town. Children, born at 
West Cambridge: i. Waldo Russell, born 
May 2, 1849, married, January 19, 1880, Eu- 
nice J. Doane, of Melrose : he was an expert 
machinist and locomotive engineer for thirty 
years: they have no children. 2. Frederick 
Henry, born October 31. 1851, died .\ugust 

10, 1854. 3. .Annie .Maria, born December 
18, 1853, married, .Vovember 24, 1881, 
Charles H. Easte, of South Boston: no chil- 
dren. Benjamin .A. Easte. great-grandfather 
of Charles H. Easte, was a resident of Billeri- 
ca, at the beginning of hostilities, having re- 
ceived word of the attack of the British while 
he was eating his porridge in the evening at 
his hon>e, and upon finishing his meal he im- 
mediately made preparations and joined the 
patriots at Bunker Hill; the next morning, 
whilst in the midst of the conflict, he fell with 
others of his colleagues in defense of his 
country. 4. W'illard Fremont, born February 
17, 1856, died .\ugust 17, following. 5. Ed- 
ward Hall, born November 3, 1857: married, 
May 13, 1889, Susan .A. Cunimings, of Som- 
erville (See sketch); children: i. Rachel 
Howland. born May 8, 1890: ii. Edward Rus- 
sell, born June 10, 1898. E. H. Cutter is 
prominent in Masonic circles; past worship- 
ful master of Hiram Lodge in 1893-94; past 
high priest of Menotomy Chapter of Royal 
.Arch Masons at .Arlington in 1890-91. 6. 
George Hill, born .April 19, i860, died .Au- 
gust 9, 1898; past master of Hiram Lodge of 
.Arlington. 7. Charles Sumner, born March 

1 1. 1864, mentioned below. 

(A'lH) .Ammi Pierce Cutter, son of Cyrus 
Cutter (7), was born at Arlington, Massachu- 
setts, (West Cambridge) June 18, 1833. He 
worked on his father's farm in .Arlington and 
attended the district schools, during the win- 
ter terms, and White's high school of Lexing- 



288 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ton. lie has followed farming as his chief oc- 
cupation through life, although he has at 
times been in trade. For about eight years he 
made regular trips to New York state, buy- 
ing apples and shipping them to Liverpool, 
England. For nine years of this period he 
traded also in hogs, poultry and butter, which 
he bought mainly for the Boston markets. 
From 1866 to 1873 his winter buying head- 
quarters were at Aurora, Illinois, and in 1875- 
76 at the board of trade rooms, Chicago, 
where most of his hogs were purchased. He 
continued all this time to conduct his farm 
at Arlington, returning every spring for that 
purpose. Li later years he devoted his atten- 
tion exclusively to market gardening, in 
which he was very successful. He raised 
large quantities of celery, cucumbers, dande- 
lions and other produce on his twenty acre 
farm, Summer street, Arlington. His farm is 
a part of the original Cutter homestead and 
he is the seventh generation of the family 
owning and occupying it. He is a Universal- 
ist in religion, and a Republican in politics. 
He has been a member of Bethel Lodge, No. 
12, Odd Fellows, of Arlington, thirty-five 
years. He is an associate member of Francis 
Gould Post, No. 36, Grand Army; a member 
of North Cambridge Encampment, No. 40, 
Odd Fellows, for twenty years; was a mem- 
ber of Cambridge City Guards, CotTipany C, 
Fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer 
Militia, from 1851 to 1855. He is public-spir- 
■ited and zealous in his support of every plan 
for the improvement and development of the 
town, though he has never cared to accept 
public office. 

He married, December 18, 1856, Eliza P'ox, 
born June 29, 1838, daughter of Stephen and 
Mary (Fo.x) Fox, of Oswego, Illinois. Her 
father was a farmer at Oswego, Illinois. Chil- 
dren: I. Eliza Anna, born November 11, 
1857, married, November 29, 1882, Franklin 
Herbert Stiles. 2. Child, born and died May 
18, 1861, (twin). 3. Stephen Webster (twin), 
born May 18, 1861, died September 5, 1886. 
4. Frederick Pierce, bom February 17, 1868, 
married Mary Slammon, and has children: i. 
Allen Pierce, bom September 15, 1894; ii. 
Stanley, born February 10, 1896, died in July 
of same year. iii. Frederick Webster, born 
August 21, 1898. iv. William Wallace, born 
January 7, 1900. v. Rudolph, born August 5, 
1901. vi. Edith May, born May 15, 1907. 5. 
Mabel Stuart, born February 8, 1879, lives 
with parents. 

(IX) Charles Sumner Cutter, son of Cyrus 
Hall Cutter (8), was born at West Cambridge, 



March 11, 1864. He attended 'the public and 
high school of his native town, and was for 
three years a student in the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College at Amherst. He returned 
then to the homestead and with his two 
brothers worked at home for their father un- 
til 1886, when Charles S., George H. and Ed- 
ward H. Cutter, the three brothers, formed the 
firm of Cutter Brothers for the purposes of 
conducting the business established by their 
father. George H., died August 9, 1898, but 
the business has been continued by the sur- 
viving partners under the same name to the 
present time. Charles S. Cutter is a Univer- 
salist in religion and a Republican in politics. 
He was a member of Hiram Lodge of Free 
Masons, Menotomy Chapter, Royal Arch Ma- 
sons, Boston Council of Royal and Select 
Masters, and Boston Commandery, Knights 
Templar. He is unmarried. 



Hiram Murdough, a na- 
MURDOUGH five of New Hampshire, 
settled in Carroll, Alaine. 
He married Caroline Blanchard, a native of 
Bowdoinham, Maine, daughter of Captain 
John Blanchard, and had a family of three 
children : Albert B., William H. and Lucy 
Louisa. 

Albert B. Murdough was born in Carroll. 
October 22, 1861. He was reared upon a 
farm, educated in the public schools, and when 
ready for the activities of life adopted me- 
chanical pursuits. For the past eighteen years 
he has been a building contractor, and from 
1894 to the present time has carried on that 
business successfully in Watertown, Massa- 
chusetts. In politics Mr. iMurdough is a Re- 
publican. He is a Thirty-second degree 
Mason, being a member of Pequosett Lodge, 
Newtonville Chapter, Gethsemane Command- 
ery, and the Massachusetts Consistory, and 
Aleppo Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine. 
He also affiliates with Milford Lodge, Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Bunker Hill 
Encampment, of the same order, of Charles- 
town, and the Knights of Pythias, Watertown. 
He is deeply interested in the moral and re- 
ligious aspect of the community, and is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

On November 24, 1884, Mr. Murdough 
was united in marriage with Miss Ellen 
Lambert, daughter of Philip and Harriet 
(Jackson) Lambert, of Wiscasset, Maine. 
Mr. and Mrs. Murdough have had four chil- 
dren, two of whom are now living — Levi M'. 
and Hazel E. The others died in childhood. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



289 



Williani Spillsbiirv was 
SPILLSBURY born at I'.att'lefield, 
Sliropsliii^c. E n fj 1 an d, 
July 2"], 1867. His home was near the ancient 
town of Shrewsbury, where, in 1403, Henry 
lY., King of England, in a bloody battle, de- 
feated the Welsh under Ow-en Glendower and 
Xortinniiberland's son "Hotspur"' (Harrv 
Percy). He is a son of Ralph and IClizabetli 
(Overton) Spillsbur\-, the fonuer of whom was 
born at Astley, England, died May 9, 1891, 
and the latter died June 7. 1889. They were 
the parents of two other children, as follows; 
Sarah, born November 19. 1853; uiarried, 
June 17, 1875. at Hattletield Church, Edwin 
Lloyd, and their children are: i. William 
Earnest, born May 22, 1876; Florence. July 
17, 1878: Edwin Percival. October 13, 1880, 
died June 13, 1881 ; Ethel, born May 1 1, 1882 : 
Allen Leonard. Januarj- 31, 1885: (iordon, 
July 5, 1889: Ciertrude, March 7, 1892. They 
reside on London Road, Shrewsbury, Eng- 
land. 2. Annie, born January 11, 1857, mar- 
ried (first), June 3. 1880. at L'pton Chapel, 
Baptist, I^mbeth Road. London, England. 
Samuel Blaney, son of Thomas Blaney, miner : 
died September 21, 1882. Their child. Edith 
Blaney, born June 9, 1882. died when seven 
months old. She married (second). June 2. 
1897, at Garemont Baptist Chapel, .Shrews- 
bury, England, Edward Evans, a farmer. 

VVilliam .Spillsbury received his education 
in the school at Sundorne Castle, and at the 
age of twelve became a page there, serving 
for two years. Thence he went to London, 
where for a time he was a page at Kensington. 
He returned to Shrewsbury, and was em- 
plnved on the estate of W. E. Poole for two 
years. In 1884 he left his native land and en- 
tered the service of the Popham estate at 
.Montreal. Canada, as gardener, at the sum- 
mer place at Lachinc. Later he was in the 
employ of a brass finishing establishment. He 
returned to England, but caiue again to the 
Popham estate. Subsequently he was em- 
ployed in the lumber yards of the Grand 
Trunk railroad, and later had charge of Rev. 
G. H. Parker's estate at Compton village, in 
Sherbrooke. for two years. He engaged in 
the business of florist at Montreal with Percy 
Jenkins, but at the end of a year the firm 
decided to change its location and removed to 
Mount .\uburn. Cambridge. Massachusetts. 
At the end of another year the firm was dis- 
solved. Mr. Spillsbury became gardener for 
J. H. Fletcher, Belmont. .Massachusetts, for 
two years, and then removed to Woburn, 
where he was employed by Charles Cum- 
i-10 



inings at the West l-'.nd as his superintendent 
for a i^eriod of ten years. The business in his 
charge was profitable. In 1904 he purchased 
the Pierce farm of twelve acres in the eastern 
l)art of Woburn. on Washington street, and 
has erected on it a number of greenhouses 
with a glass area of .-■eventeen thousand feet, 
lie makes a specialty of cucumbers in sum- 
mer and violets in winter, finding a ready 
market for his products in Boston. His farm 
is one of the most attractive in the eastern 
part of Woburn. He is especially well known 
as a successful grower of violets. Mr. .Spills- 
bury was brought up in the Church of Eng- 
land, but his family attends the Congregation- 
al church, Woburn. He is an indei)endent in 
politics. He is a member of the Gardeners' 
;md I'lorists' Club of Boston, and was form- 
ally a member of the American Carnation So- 
ciety. 

Mr. Spillsl)iu-y married, .\pril 21, 1892, 
Jane lluglison, who was born at Shrewsbury, 
England, .April 22, 1869, daughter of John and 
Enmia (Parr) Hughson, of .Shrewsbury. Her 
father was a farmer. Children: i. Bertha 
Jane, born June 6, 1893, '''^^'l .April 2. 181)4. 
2. Ethel May. born April 19, 1894, student 
in the Plympton school. 3. Beatrice, born May 
22, 1896. 4. William Henry, born June 5, 
1899. 



Thomas .\esmitli was born 
XESMITH in Lowell. .Massachusetts. 
.\pril 27, 1848, son of Thomas 
and Lucinda Colburn-Fay Xesmith. He was 
graduated at Harvard College, Bachelor of 
Arts, 1 87 1. He became a director in the 
Hill Manufacturing Cmuiiany. Lewiston, 
.Maine: a director in the Prescott National 
liank, Lowell. Massachusetts, and in the Five 
Cent .Savings Bank of Lowell. He served the 
city of Lowell as councilman for two years. 
Mr. Xesmith married. .March 23. 1875. at 
I'rankfort, Germany, Florence, daughter of 
Fisher Ames and Lauretta (Coburn) Hil- 
dreth, of Lowell, (See Hildreth sketch). 
The children of Thomas and Florence (Hil- 
dreth) Xesmith were: I. Hildreth .Xesmith. 
born in Lowell. .September 2},, 1876: luarried 
October 6, 1899, .Albert William Thi)nipson. 
2. Tliomas Xesiuith, born in Lowell, .Massa- 
chusetts, January 4. 1879; was a ])iipil in 
.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 3. 
Lauretta Xesmith. born in Lowell. Massachu- 
setts, May 2, 1 88 1, died January 27. 1884. 4. 
Florence Nesmith, born in Lowell. Massa- 
chusetts, March 4, 18S3: graduated at Smith 



zgo 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



College, Massachusetts, class of 1904. 5. 
Fisher Hildreth Nesmith, born in Lowell, 
Massachusetts, September 23, 1876: gradu- 
ated Harvard 1906; is a student in the Harv- 
ard University Law School, graduates 1908. 
Lucinda (Colburn-Fay) Nesmith, mother of 
Thomas Nesmith, grandmother of these chiL 
dren, was born in Massachusetts, June 22, 
1810, and died at Lowell, Massachusetts. De- 
cember 18, 1852. 



Thomas Gardner, the immi- 
GARDNER grant ancestor, was born in 
England. He came to this 
country early in life and settled in Newbury 
(now Newburyport), Massachusetts. Among 
his children was a son Benjamin, born No- 
vember I, 1750. mentioned below. 

(H) Benjamin Gardner, son of Thomas 
Gardner (i), was born in Newbury, Massa- 
chusetts, November i, 1750. He resided in 
Newburyport and Salem, Massachusetts. 
Among his children was a son Robert, torn 
December 22, 1796, mentioned below. 

(HI) Robert Gardner, son of Benjamin 
Gardner (2), was born in Salem, Massachu- 
setts, December 22, 1796, died December 29, 
1858. He married (first), April 5, 1828, Abi- 
gail Simon; (second) Abigail Noyes. daugh- 
ter of Michael Noyes (7) and his wife Abigail 
Symonds. Michael was son of Simeon (6) 
and Esther (Stanwood) Noyes. Simeon was 
son of Jonathan (5) and Mary (Willetts) 
Noyes. Jonathan was son of Cutting (4) and 
Mary (Woodman) Noyes. Cutting, born at 
Concord, New Hampshire, 1703, was son of 
Cutting (3) and Elizabeth (Toppan) Noyes. 
Cutting was son of Cutting (2), born Sep- 
tember 23, 1649, and Elizabeth (Knight) 
Noyes. Cutting was son of the immigrant. 
Rev. Nicholas and Mary (Cutting) Noyes. 
Children of first wife : Robert, born January 
26. 1822. George Washington, born Febru- 
ary 22, 1824, married Sarah Marden. Chil- 
dren of second wife : Abigail, married John 
H. Griggs, lived in Boston and Roxbury. 
Sarah, married Edward Caldwell, of Rox- 
bury ; she is deceased. Emily, deceased. Ruth, 
deceased. Benjamin, niarried Jennie Dow, of 
Saiem, Massachusetts; he is deceased. Noyes, 
married Mary Green, of Roxbury. Lucretia, 
married (first) Alfred Earle, of New York; 
(second) Abbott Osgood, of New Hampshire. ' 
She now lives with her son, Herman Osgood, 
of Nashua, New Hampshire. Harriet, died in 
childhood. Mary, married Stanley Seaver, of 
Roxbury ; resides at Ashworth Park, Rox- 



bury, Massachusetts. Henry, born April 27, 
1847, in Roxbury, educated there and in 
Boston schools ; became an engineer in the 
Charlestown navy yard. Married, November, 
1866, Mary D. Kelley, who was born in Way- 
land, daughter of William Kelley, of Hard- 
wick, Massachusetts, and his wife, Alice 
(Thayer) Kelley, daughter of Benjamin 
Thayer, of Hardwick. Henry Gardner died 
in Charlestown, January 24, 1888, leaving no 
issue, and his widow resides with Miss Isa- 
bella Gardner. 

(IV) Robert Gardner, Jr., son of Robert 
Gardner (3), was born in the home on Pleas- 
ant street, Boston, January 26, 1822, died 
March 8, 1900, at Mald,en, Massachusetts, 
where he had been living since October 18, 
1872. He was educated in the public schools 
of Boston, graduating from the Roxbury 
Latin school. He left Boston for the south 
in 1842, was for seven years at head of navy 
yard at Memphis, Tennessee ; in 1855 was or- 
dered to the navy yard at Charlestown, where 
he was for many years superintendent of rope 
walk. He retired in 1890. He was a mem- 
ber of Middlesex Lodge of Odd Fellows and 
of Bunker Hill Encampment, Charlestown. 
He married, in 1848, Mary Elizabeth Scott, of 
North End, Boston, born on Salem street, 
Boston, 1828, daughter of Captain John Gor- 
don and Sarah Ann (Robbins) Scott. Cap- 
tain Scott was a native of Glasgow, Scotland ; 
he was lost at sea; he settled in Roxbury, 
Massachusetts. Sarah Ann (Robbins) Scott 
was born in Boston in a house at the corner of 
Salem and Hull streets. Children of Robert 
and Mary E. (Scott) Gardner: i. Isabella 
Graham Brocchus, born March 18, 1855, in 
Jamaica Plains, educated in the public schools 
of Charlestown and Maiden. 2. Virginia, died 
on day of birth. 3. Robert Nicholson, born 
in Charlestown, July 31, i860, graduate of 
Maiden high school, married Martha Jane 
Sanford, of Nova Scotia ; children : Ruth 
Gardner, born May 23, 1904; Robert Gard- 
ner, born October 6, 1906. Robert N. Gard- 
ner is retired from business ; he resides in 
Maiden, Massachusetts. 



Henry Jefts, the immigrant an- 
JEFTS cestor, was born in England, 

about 1606, and was one of the 
early settlers at Woburn. The early records 
give the name spelled variously — Jeffs, Jeffes, 
Jefts, Jeftes, Jess. He was one of the proprie- 
tors of Woburn in 1640, became one of the 
purchasers of the Dudley farm, and was 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



291 



among the first settlers at Shavvshiiie, after- 
wards Billerica. He was one of the incorpora- 
tors of that town in 1654. His home at first 
was near Indian hill north of Nutting's pond, 
but after his third marriage he lived west of 
Long street, near the corner. He died May 
24, 1700, aged alwut ninety-four years. His 
will W'as dated March 4, 1691-92, and proved 
June 17, 1700. He married (first), Septem- 
ber 13. 1647, .Anna S towers ; (second), May 
21. 1649, Hannah Births, who died September 
15. 1602. He married (third), October 3, 
1666, Mary Bird, widow of Simon Bird; she 
died April i, 1679. ^^ married (fourth), 
Alay 5, 1681, Mary Baker, widow, of Concord. 
Children: i. John, born in W'oburn, .\la)' 11, 
1651, died September 28, 1712; settled in Bil- 
lerica. 2. Hannah, died in first week of May, 
1653, the first death in Billerica. 3. Hannah, 
born February 4, 1654-55, married Andrew 
Spalding, of Chelmsford. 4. Joanna, born 
Alay 24, 1656, married John Dunkin, who was 
killed by Indians, 1692. 5. Henry, born 
March 21, 1658-59, mentioned below. 

(II) Henry Jefts, son of Henry Jefts (i), 
was born in Billerica, Alarch 21, 1658-59, and 
died there Alay 20, 1738. He married, April 
13, 1681, Alary Baldwin, daughter of John 
Baldwin. She died September 22, 1703. He 
married (second), November 9, 1704, Hannah 
Hill, daughter of Abraham Hill. Children, 
bom at Billerica : i : Mary, born Septeml>er 
23, 1683, married, February 26, 1702-03, John 
Needham. 2. Hannah, born September 10, 
1685, married Andrew Richardson. 3. Henry, 
lx>rn November 4. 1705, mentioned below. 4. 
Hannah, born Alay 2, 1708, died May 21, 
1730. 5. Sarah, bom June 24, 17 10. 

(III) Henry Jefts, son of Henry Jefts (2). 
was born in Billerica, November 4, 1705. 
Married, <Mober 21, 1731, Mary Geary, of 
Stonehain. He removed to Groton in 1738 
and three of his children were born in Bil- 
lerica, three in CSroton. His widow went to 
Mason. New Hampshire, with her sons and 
was living in 1769. Children: i. Jonathan, 
born 1732-33. 2. Mblly, bom December 26, 
1734. 3. Henry, born July 1, 1737. 4. John, 
born October 2, 1739. died at Alason, Decem- 
ber 10, 1809. aged seventy ; married Lois 

, and had children, 1767-1789, at 

Mason. 5. Thomas, born October 20, 1741, 
died June, 1808; married Abigail Barrett and 
had nine children at Mason. 6. Benjamin, 
bom 1747, mentioned below. 

(IV) Benjamin Jefts, .son of Henry Jefts 
(3), was born about 1747 and died at Alason, 



April 7, 1807. He married Judith Degrett. 
Children: i. David, born August 7, 1780, 
mentioned below. 2. Judith, born August 5, 
1783. 3. Henry, born August 29, 1788. set- 
tled at Washington, New Hampshire, and has 
many descendants. 4. William. lx>n) Itilv 6, 
1790. 

(V) David Jefts, sou of Benjamin Jefts 
(4), was born in Alason, New Hampshire, 
-August 7, 1780. He settled in Charlestown, 
New Hampshire, and his brother in the adja- 
cent town of Washington. 

(\T) Granville Jefts, son or nephew of 
David Jefts (5), was born in 1804, in New 
Hampshire. He came from Charlestown. 
New Hampshire, when a young man and set- 
tled in Alalden, Alassachusetts, where he died 
January 31, 1832, aged twenty-eight years. 
He married Elizabeth Wait, of Maiden (by 
Rev. .A. Green), March 26, 1825, and she 
married (second). May 19, 1839 (by Rev. A. 
\V. McClure), Timothy T. Shute. of Alalden. 
Children of Granville and Elizabeth Jefts: 1. 
Granville A., mentioned below. 2. Mary 
Elizabeth, bom 1830, died April 28, 183 1. 

(VTI) Granville A. Jefts, son of Granville 
Jefts (6), was born in Alalden about 1827. 
He married Rebecca .A. Gould, daughter of 
Nathaniel Gould. They settled in Stoneham. 
Alassachusetts. Children: i. Edwin, born 
1857. 2. William .Alonzo, born Alarch 29, 
1859, mentioned below. 3. Charles, born 
1862. 4. George AT. born 1866. 5. .Velson, 
born 1867. 

(VIII) William Alonzo Jefts, son of Gran- 
ville A. Jefts (7), was born in Stoneham, 
Alarch 29, 1859. He was educated in the 
public schools of his native town and at the 
Naval Training School at Newport, Rhode 
Island. He served on a United States boat 
and traveled around the world in the course of 
the cruise. He returned to this country on 
the recommendation of his superiors to be 
commissioned as a warrant officer, hut was 
unable to secure his appointment until he 
reached the age of twenty-five years. He 
therefore decided to leave the service and 
went into the house furnishing business in 
Alelrose, Alassachusetts. He established a 
vcr\' successful business and carried it on 
alone for a period of nineteen years. He in- 
corjKirated the business, at the same time con- 
solidating it with the similar business of 
Clifford I'lack & Company, of Alelrose. .April 
I, 1906, and he is a director of the corporation 
and manager of the Alelrose store. The title 
of the company is Cliflford Black & Co., Inc. 



292 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Mr. Jefts is a Republican in politics. His 
family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal 
chwrch at Melrose. 

He married, April 14, 1892, Mary Louise 
Perry, daughter of Augustus and Elizabeth 
(Cogswell) Perry, of Salem, Massachusetts. 
They have one son, Norman Farquhar, born 
September 16, 1894. 



Johan Philip Frederick 
FREDERICK was born in Manheim, 

Germany, in 1804. He 
was educated in the schools there. He mar- 
ried Dorotha Cramer, who was born in Darm- 
stadt, Germany, in 1809, and died in Beloit, 
Wisconsin, in 1891. With his wife and fam- 
ily Mr. Frederick came to America in 1849 
and settled in Racine, Wisconsin, and Milwau- 
kee, removing finally to Beloit, Wisconsin. 
For many years he was one of the oldest citi- 
zens of that town. He died in 1893. He was 
by trade a gardener, and in religion was a 
Protestant. Children : Eliza, Christopher, 
Phoebe, Caroline, Laura, Charles W. H., Wil- 
liam. 

(II) Charles W. H. Frederick, son of 
Johan Philip Frederick (i), was born in 
Darmstadt, Germany, November 9, 1847. He 
came to this country with his parents when 
only two years of age, and received his educa- 
tion in the public schools of Beloit, Wiscon- 
sin. At the age of fifteen he went to work in 
a printing office, but after one year, was ap- 
prenticed to learn the trade of making willow 
ware. Two years later he went to Chicago 
in the employ of M. J. Tillman, manufacturer 
of chairs and willow goods. In 1871 he was 
admitted to the firm of his employer, the firm 
name becoming Tillman & Company. After 
the "Great Fire" the firm was re-organized 
and became Tillman & Frederick, continuing 
thus until 1880 when the partnership was dis- 
solved. Mr. Frederick withdrew from the 
business and his partner continued. Mr. 
Frederick engaged in the manufacture of wil- 
low and rattan goods on his own account and 
built up a large business, importing rattan 
from the East Indies through New York 
houses and developing the rattan industry in 
this country to extensive -proportions. Mr. 
Frederick himself made the first rattan chair 
ever manufactured in Chicago in the year 
1873. He continued his Chicago business 
with marked success until its consolidation in 
1880 with the Wakefield Rattan Company. 
(See sketch of Wakefield family in this work.) 
Mir. Frederick took charge of the Wakefield 



Company's western business as manager, and 
remained in Chicago in this position until 
August, 1893, when he took charge of the 
Wakefield W'orks in the town of Wakefield, 
Massachusetts, as the general superintendent. 
He has since then resided in the adjacent city 
of Melrose, where he is a highly esteemed 
citizen. He is a member of Wyoming Lodge, 
Free and Accepted Masons, Melrose, and of 
the Royal League. In politics he is a Republi- 
can, of independent tendencies, especially in 
municipal affairs. He and his family attend 
the Congregational church of Melrose. 

He married, Decemljer 26, 1871, Louisa 
Rothfuss, daughter of G(3ttlieb and Ann 
Maria (Burkhardt) Rothfuss, of Chicago. 
She was born February 3, 1853, and died June 
29, 1888. Children: I. Eva D., born Janu- 
ary 26, 1873. 2. Philip, born July 24, 1874, 
married, in 1894, Eleanor Thole; children: 
Phyllis D., born November 16, 1895, and 
Marion. 3. Pad, born October 18, 1877, died 
November 20, 1879. 4- Louisa, born Sep- 
tember 19, 1879, married Lawrence Franklin ; 
child, Barbara Louise Franklin, born April 29, 
1906. 5. Hattie C, bom August 9, 1881. 6. 
Ella C, born November 12, 1883. 7. Martha, 
born September 21, 1885. 8. Charles, born 
June 13, 1888, died August 15, 1888. 



Robert Gowing, the immigrant 
GOWING ancestor, was born in England 

about 1615-20. His name is 
also spelled Gowen. He settled first at Ded- 
ham, Massachusetts, where he was admitted 
to the church July, 1639, and was a proprietor 
December 23, 1640. He was a yeoman or 
farmer. He removed to Wenham, Massachu- 
setts, before 165 1, and signed a petition to the 
general court with other Wenham men May 
23, 1650. He married, October 31, 1644, 
Elizabeth Brock, who was admitted to the 
Dedham- church October 27, 1643. She was a 
daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Brock, and 
a legatee in his will, which was proved Octo- 
ber 19, 1652. Mr. Gowing died at Lynn, June 
7. 1698. Children: i. John, born November 13, 
1645, ^t Dedham. 2. Elizabeth, baptized 
April, 1647. 3. Hannah, baptized February 
21, 1648-49. 4. Priscilla, born at Wenham, 

5' 1655. 5. Nathaniel, born about 

1665, married probably (second) Martha 
• , who died April 27, 1775, aged eighty- 
eight : had ten children born at Wenham or 
Lynnfield, Massachusetts : freeman of Read- 
ing in 1691. 6. Daniel, born about 1670, 
mentioned below. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



293 



(llj Daniel Cowing, son of Robert Cow- 
ing (i), was Ixirn at Wenham or Lynn about 
1670. He may be the Lieutenant Daniel Cow- 
ing who (lied at Wilmington. August 5, 1764. 
He married, October 15, 1691. Sarah Streeter, 
and (second), May 20, 1698, Mary Williams, 
oi Beverly. Hannah, wife of Daniel, died 
May, 1721, may have been a third wife, or the 
wife of his son Daniel. Children: i. Daniel, 
born October 11. 1692. mentioned below. 2. 
Thomas, married, December 27, 1720, Sarah 
Hawks. 3. William, was connected with this 
family at Charlestown. 4. John. 

(HI) Daniel Ciowing, son of Daniel Cow- 
ing (2), was born at Lynnfield, October 11, 
1692, and died at .Albany, New York, of fever, 
September 10, 1756, aged sixty-five (Lynn 
records). His intentions of marriage with 
Esther Damon were dated March 20, 1719-20, 
when he was about eighteen years old, but 
their first child I on record) was born ten years 
later and the marriage may have been post- 
poned for some years. He certainly married 
Esther, however. He and John Gowen or 
Gowing. perhaps a brother, leased a farm at 
Beaver Dam, Lynn, of the town in 1702. He 
settled at Wilmington, Massachusetts. Chil- 
dren, born at Wilmington: i. Daniel, born 
October 28, 1729. mentioned below. 2. John, 
born .August 17. 1732. married. February 5, 

1756, Lydia Rich: resided at \Mlminglon. 3. 
Tabitha, born July 16, 1737, married, Novem- 
ber 2, 1766, John Hathorne, Jr. 4. Sarah, 
married, January 28, 1732-33, Joseph Kellar. 
Perhaps other children were Ixim before he 
settled in Wilmington. .Another Sarah mar- 
ried in Wilmington, December 27. 1748, Jona- 
than Damon. 

(I\') Daniel Cowing, son of Daniel Cow- 
ing (3), was born in Lynnfield, Massachu- 
setts, October 28, 1729, died May 6. 1809, at 
Wilmington, aged seventy-nine years. He 
married at ^ViImington, October 3, 1754, 
Sarah lUirnett, who died there January 10, 
181 2. in her eightieth year. He was a soldier 
in the Revolution with his son Jabez in Cap- 
tain Timothy Walker's company. Colonel 
Green's regiment, and turned out on the Lex- 
ington alarm: was al.so sergeant in 1776 in 
the service. Children, born at Wilmington : 
I. Daniel, Jr., born July 5, 1754. mentioned 
below. 2. Sarah, born February 28, 1736, 
died May 12, I73''». 3. Jabez, Ixirn March 9. 

1757, was in Revolution. 4. M'ehitable, born 
October 4. 1758. 5. Joseph, born November 
24. 1760. 6. James, born .August 6, 1764. 7. 
Thomas, bom .August 6, 1764. 8. Sarah, 
born December 27, 1766. 



(V) Daniel Cowing, son of Daniel Gowing 
(4), was born in Wilmington, July 5, 1754, 
and died there May 13, 1809, aged fifty- four 
years. He was a soldier in the Revolution as 
well as his father and brother. He was a pri- 
vate in Captain Timothy Walker's company, 
Colonel Green's regiment, on the Lexington 
alarm; also in Captain Cadwalader Ford's 
company, Colonel Eleazer Broad's regiment, 
in 1778, at the two forts in Cambridge. Chil- 
dren, born at Wilmiiigton : I. Abigail, born 
December 21, 1779. 2. Sally, born January 
15' 1 78 1. 3. Susanna, bom .April 27, 1783. 
4. Daniel, born March 15, 1785. 5. Ilannah, 
bom June 4, 1787. 6. Micajah, born Sep- 
tember 27, 1790. 7. James, born October 21, 
1793, mentioned below. 8. Phebe, born 
March 15, 1796. 9. Jonathan. Ixjrn February 
27, 1799. 

(\'I) James Cowing, son of Daniel Gow- 
ing (5), was born in Wilmington, Massachu- 
setts, October 21, 1793. He was educated 
there in the common schools, and was a 
butcher by trade. He learned the trade of 
Asa D. Sheldon, a Wilmington farmer, and 
after a few years engaged in business for him- 
self in Lawrence, Massachusetts, continuing 
to the time of his retirement a few years be- 
fore his death, in 1888. In politics he was 
what was known as an Old Hunker Demo- 
crat : was selectman of Wilmington for eigh- 
teen years : representative to the general court 
one year. He married Mary Harvey Eames, 
daughter of Caleb, Jr., and Betsey (Locke) 
F.ames. She was lx)rn in Wilmington, .April 
24, 1804. Caleb Eames, Jr., was born June 
17, 1763, and married (first), November 22, 
1792, Hannah Jenkins: (second). May 3, 
1796, Betsey Locke. Children, born at Wil- 
mington : James. Charles, George. Henry, 
William E.. born September 24. 1824, men- 
tioned below : Mary. Mary, Mary (all died 
young), Charlotte K., Sarah Locke, torn 
May 31, 1846. 

(\TI) William E. Gowing. son of James 
Gowing (6), was born in Dracut, .Massachu- 
setts, September 24, 1824. He attended the 
public schools of Wilmington in his youth. 
At the age of fourteen he began to drive a 
butcher's cart for his father and continued in 
this occupation until November 23, 1843, fol- 
lowing his twenty-first birthday, when he 
bought out his father's business and has con- 
ducted it very successfully to the present time. 
He does a wholesale busines in pork, beef, 
lamb and poultry. He had his own slaughter- 
house on his place at Wilmington until 1873. 
when his business had sfnnvu to >;iu-h .m ex- 



294 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



tent that he made arrangements with Swift & 
Company, of Chicago, to do his butchering, 
and the arrangement has continued since then, 
uninterrupted!}'. In 1857 his brother was in 
partnership with him, and on account of tlie 
financial panic they lost practically all of their 
outstanding accounts. Failures were univer- 
sal. He had hardly recovered from this loss 
when his brother was drowned, in i860. In 
1877 he failed with liabilities of sixty thou- 
sand dollars. He paid his creditors forty cents 
on the dollar, resumed business and eventu- 
ally paid the other sixty with interest, after 
fifteen years of hard work. In 1878 he form- 
ed a partnership with J. W. Higgins, who 
was a brother-in-law of Gustavus F. Swift, 
head of the Swift & Company concern of Chi- 
cago. In T900 this partnership was dissolved 
and Mr. Gowing's son entered the firm, the 
name of which became, as at present, William 
E. Cowing & Son. Mr. Cowing is a Repub- 
lican in politics ; was selectman of Wihuing- 
ton three years ; alderman for two years in the 
city of Lawrence, where he made his home 
for twenty-five years. He was representative 
to the general court in 1867 from the district 
comprising Reading, North Reading and Wil- 
mington. Mr. Cowing is an active and liberal 
member of the Congregational church. 

He married, March 13, i860, in Wilming- 
ton. Charlotte Elizabeth Blanchard, daughter 
of Walter and Lucy (Bond) Blanchard. She 
was educated in Charlestown public schools, 
and finished her schooling in Abbott Academy 
in Andover, Massachusetts. Her father was 
a wholesale commission and flour merchant, 
and was general inspector of hops in Massa- 
chusetts. Her grandfather was a commissioned 
officer in the Revolution, known far and wide 
as "Squire Blanchard" of Wilmington. Chil- 
dren : I. Annie, born July 10, 1862, died 
June II, 1897. 2. WilHam Walter, born Aug- 
ust ID, 1864, his father's partner, mentioned 
above, resides in Lawrence, Massachusetts ; 
married Carrie Phelps Shepard, of Westfield, 
Massachusetts ; children : Catherine. Char- 
lotte E.. Lillian. 3. Caroline (twin), born 
August 27, 1866. died September 24, 1866. 
4. Catherine (twin), born August 27. 1866, 
died September 30. 1866. 



The first of the family of Bradt 
BRADT came from Holland to New Am- 
sterdam in 1630, and journeying 
up the Hudson River Valley settled at Fort 
Stanwix (Albany). In 1769 members of the 
familv migrated to Massachusetts Bav and lo- 



cated in Middlesex county, but kept in 
close touch with the Albany family. Barne- 
bas Bradt, grand'ather of David Henry Bradt, 
was a glass manufacturer in Albany. 

David F>radt. son of Barnebas Bradt, was 
born in .\lbany. New York, in 1801, and mar- 
ried Sarah F. Merrill, of Amesbury, Massa- 
chusetts. He was the father of Dr. Gerrett J. 
Bradt, of Low'ell, John Henry, Peter, David 
H., George. 

David Henry Bradt, son of David and Sarah 
F. (Merrill) Bradt, was born in Lowell, 
Massachusetts, February 18, 1841, He re- 
ceived his education in that place and learned 
the trade of baker. He was married Novem- 
ber 22, 1871, to Mary M„ daughter of Alex- 
ander and Sabra (Claflin) Wright, and sister 
of Sabra Wright (q. v). Mary M. Wright was 
born in Lowell, ^Iassachusetts, June 18, 1838. 
Her grandfather on the paternal side was 
Duncan, son of Peter and Agnes (Ferguson) 
Wright. Duncan Wright was born in Del- 
lanny, Argylshire, Scotland, in 1776, and died 
in Tewksbury, Middlesex county, Massachu- 
setts, January 26. 1836. He learned the trade 
of chemical bleaching, and learning of the 
need of skilled bleachers in Philadelphia he 
left Scotland in 1812, and the ship in which he 
sailed was captured by the privateer "The 
Yankee" and taken to Bristol, Rhode Island. 
Captain De Wolfe, the commander of the 
.American privateer, was financially interested 
in the Arkwright factory located at Dighton, 
Massachusetts, and in conversation with his 
prisoner he learned of his occupation and of 
his intended destination. He at once advised 
him of the cotton factory at Dig-hton, in which 
he was interested and sent him there with a 
letter to the manager, who at once engaged 
the Scotch bleacher as superintendent of the 
bleaching, and it is claimed, with much show 
of justice, that Duncan Wright was the first 
chemical bleacher of cotton cloth in America. 
His success at Dighton induced him to send 
for his wife and three sons, and they took pas- 
sage on the ship "General Knox" and landed 
in Boston in September, 1815. His wife Janet 
was a daughter of Alexander and Mary (Mc- 
Nab) Wilson, of Paisley, Scotland, and a sis- 
ter of Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), the 
American ornithologist. On the arrival of his 
family in Boston Mr. \A'right took passage to 
Smithfield, Rhode Island, where he was em 
ployed as a chemical bleacher in the cotton 
mill of that place. After several years resi- 
dence at Smithfield, the field at Waltham 
Middlesex county, Massachusetts, where the 
Boston Manufacturing Company had been so 



^IIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



29s 



successful in w caviiii,^ cotlDii clutli 1)\ uia- 
cliiiiery. was prcsciUed to him and he estab- 
hshed a l)leachery on the Charles river near 
the W'altliani cotton factory, and in 1820 he 
sold his hleachery to the luiston Manufactur- 
ing Company and started a new hleachery at 
Medway, Norfolk county, which he conducted 
for several years, after which he w-ent to Fall 
River, Bristol county, to engage in calico 
printing. Meantime his son .Vlexander had 
learned the business of manufacturing textiles, 
and in 1820 he established a coach lace factorv 
at .Medway. 

In 1825 .\le.\ander, son of J )uncan and 
Janet (Wilson) Wright, who was born in 
.-\rkclstine, near Paisley. Scotland, May 4, 
1800, and came to America with his mother 
and two brothers, became interested in the 
subject of carpet weaving and he journeyed to 
Philadelphia to visit a carjiet factory recently 
started in that cit\' of "Brotherly Love." He 
was refused the ])rivilege of witnessing the 
operation of carpet weaving as carried on in 
the mill, and disappointed and somewhat 
chagrined he returned to Medw'ay and soon 
after sailed for Scotland with the intention of 
gaining the knowledge he needed in the home 
of his birth. His visit was entirely successful. 
PTe purchased three carpet looms in Scotland, 
and accompanied l)y his relatives, Claude and 
William Wilson, skilled operatives of the car- 
pet loom, he sailed for America in the ship 
"The Rival" and reached the port of Boston, 
after a stormy voyage, with his machinery 
which with the aid of the Wilsons he set up in 
his factory in .Medway and o]:)erated the car- 
pet factory with but little financial success: he 
later sold it to a Mr. Burdett. and the next 
owners were Frederick Cabot and Patrick T. 
Jackson, w'ho organized the Lowell Manufac- 
turing Company on February 22, 1828, and 
removed the machinery to Lowell, and .Alex- 
ander Wright continued to sujierintend the 
works. On removing from Medway to Lo- 
well in 1828, he married .'^abra. daughter of 
William Claflin, of Holliston. .Massachusetts. 
He produced at the mills of the Lowell .Manu- 
facturing Company the first carpet ever manu- 
factured in Lowell, and in 183Q he suggested 
to E. P>. Bigelow. th-e inventor of the im- 
proved carpet loom, the improvements that 
aided Bigelow to jjroduce the power loom in- 
troduced l)y the Lowell Company in 1843, 
which practically revolutionized the methods 
of manufacturing carjiets by machinery. Mr. 
Wright was an old line Whig, and in 1836 
represented his district in the general court of 
Massachusetts, and in the adoption of a city 



charter he was elected a member of the first 
board of aldermen. .Vlexander and Sabra 
(Claflinl Wright had fi\e daughters and two 
sons, among whom was .Mar\- .M. Wright, 
horn in Lowell, .Massachusetts, June 18, 1838. 
.She was married November 22, 1871, to 
Haxid llemy Bradt. of Lowell, and they had 
no children. 



William Johnson, the luig- 
J( )HNSC)N lish progenitor of this family, 
livecl at Canterbury, county 
l\ent. I'jigland. where his children were bap- 
tized in St. (jeorge's Church. His wife Susan 
was buried there .Vjiril 10, 1604. He mar- 
ried, August 24, 1617. (licensed .\ugust 25, 
1617) Ann Cobb, widow. She was buried 
September 27, 1637, and he was buried De- 
cember 27, 1637. William Johnson was a 
joiner by trade. Children all baptized at St. 
George's, Canterbury: i. .Matthew, February 
17. 1593-94- 2. Ceorge, 1594. 3. George, 
January 18, 1795-96. 4. Edw^ard. September 
16 or 17, 1598, mentioned below-. 5. Eliza- 
beth. .Sc|)tember 6. i6cm, buried September 
14. 6. Ihomas, .August 8. 1602. 7. Daniel 
and Bartholomew llwinsi, .March 18, 1602-03 
Edward I>ancis Johnson, who wrote a 
sketch of this family, says: "The conjecture 
w hich I formed regarding these (dates of bap- 
tisms and burials extending back to 1545 in 
St. George's register) w'as that 'William John- 
son, parrish clarke' was the father of the 
town clerk of Woburn. and that he occasion- 
ally i)ul in a back item into the records when 
he came to have charge of them: that he was 
born in 1551): that |)erhai)s the John Johnson 
who died in 1598 was his father, born perhaps 
in 1341 or [542: that the William Johnson 
who ciied in 1576 was his grandfather, 'hus- 
band of Elizabeth,' who died in 1575." 

(II) Captain Edward Johnson, son of Will- 
iam Johnson ( 1 1. was born in Canterbury, 
Kent, England, and baj^tized in .'■^t. George's 
parish, .September 16 or 17. 1598: died in 
Woburn. Massachusetts, .Ajiril 2^^. 1672. He 
came to Charlestown with the first immi- 
grants and soon returned to England, and on 
his second voyage to New England, about 
1636, brought his family, wife, seven children 
and three servants. He was famous as a sur- 
veyor and early explorer f)f New England. 
In 1665 he was appointed by the general court 
to make a map of the colony in conjunction 
with William Stevens. He was recognized as 
one of the leading historians of his day, and in 
1672. after his death, the general court in 



296 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



carrjing out its purposes to preserve records 
and historical data relating to the establish- 
ment of the colonies and towns, appointed a 
committee "to make diligent inquiry in the 
several parts of this jurisdiction concerning 
anything of moment that has passed, and in 
particular of what has been collected by Mr. 
John VV'inthrop, Sen.. Mr. Thomas Dudley. 
Mr. John Wilson, Sen., Capt. Edward John- 
son, or any other; that so, matter being pre- 
pared, some meet person may be appointed 
by this court to put the same into form; that 
so, after perusal of the same, it may be put to 
press." His will dated May 15, 1671, men- 
tions wife Susan, his children and some of his 
grandchildren. The inventory returned May 
1 1, 1672, gives the value of his estate at seven 
hundred and six pounds, five shillings, six- 
pence : homestead one hundred and fifty-nine 
pounds; rents supposed to be due in England; 
houses and lands in England three hundred 
pounds. The will of his wife Susan dated 
December 14, i68g, proved March 2, 1690-91, 
mentions her husband. Captain Edward John- 
son, and states that her son John, with whom 
she had lived since her husband died, had 
taken care of her during that time and was 
entitled to what estate she had. She died 
March 7, 1689-90. 

Captain Johnson was a man of much intiu- 
ence in the colony, held many offices and was 
in many ways the foremost citizen of Woburn. 
.\t the first meeting of the commissioners for 
the settlement of the town he presented a plan 
of the territory and was chosen first town 
clerk. He was active in founding the first 
church, and commanded the first military 
company of Woburn. He is the author of 
some unique lines at the beginning of the first 
volume of the Woburn town records. "His 
verse-making wdien compared with the work 
of other writers of his time in this country 
was no better nor worse than theirs. Xo fuller 
account of the origin and settlement of a town 
of equal age in Xew England has been given 
than that by him of W'oburn in his "Wonder- 
working Providence of Zion's Savior in New 
England," first printed in London in 1653. 
Children, all born in Canterbury, England: I. 
Edward, baptized November 7, 1619, married 
Katherine Raker. 2. George, baptized April 
3, 1625. 3. Susan, baptized .\pril i. 1627. 
married James Prentice, of Cambridge. 
Massachusetts. 4. William, baptized March 
22, 1628-29, mentioned below. 5. Martha, 
baptized May i, 163 1, married John Amee, of 
Boston. 6. Matthew, baptized March 30, 
1633, married Hannah Palfrey and Rebecca 



Wis\ 



John, baptized ^lay 10, 1635, 



married, .\pril 28, 1657, Bethia Reed. 

(HI) Major William Johnson, son of Cap- 
tain Edward Johnson (2), was born in Canter- 
bury, England, in 1629, and baptized March 
22, 1629, married. May 16, 1655, Esther Wis- 
wall, daughter of Elder Thomas Wiswall, of 
Dorchester and Newton. She died December 
-7' 1707- He attained high civic offices; was 
assistant of the colony; major in the military 
forces of the colony and during the da}s of 
(lOvernor .Kndros was one of those who re- 
sisted the aggressive acts curtailing the lib- 
erty hitherto enjoyed by the colonists, and 
commanded, until superseded by an officer 
deputed by the government, a detachment of 
abotit three hundred men, assembled in arms 
at Billerica, August 23, 1695, because of the 
killing or capture of fifteen persons at that 
place by hostile Indians. As second in com- 
mand he accompanied the troops in a search 
for the enemy, but the Indians made good 
their escape. He was the second town clerk 
and held many town offices. He died May 22, 
1704, in Woburn. . His will was dated May 
10, 1695, and proved September 11, 1704. 
Children: i. \\'illiani, Ijorn February 26, 1656. 
2. Edward, born March 19, 1658. 3. Eben- 
ezer, born March 29, 1660. 4. Esther, born 
April 13. 1662, married Lieutenant Seth Wy- 
man. 5. Joseph, born June 14, 1664. 6. 
Benjamin, born October 15, 1666, mentioned 
below. 7. Josiah, born January 15, 1669. 8. 
Susanna, born June 29, 1671, married, June 6, 
1704, Daniel Reed. 9. Abigail, born October 
4. 1674. married, June 14, T705, Samuel 
Pierce. 

(I\') Sergeant Benjamin Johnson, son of 
Major William Johnson (3), was born in Wo- 
burn, October 13. 1666. Married, November 
22, 1699. Sarah Walker, daughter of Joseph 
and Sarah (\\'yman) Walker, of Billerica. He 
diefl .\pril 22. 1733. and she died January 17, 
1741J. He was known as a sergeant from 1700 
to the time of his death. His house was that 
occupied later by the Rev. Thomas Jones and 
the latter's successors, the Marrett and Sewall 
families. It was destroyed by fire, April 23, 
1897. He gave, June 3, 1732, to the Second 
Precinct of Woburn (now Burlington) land 
for a meeting house at a place called Forest 
Field Hill "near my dwelling house, on the 
road leading to Sandy Bridge." Children, 
born in Woburn: i. Benjamin, born October 
8, 1700, mentioned below. 2. Josiah, born 
July 28, 1702, settled in Billerica. 3. Seth, 
born April 23, 1707. 4. Sarah, born March 
19. 1709, married David Comee, of Lexing- 



MIDDLESEX COUNT V. 



297 



ton. 5. Hanna, born September 7, 1710. 6. 
Esther, born February 2. 1713, married John 
Wood. 

(\') Captain llenjamin Johnson, son of 
Sergeant Benjamin Jolmst)n (4), was born in 
Woburn, October 8, 1700. !\ tarried (first), 
April 10, 1728. .Mary Walker, (laughter of 
Samuel and Judith (Howard) Walker, of W'o- 
l)urn, who died Jinie 5. 1762-63. He married 
(second), February 14, 1765. Mary (Pierce) 
Wyman, widow of Solomon Wyman and 
daughter of John and Mary (Parker) Pierce. 
He was captain of a Woburn company in the 
Crown Point Expedition from September 8, 
1755. to Januars- 3. 1756. The records show 
that he lost his gun. sword and certain articles 
of clothing for which he was reimbursed by 
the government. As one of the four select- 
men of Woburn he signed a census of that 
town in 1764. He was styled captain in the 
alarm list of Captain Walker's company, Wo- 
burn second precinct. March 9, 1776. He died 
-May 4, 1781. aged eight\- years, seven months. 
His estate was settled l)y the agreement of the 
heirs. He deeded the land for the old bury- 
ing ground to the town, this jilot having be- 
longed to his family, but having been used as 
a cemeter)' for forty years before the deed 
was given, June 26, 1769, the condition being 
that the wall aroimd the grt)unds be kept up. 
Children by the first wife: I. Joel, born 
January 31, 1729. died September 4, 1758. 2. 
Mary, born Xovember 6. 1730, married (first) 
Eli Wyman, and (second) .\braham Sheldon, 
slie being his fourth wife. 2. .\zal or .Xsahel, 
July 9, 1732. 4. Judith, born I'ebruary 26, 
1734, married David Wilson, of Bedford : mar- 
ried (second) James Johnson. 3. Benjamin, 
born April 12, 1736, died June 21 1756. when 
a student at ITarvard. by drowning. 7. Keziah, 
torn April 9, 1741. married, June 23, 1761, 
Jacol) Kendall; married, I'ebruary 2, 1779, 
Amos Wyman; married (third), October 22, 
1799. Ebenezer Richardson as his seventh 
wife: she died November 13. 1814, aged 
seventy-five years. 8. Ruth, born June i, 
1743. married, October 31, 1763, Silas Cutler: 
died April 4. 1802: resided in Tcmpleton, 
Massachusetts. 9. Abijah. born June 13, 1743: 
mentioned below. 10. Enoch, l)orn ^lay 12, 
1748, died -April 13, 1730. 

(\ 1) .Abijah Johnson, son of Captain Ben- 
jamin Johnson (5), was born in Woburn, June 
13, 1745. Married, May 7, 1765, Mary Reed. 
daughter of George and Mary (Wood) Reed, 
of Wolnirn. He was located in the West 
Schofjl district, Woburn Second Parish, in 
1791 : was in Captain Walker's company at 



Lexington in 1775; belonged to the Third 
Company in Woburn. Captain Timothy Winn 
in 1773: was corporal in Captain John Wood's 
company. Colonel Paul Dudley's regiment, at 
the battle of Bunker Hill. He was also in the 
Rhode Lland campaign in 1778 under Cap- 
tain Dix. He died May 10, i8<J9, aged sixty- 
four, at Burlington, Massachusetts. Children: 
I. .Martha, born I-'ebruary 28. 1767. 2. .Milly. 
3. .Abijah, born July 20, 1769, mentioned be- 
low. 4. Mary, born July 8, 1772. 3. Asa, 
born November 23, 1774, of Rindge, New 
Hampshire: married, 1798, Sally Perry, who 
lived after his death in Westford. 6. Phebe, 
born .April 4, 1776. 7. Luther, born Septem- 
ber 12, 1779. 8. Cyrus, born Se])tember 8, 
1 78 1. 9. Lucy, born .August 4, 1783. 

(\'II) Abijah Johnson, son of .Abijah John- 
son (6), was born in Burlington, Massachu- 
setts, July 20. 1769. He settled in Rindge, 
New Hampshire, in 1803, and died there 
October 2, 18 19. very suddenly, while en- 
gaged in threshing grain. He was a prosper- 
ous farmer. Children: i. Lucy, born in New- 
ton, Massachusetts, July 20, 1797, married 
(intention dated February 24, 1821, at Wal- 
tham) Joseph AL Dodge, of Newburyport, 
Alassachusetts. 2. Rebecca, born September 
16, 1798, at Little Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
died 1819. 3. Cyrus, born October 3, 1800, 
mentioned below. 4. William, born February 
13, 1803, in Burlington, Massachusetts, mar- 
ried Sojjhia Gay. 3. Charity, born June 5, 
7803, at Rindge, New Hampshire, married 

Mitchell: (second) Collier. 6. 

Phebe. born Alarch 17, 1808, at Rindge, mar- 
ried Jonathan Perry, of Dover, Massachu- 
setts. 7. .Augustus, born December 8, 1810, 
in Rindge, died unmarried: a mariner. 8. 
Eliza, born June 21, 1813, in Rindge, married, 
1840, Asahcl Davis. 9. So]>hronia. Ixirn No- 
vember 9, 181 3, in Rindge. married .Ari Davis, 
and resided in Lowell, ^Iassachusetts. 

(Vni) Cyrus Johnson, son of Abijah 
Johnson (7), was born in Burlington, Massa- 
chusetts, (October 3, 1800. He was educated 
in the public schools. He settled first at Pel- 
ham. New Hamphire. He married Septem- 
ber 23, 1823 (intention dated .August 20, 
1823)," Harriet Tilden, at Waltham, Massa- 
chusetts. She was born October 9, 1801. and 
died at Lowell, Massachusetts, July 27, 1866. 
He learned the trade of carpenter in his youth 
and followed his trade until he engaged in 
business for himself as builder and contractor 
in Lowell. Massachusetts. He built many of 
the large structures in lx>well in the early 
days of the upbuilding of that town. He was 



298 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY, 



a member of the Universalist church. He died 
in the prime of Hfe, October 20, 1837, at Low- 
ell. Children of Cyrus and Harriet (Tilden) 
Johnson: i. William A., born January 24, 
1825, mentioned below. 2. Joseph, born Feb- 
ruary 5, 1827, 3. Cyrus P., born March 11, 
1829. 4. Charles W., born April 17, 183 1. 
5. Andrew L., born August 6, 1833. 6. 
Horace D.. born February 10, 1836. died Oc- 
tober 6, 1854. 

(IX) William Augustus Johnson, son of 
Cyrus Johnson (8), was born January 24, 
1825. at Pelham, New Hampshire, an 1 was 
educated in the public schools of Lowell. Mas- 
sachusetts, where his father made his home 
when he was quite young. He was a traveling 
salesman for many years for the firm of 
Cutter & Walker, Lowell, Masachusetts. He 
was well known in business circles all through 
the New England states. He was a man of 
conspicuous ability and spotless integrity. He 
made his home in Lowell and commanded the 
utmost respect and confidence of his towns- 
men. He was a member of the Odd Felbws. 
He married, at Rumford, Maine, Lucy Aaams 
Hutchins, December 22, 1846. She was born 
in Rumford, April 4, 1822. Children, born in 
Lowell: i. Coolidge Robbins, died in Illinois. 
2. Harriet Adelpha, married Marcus Cole, of 
Lowell. 3. Lucy Ardena, married Nelson H. 
Wardwell, of Lowell. 4. Carrie Augusta, mar- 
ried H. H. P>ennett, of Lowell, 5. Susan 
Abby. born in Lowell, Massachusetts, July 10, 
1857, married (first) Fred Nelson Edgell and 
they had one son, Walter B. Edgell, cashier of 
the American Express Company at Salem, 
Massachusetts; Susan Abby (Johnson) Ed- 
gell married (second), June i, 1904, Emory 
Francis Blodgett, of Lowell, superintendent of 
the Walter L. Parker Works, Lowdl. 6. 
Rebecca Alice, married Walter L. Parker, of 
Lowell. 7. Clara Blanche. 



Samuel Blanchard was 
BLANCH ARD born in England in 1629, 
and was brought to New 
England when ten years old, settling in 
Charles Towne, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 
which originally included Maiden, Woburn, 
Stoneham, Burlington and Somerville, with 
parts of Medford, Cambridge, Arlington and 
Reading, where he married and had four 
sons : Thomas, Joseph, Jonathan and John 
Blanchard. In 1672 he removed to Andover, 
where he died at the age of seventy-eight 
years, April, 1707. 

(II) Thomas Blanchard, son of Samuel 
Blanchard. the immigrant, was born in 



Andover in 1674, married and had five sons : 
Thomas, Joseph, Josiah, Nathaniel and Isaac 
Blanchard. 

(III) Thomas Blanchard, son of Thomas 
Blanchard, was born in Andover in Januar), 
1700, removed to Cambridge, where he mar- 
ried, and late in life returned to Andover. 
where he died November 25, 1779. 

(IV) .\aron Blanchard, son of Thomas 
Blanchard, was born in Cambridge, July 2"], 
1740. Married Nellie Holt, January 5, 1762, 
and she died in Andover, May 5, 1778, leaving 
four sons and nine daughters. He married as 
his second wife Airs. Mehitable Chase, Sep- 
tember 21, 178c), and two sons were Ixjrn of 
this marriage. Aaron Blanchard died at 
Hartford, New York, October 28, 1801, and 
his widow died at Dracut, Massachusetts, 
January 3, 1820. 

(V) Benjamin Blanchard, son of Aaron 
and Mehitable (Chase) Blanchard, was born 
in Andover, Massachusetts, January i, 1793. 
Married Sarah N. Davidson, of Windham, 
Massachusetts. She was lx)rn in Windham, 
December 4, 179^. and died there April 23, 

1843- 

(\I) William Davidson Blanchard, son of 
Benjamin and Sarah N. (Davidson) Blan- 
chard. was born in Windham, Rockingham 
county. New Hampshire, March 4, 1823. He 
attended the public school of Windham and 
Westford .Academy, and on leaving school 
learned the manchinist"s trade in the shops of 
the Lowell Machine Company, and after nine 
years service as an employee in the shops 
became a contractor and continued his connec- 
tion with the company- in that capacity for 
forty-four years. He invented the first iron 
planer, with four tools, and he made a two- 
foot rule which was submitted to the test of 
the London Standard, and was found exact. 
He was elected to membership in the !\Iiddle- 
se.x Mechanics' Association, of which he was a 
trustee for seven years. He is a trustee of 
the Mechanics' Savings Bank (which he or- 
ganized), serving for fifteen years, and is also 
vice-president of the same. His church affilia- 
tion IS with the Kirk Street Congregational 
Church, and for eight years he was a member 
of the finance committee of the church. He 
is highly respected in Lowell, and esteemed as 
a man of strong character and sterling in- 
tegrity, as evidenced by the respectable posi- 
tions of trust whicli he acceptably filled. He 
served the city government of Lowell, by the 
will of the Republican party, of which he was 
an active member, his term of office extending 
from 1859 to 1862. 



MIDDLESEX COLNTV. 



299 



.Mr. lilanchard was married August 19. 
1847, to 1 k'lirittta W., daughter of Samuel 
Rice, of Enfield, Xew Hampshire. Samuel 
Rice was graduated at Williams College, was 
a prominent lawyer of Grafton county, New 
Hampshire, for thirty years, and died at Low- 
ell, Massachusetts, October 10. 1839. 

(VH) Annie Josephine lUanchard. daugh- 
ter and only child of William Davidsnn and 
Henrietta \V. ( Rice) lilanchard, was born in 
Lowell. .Massachusetts, .\i;gust 1, 1853. She 
was educated in the public sch(X)ls of Lowell, 
and resided with her parents. She was promi- 
nent in school work in connection with the 
societies associated with charitable efforts 
undertaken by the Kirk Street Congregational 
Church of Lowell, of which her mother, Hen- 
rietta W. P.lanchard. was an original member 
when the church was formed from the First 
Church, .\pril 22, 1845. The Rev. Amos 
Blanchard ( 1807-1870) was called as the first 
pastor from his pastorship of the First 
Church, which he had served fourteen years 
(1831-1845). and was regularly installed 
pastor of the Fourth, afterwards Kirk Street 
Church. May 21, 1845. ^n^l served up to the 
time of his death. January 14, 1870. The 
charities distributed from this church for the 
first fifty-one years of its existence was 
$187,958.22, besides the unrecorded charities 
quietly distributed by the workers in the field 
of which no record exists. 



Thomas Rowell, immigrant 
ROWELL ancestor, was born in Eng- 
land, and settled early at Sal- 
isbury, Massachusetts. He removed to Ips- 
wich and later to Andover, Massachusetts. He 
had land in the first division in Salisbury in 
I''i40-4i. He took the prescribed oath of 
fidelity in 1646. He was a commoner and 
was taxed at Salisbury in 1650; was of Ips- 
wich from 1652 to 1657, and of .Andover in 
1659. He and Thomas Finder were apix)inted 
to build a prison house in 1652. He died 
May 8 or 27, 1662, in Andover. His will was 
dated February 24, 1650-51. and proved Sep- 
tember 30. 1662. His widow Margaret was 
appointed administrator, and June, 1681, his 
son Jacob was apptiinted in place of his 
mother. Rowell married (first) in England 
and his wife died there. Ix-ing "sick in Eng- 
land" in 1641. He married (second), about 
1 65 1, Margaret Fowler, widow of Christopher 
Osgood, contracting Februan,' 24, 1650-51, to 
bring up her two sons and two daughters. 
His widow married (third), before Tulv. 



1670. Tluimas Coleman, of Xewbur\' and Xan- 
tiucket : and ( fourth ) Thomas ( )sb<irne, of 
Xantucket. .She died in June, 1681, according 
to l'o])e. Children of Thomas Rowell: i.. 
\'alentine, mentioned below. 2. Jacob, born 
about 1652. married, .\pril 29. 1690, Mary 
^'ounglove, who died .\pril, 1692; (second). 
September 21, 169 — , Elizabeth Wardvvell, re- 
sided in Flizabethtown, Xew Jersey, in 1681 : 
was in Ipswich, 1690-97: died Februarj' 18.. 
1700, at Ipswich: much younger than X'alen- 
tine who was by the first wife. 

(II) A'alcntine Rowell, son of Thomas 
Rowell (i), was born in England about 1620,. 
resided at Salisbury and -Amesburv, Massa- 
chusetts. He was a carpenter by trade, like- 
his father. He married, Xovember 14, 1643, 
Joanna Finder, daughter of Henry, mentioned 
al3(jve. Rowell took the oath of fidelity in 
16.^6; was townsman and taxed in 1650; one 
of the first eighteen settlers of .\mesbury who- 
signed an a,greement and divided land 1654- 
1662. He signed the petition of 1658. He 
died May 17. 1662. His widow Joanna was 
ap]X)inted administratrix of his estate, Octo- 
ber 14. 1662. and received land at .Vmesbury 
granted to the estate in 1668. She married 
(second). September 18, 1670. and (third), 
October 26. 1676, Bedad Currier. Children of 
Valentine and Joanna Rowell : \ . Thomas, 
torn Septeml>er 7, 1644. married. September' 
8. 1670. Sarah Barnes. 2. John, born 1645- 
46. died September 12, 1649. 3. Philip, Iwrn 
March 8, 1647-48. mentioned below. 4. Mar)-, 
born January 31, 1649-50. married. Se])tember 
18. 1673, Thomas Frame. 5. Sar'ali, born 
Xoveml>er 16, 165 1, married, October 26, 
1676, Thomas Harvey. 6. Hannah, born 
January, 1653, married (first), September 16, 
1674. Thomas Colby, and (second) Henry 
Blaisdell. 7. John, born Xovember 15, 1655, 
died I'"ebruary 18, 1655-56. 8. Elizabeth, born 
.\ugust 10, 1657. 9. Margerite. l>orn Septem- 
ber 8. 1659. 

(III) Philip Rowell, son of Valentine 
Rowell (2), was born March 8, 1647-48. and 
resided in .Amesbury. He was a shipwright 
by trade ; also kept an inn. He married, Janu- 
ary 5, 1670. Sarah Morrill, born October 14, 
1650, daughter of .Abraham and Sarah 
(Clement) Morrill. Rowell took the oath of 
fidelity in 1677; resided in .Amesbury. Salis- 
bury and Xantucket. He signed a petition in 
1680. He and two others with Cajitain Foot 
were killed by the Indians in iGqo. The in- 
ventory of his estate is dated September 9, 
1690: his widow apointed administratrix, Sep- 
tember 30. 1690. She had a controversy with 



300 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Widow Hannah Foot, only daughter of Rich- 
ard Currier, heard by Major Pike, June 30, 
1691. The Widow Rowell married (second), 
July 31, 1695, at Salisbury, Onesiphorus 
Page; (third). May 29, 1708, Daniel Merrill. 
Children of Philip and Sarah Rowell: i. 
Jacob, born January 19, 1671-72, married, 
December i, 1693, Hannah Barnard. 2. 
Sarah, born March 3, 1673-74, married, 
April 6, 1693, Samuel Gould. 3. Thomas, 
born April i, 1676, living in 1713. 4. Abra- 
ham, bom about 1680, married, December 2, 

1701, Mary . 5. Job, mentioned below. 

6. John, baptized April 30, 1699, married, 
March 2, 1714-15, Elizabeth Colby; settled in 
Chester, New Hampshire, in 1732. 7. Hep- 
zibah, born March 26, 1687, died October 6, 
1688. 8. Judith, born November 21, 1689, 
baptized April 30. 1699, married. May 5, 
17 1 5, John Gill. 

(IV) Job Rowell, son of Philip Rowell 
(3), was born about 1682; baptized with sev- 
eral others of the family, April 30, 1699, at 
Salisbury. He was a soldier against the In- 
dians in 1703 in the Salisbury company, re- 
sided in Amesbury in 1708. He married 
(published August 7), 1705, Bethia Brown. 
He resided most of his life at Salisbury and 
was a weaver and farmer. His will dated 
May 4, was proved May 31, 1736, shortly 
after his death. Children: i. Elijah, born 
about 1706. 2. John, born about 1708. 3. 
Job, born about 1710, mentioned below. 4. 
Thomas, born about 1713. 5. Jemima, mar- 
ried Blake. 6. Keziah, married, Sep- 
tember 12, 1728. Orlando Colby. 7. Sarah, 
born October 4, 17 19. married Edmund Saw- 
yer. 8. Elizabeth. 

(V) Job Rowell, son of Job Rowell (4), 
was born about 1710 in Salisbury, Massachu- 
setts : settled in Goffstown and Hampstead, 
New Hampshire. He was in Goffstown in 
1765. He built Rowell's Mills, now Hazel- 
line's, at H^ampstead, east of the pond. He 
married Priscilla Emerson. Children: i. 
Job, Jr., soldier in the Revolution. 2. Chris- 
topher, mentioned below. 3. Jonathan, sol- 
dier in Revolution. 4. Philip, settled in Con- 
cord, soldier in the Revolution, company of 
Captain Daniel Lawrence. 

(YI) Christopher Rowell. son of Job 
Rowell (5), was born in Hampstead, New 
Hampshire, or vicinit)', about 1740. He and 
his brothers Job and Philip settled in Con- 
cord, New Hampshire, about 1780. He was a 
soldier in the Revolution in the company of 
Captain Jesse Page, of Atkinson, Colonel 



Jacob Gale, of Hampstead. He married Ruth 
Morse. Children, born at Hampstead: i. 
Christopher, Jr.. born August 22, 1769, men- 
tioned below. 2. John, born April 17, 1772. 
3. Micajah, born May 6, 1774. 4. Hannah, 
born April 11, 1776. And probably others at 
Concord. 

(VII) Christopher Rowell, son of Christo- 
pher Rowell (6), was born in Hampstead, 
August 22, 1769, baptized there September 17, 
1769. He removed to Concord with his 
father's family, and about 1796 was the school 
teacher of that town then a small settlement. 

He married . Child, Ira, born about 

1800, mentioned below. 

(VIII) Ira Rowell, son of Christopher 
Rowell (7), was born in Concord, New Hamp- 
shire, about 1800. He was educated in the 
conmion schools ; was an active member of the 
First Parish Church and was deacon until 
1829, when he joined the church of the West 
Parish. He was active in the temperance 
movement when a young man. and was one 
of the executive committee of a temperance 
society organized in Concord, April 8, 1830. 
When the Northern Railroad built its tracks 
at Concord the current of the Merriniac river 
was diverted somewhat from its course and 
some valuable land ruined. He was appoint- 
ed by the town with others a committee to 
take action in the matter, in 185 1. He served 
on the board of selectmen and held various 
town offices: he was a prominent citizen, and 
was a farmer. He married, April 9, 1828, Re- 
becca Kimball, whose lineage is: Rebecca 
(7), Edward (6), Samuel (5), Samuel (4), 
David (3), Benjamin (2), Richard (i). She 
was born at Pembroke, New Hampshire, 
January 4, 1802, died December 13, 1871. 
Children : i. William Kimball, born November 
9. 1829, died November 22,- 1886; graduate of 
Dartmouth, 1885; taught school at Peacham. 
New Hampshire. Oakland, California, and be- 
came principal of the Boys' Latin School of 
San Francisco: married (first) Mary Augusta 
Flint, of Campton, New Hampshire, and had 
six children: married (second). April 25. 1861, 
Helen Maria Tenney, of Chester, New Hamp- 
shire. 2. Elizabeth, born September 30, 1832, 
died January 16, 1844. 3. Edward Thomas, 
born August 14, 1836, mentioned below. 4. 
James, born May 16, 1838, married, June 21, 
1866, Mary Ann Fiske: treasurer of the Mer- 
riniac Company in 1876 and 1877: superin- 
tendent of streets of Concord. 5. Christopher 
I., died June 3, 1849. 6. Mary C, resided at 
Concord" and served on the 1)oard of educa- 



MlDDLl'.SRX COUNTY. 



301 



tion. 7. Rebecca, boni September 3. 1S43, 
married Andrew Slierburne Famum, of West 
Concord, and had three children. 

(IX) Edward Thomas Rowell, son of Ira 
Rowell (8), was born at Concord, August 14, 
1836, and died at Lowell Massachusetts, 
August 4, 1899. He was brought up on his 
father's farm, and attended the public schools 
of his native town where he fitted for college. 
He graduated at Dartmouth with the class of 
1861, and within four weeks afterward had 
enlisted in the L'nion army as a private in the 
Fifth New Hampshire \'olunteer Regiment. 
Before his regiment was ready to leave the 
state he was commissioned second lieutenant 
of Company F, Second Regiment, Berdan's 
United States Sharpshooters: subsequently 
being promoted to captain of the company 
and major of his regiment. He was commis- 
sioned lieutenant-colonel, but on account of 
the reduced numbers of his regiment through 
losses in the service, the rules of the army 
prevented his being mustered in. Major Pow- 
ell's regiment during its entire term of service 
was with the Army of the Potomac. He took 
part in various skirmishes and battles, and 
was wounded in the battle of Gettysburg and 
again seriously wounded in the battle of 
Fredericksburg, where he was in command of 
his regiment in action. 

After the war Major Rowell returned to his 
home in Concord, and in 1866 engaged in the 
iron business in Portland, Maine. In Septem- 
ber, 1867, he came to Lowell and with George 
A. Marden. who was a college classmate, and 
had served during the war in Berdan's United 
States Sharpshooters, purchased the Lowell 
Daily Courier and Lowell Weekly Journal, and 
these newspapers were published by the firm 
of Marden & Rowell for exactly twenty-five 
years. The business was then transferred to 
a corporation, the Lowell Courier Publishing 
Company, with Mr. Marden, president, and 
Mr. Rowell, treasurer. In December, 1894, 
the Lowell Courier Publishing Company and 
the Citizen Newspaper ("ompany were con- 
solidated under the corporate name of 
Courier-Citizen Company. ( )f the new cor- 
poration Mr. Rowell became president, and 
Mr. Marden editor-in-chief of the newspaper 
published under the name of Couricr-Citicen. 

Major Rowell was appointed postmaster of 
the city of Lowell ini874 by President Grant 
and re-appointed four years later by Presi- 
dent Hayes. He was re-appointed and held 
office until the first administration of Presi- 
dent Cleveland when a Democrat succeeded 
him. In 1885 he was appointed state gas com- 



missioner by Governor George D. Roljinson, 
and held that position five years. In 1890 
Major Rowell was elected president of the 
Railroad National Hank of Lowell. He was 
connnander of Post 42. Grand .A.rmy of the 
Repul)lic, for three years. He was secretary 
of the Middlesex North .Agricultural Society 
for more than twenty years, and was secretary 
also of the New England .\gricultural So- 
ciety. He had a lively interest in all things 
])crtaining to the farm and farming. For 
many years he was trustee of the Ayer 
(Massachusetts) Home for Young Women 
and Children, and was Treasurer of the Low- 
ell General Hospital. Major Rowell was a 
man of varied gifts and remarkabe ability, up- 
right and honorable in business relations, in- 
fluential in public affairs, of spotless character 
and reputation. He filled many difficult posi- 
tions well. For many years he was a potent 
force in the Republican party in northern 
Massachusetts. His personality was extremely 
attractive, and he enjoyed the friendship of all 
the leading men of his city and in fact of the 
whole state for many years. 

He married, September 8, 1870. Clara .S. 
W'ebster, daughter of George and Sarah H. 
(Shepherd) Webster, of Lowell. She had a 
brother William. Two of their three children 
died of scarlet fever in 1880. Children: i. 
.Sarah Webster, born October 8, 1875, died 
May 19, 1880. 2. Edward Webster, born No- 
veniber 29, 1878, died May 22, 1880. 3. Clara 
Alice, born August 8, 1881. resides at home 
with her mother. 



Thomas Wilder, the immigrant 
WILDER ancestor of the Wilders of 
New England, a])peared first in 
.America in the town of (,'harlestown, .Middle- 
sex coimtv, Massachusetts Bay Colony, where 
he was a proprietor as early as 1638, and was 
admitted as a freeman June 2, 1641. He mar- 
ried, and purchased land in the town in 1643. 
His wife Ann was admitted to the choral May 
2, 1650, and died in Lancaster. June 10, 1692. 
He appears to have lived in Charli'stown up to 
1659, when he went through the wilderness to 
the newly organized town of Lancaster, Wor- 
cester county, which had \)ceu established on 
common land called Neshaway, May 13, 1653. 
but was not given the full privilege of a town 
until May 7, 1673, six years after the death 
of the immigrant settler, and it was left to his 
descendants to defend the place from the In- 
dians during the King Philip war, 1675-76. 
and against the French and Indians in the 



.^02 



MIDDLESEX CCJL'XTY, 



summer of 1704, when liis third son, Lieu- 
tenant Nathaniel Wilder (1650-1704), was 
killed by the Indians. The English ancestors 
of Thomas Wilder settled in Berkshire, Eng- 
land, on land granted to chief Nicholas Wilder 
by Henry Ml in 1485; and the property pre- 
viously known as the Sulham estate remained 
in the Wilder fainily for over four hundred 
jears. Nicholas Wilder was a chief in the 
arniv of the Earl of Richmond, who succeeded 
Richard III, killed at the battle of Bosworth 
Field, August 27, 1485, and was crowned by 
Lord Stanley as Henry VII, the ceremony 
taking place on an elevation afterwards know-n 
as Crown Hill on the battlefield. When 
Henr)' VH gave him the Sulham estate he 
also gave him a coat-of-arms, which is the 
rightful property of all of his descendants. 
Thomas Wilder descended from this honored 
warrior chief through: John (i), John (2), 
Thomas and his wife Martha, made a widow 
by his death in Shiplock, Oxfordshire, Eng- 
land, in 1632. The Widow Wilder with her 
daughter Mary followed his two sons, Ed- 
ward and Thomas, to New England, taking 
passage in the ship "Confidence" that landed 
m Boston in 1638. She settled near her son 
Edward who had located at Hingham, mar- 
ried Elizabeth Ames and who died October 
28. 1690, without issue. Thomas and Ann 
Wilder had six children : Mary, born June 30, 
U142. Thomas, bom September 14, 1644. 
John, born 1646. Elizabeth, born 1648. Na- 
thaniel, born November 3, 1650. Ebenezer. 
He was a selectman of the town of Lancaster, 
1660-67, a"*^ died October 23, 1667. 

(II) Nathaniel Wilder, third son of 
Thomas, the immigrant, and Ann Wilder, was 
born in Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Col- 
ony, November 3, 1650. He married Mary 
.Sawyer, of Lancaster, Worcester county, 
daughter of Thomas and Mary Sawyer. He 
was lieutenant in the militia of the town which 
included every able-bodied man competent to 
bear arms and which engaged in a fight with 
the French and Indians who had attacked the 
settlement : he was killed by an Indian in Juily, 
1704. The children of Nathaniel and Mary 
(Sawyer) Wilder were» Nathaniel, born in 
1675, who lived in Petersham. Ephraim, born 
1678, representative from Lancaster in the 
general court of the colony. Mary, born 1679. 
Elizabeth, born 1685, died 1707. Jonathan, 
born 1686, married and was killed by the In- 
dians in 1707. Dorothy, born t686, married 
Samuel Coates. Oliver (q. v.). 

(III) Oliver Wilder, youngest child and 
fourth son of Nathaniel and Mary (Sawyer) 



Wilder, was born in Lancaster, Massachu- 
setts, in 1694, and was married in 171 3 to 
Mary, daughter of Jonathan Fairbanks, a sol- 
dier in the King Philip's war, and his wife 
Deborah, daughter of Edward Shepard, both 
Cambridge immigrants who arrived in Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony, May 10, 1643, '"''d had 
thirteen children. Oliver Wilder with his 
brother Nathaniel were working on their 
father's farm in 1710 and they were attacked 
by the Indians. In 1707 their brother Jona- 
than had been cruelly tortured by the Indians 
and their brother Ephraim severely. In this 
instance ( )liver and Nathaniel managed to es- 
cape but their Indian companion, a servant of 
the familx' who was working with them in the 
field, was killed. Oliver was an ensign in the 
militia from August 23, 1725, and he was 
promoted through successive ranks to colonel, 
and in 1757, when sixty-three years of age, he 
turned out with his regiment at the news of 
the massacre at Fort William Henry, Lake 
George, 1757, and marched to the relief as 
far as Springfield, when the need of assistance 
had passed he returned with the regiment to 
Worcester county. He, however, joined the 
expedition to Ticonderoga and Crown Point 
in 1759. He was moderator of town meeting 
and a selectman of the town- of Lancaster. 
Colonel Wilder died in South Lancaster, Mas- 
sachusetts, March 16, 1765. The children of 
Colonel Oliver and Mary (Fairbanks) Wilder 
were : Hannah, Alary, Oliver, Tilley, Keziah, 
Tamar, Phineas, Lois, Moses and Abigail 
Wilder. 

(IV) Oliver Wilder, son of Colonel Oliver 
and Mary (Fairbanks) Wilder, was bom in 
Lancaster, May 17, 1720. He was a justice of 
the peace and captain of militia, serving in the 
Indian wars. He married (first) Sarah 
Townsend, by whom he had children : Ezra 
Oliver and Sarah (twins), born November 7, 
1743. His wife Sarah died in 1743. He mar- 
ried (second), in 1745, Ruth . The 

children of Captain Oliver and Ruth Wilder 
were : Samuel, born in 1746, and Tamar, born 
1748. It was such a line of distinguished an- 
cestors that Oliver Darwin Wilder sprang 
from. His father, Josiah Prescott Wilder, 
was born in Boston in 1801, married Amanda 
Carter, of Buckland, Franklin county, Massa- 
chusetts, and their children were: Oliver D., 
Charles, Nancy, Elizabeth, Josiah, Catherine, 
Emeline, Milton and Susan, all bom in New 
Ipswich, New Hampshire. 

Oliver Darwin Wilder, son of Josiah Pres- 
cott Wilder, was born in New Ipswich, New 
Hampshire, August 25, 1830. He attended 



MIDDLKSEX (.( fTXT^'. 



303 



the public school, and worked on his father's 
farm. In 1861 he enlisted in Company F, 
Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry, and was 
made sergeant of the company. At the close 
of the war in 1865 he returned home and 
worked for a number of years at the chair 
business at Ashburnham, Massachusetts. He 
removed to Lowell. Massachusetts, in 1887, 
and established a general provision market, 
and he subsequently engaged in the hay and 
grain business. He was a comrade of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, Ladd-Whitney 
Post, No. 185, Lowell, Massachusetts ; a mem- 
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows : Knights (if Pythias, Improved Order 
of Red Men: and with his wife and family 
members of the Highland Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. Mr. Wilder serving as president 
of the board of trustees of the church congre- 
gation. In political faith he affiliated with the 
Republican party, and held office as council- 
man two years and one year as alderman. 

He was married November 22, 1854. to 
Caroline Elizabeth Maynard, of .\shbumliani, 
Massachusetts, daughter of .\ntipas May- 
nard. and their children were: i. .\lice Row- 



ena. born November 



i860, married 



Charles Slater, and made her home in Phila- 
delphia. Pennsylvania. 2. Wesley Morrill, 
born November i, 1873, who married Bertha 
Maria Ripley, July 19, 1899, and their chil- 
dren were : Richard Franklin, b^rn Septem- 
ber 29. 1900 : Ruth Lucille, born July 22, 
KX^3 : Donald Edward Wilder, born October 
75. 1905. He engaged with his father in the 
hay and grain business in Lowell. l>ecoming a 
partner in the business in 1894. 



Jeremiah Butman, the imnii- 
BUTMAN grant ancestor, was an early 
settler in Salem, Massachu- 
setts. He was a fisherman by trade, and was 
living as late as 1673 in Salem. He married. 
October 8. 1659. Esther Lambert. .\nn Pick- 
ton, widow of Thomas Pickton. bequeathed in 
her will, dated December 29, 1677, and proved 
June, 1684, to William Cash, Sr. : to Jeremiah 
Butman and wife and their children, Jeremiah. 
Mathew, John, Joseph and Benjamin Butman. 
She was some near relative of the Butman 
family. In the early records the name was 
frecjuently spelled Bnotman and Hnttman. 
Children of Jeremiah lUitman: i. Mary, born 
July 4, 1660. 2. Jeremiah, born November 4. 
1662. 3. Mathew. born September 11, 1665. 
mentioned below. 4. John, born about 1667. 
5. Joseph, born about 1669. mentioned be- 
low. 6. Benjamin, born about 167 1. 



(Ill .Mathew iJutman, son of Jeremiah But- 
man ( 1 1, was born in Salem. September 11, 

1665. Married Elizabeth : children : i. 

\\'illiam, born March 5, 1690. 2. Jeremiah, born 
February 8, 1691. 3. Mathew. lx)rn .\pril 28, 
i()U3. 4. Edward or Edmund, horn .April 13, 
1699. 5. Benjamin, baptized November 23, 
1701. 6. I'riscilla, born .Vugust 10, 1704. 7. 
Elizabeth, born May 1, 1707. 8. Benjamin, 
born December 3, 1710. 9. Mar\ . born June 
17, 1712. 

(II) Joseph Butman, son of Jeremiah But- 
man (i), was born in Salem about i66<). He 

married Rebecca . Children, born in 

Beverly, where the family settled: i. Rebecca, 
born October 15, 1699. 2. Esther, born 
August I, 1701. 3. Rebecca, baptized . Vugust 
23. 1702. 4. Joseph, born April i, 1704, men- 
tioned below. 5. Daniel, born June 12. 1708. 
6. Hannah, born May 12, 170 — . 7. Lydia, 
born Septeml)er 10, 1710, baptized July 6, 
1712. 8. Judith, born December 12, 1712. 9. 
John, born Jaiuiary 10. 1714-15. 10. Judith, 
born 1716, baptized November 18. 11. Amas, 
born January 5, 1717-18. 

(III) Joseph Butman. son of Joseph But- 
man (2), was born in Beverly, Massachusetts. 
.April I, 1704, died at Wenham. Massachu- 
setts, July 16, 1777. He lived at Beverly, 
Marblehead and Wenham. His wife was 
probably Esther, who died at Wenham. Sep- 
tember 2. 1782. .\mong their children was 
Joseph, mentioned below. 

(I\') Deacon Joseph Butman. son of 
Joseph Butman (3), was born in 1740. He 
lived at Marblehead in his later years and his 
children may have been born there. He mar- 
ried (first) Jane Wells, November 28, 1769. at 
Marblehead: married (second), May 22, 1774. 
Emma Morse. He was a soldier in the Revo- 
lution in 1777 under Ca()tain Edward Fetty- 
place. engaged in guarding the coast. He 
was also in the navy and was taken prisoner. 
He was delivered with other prisoners to 
Colonel Gabriel Johonnot, March 17, 1778, by 
Charles Waller, commissary of prisoners at 
Rhode Island. Daniel and David Butman, of 
Danvers. were in the Revolution. Joseph may 
have lived at Danvers for a time. He was 
deacon of the church at Marblehead. He died 
there October 16, 1812. aged seventy-two 
years, .\mong his children were: I. Daniel, 
born about 1765; mentioned below. 2. John, 
born about 1770, drowned October 12, i8o»). 
3. Joseph. Jr., resided in .Marblehead: mar- 
ried. .\pril 28, 1793, Elizabeth Stiles: both he 
and his son Joseph died before 1817. 4. Bet- 
sev (?) married at Beverlv Caleb I'riend, 



304 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of W'enhani, May 13, 1792. 6. Polly, married 
in 1788 Nathaniel Friend (intention at Wen- 
ham April 18). 

(V) Daniel Butman, son, according to the 
best evidence obtainable, of Joseph Butman 
(4), was bom about 1765. ^larried. March 10, 
1790, at Wenham, Sarah or Sally (Prattj 
Friend, who died there of old age and was 
buried May 30, 1840, aged seventy-four years. 
Children, all born at Wenham: i. Sally, bom 
September 3, 1790, died September 3, 1791. 
2. Joseph, born June 20, 1792. 3. Nancy, 
born December 3, 1794. 4. Sally. lx)rn April 
18, 1797, married (aged 49) Ezekiel Goodell, 
widower, aged forty-nine, son of Ezekiel and 
Elizabeth Goodell. 5. Priscilla Friend, bom 
October 13, 1799. 6. Betsey, born March 8, 
1802, married. May 7, 1828. Samuel Odell. 7. 
James, born June 20, 1804, mentioned below. 
8. Seth, born December 2, 1808. 

(\'Ij James Frederick Butman, son of 
Daniel Butman (5), was born in Wenham, 
June 20, 1804, died there March 3, 1857. The 
name Frederick was added after the record of 
birth was made. He married. October 5, 1828, 
(intentions at Wenham dated September 14, 
1828) Abigail Stanley, daughter of Robert and 
Hannah Stanley. She was born October 15, 
1806, and died November 14, 1879. They 
lived in Beverly. Children, born in Beverly: 

1. Daniel, born August 12, 1829, died Octo- 
ber 2j, 1904, married, (first) Susan C. Ham- 
mond, September 2, 1852 : his wife Susan C. 
died June 29, 1853; married (second), June, 
1856, .Annie Wiley, who died March 10, 1880. 

2. James Frederick, born August 25, 1830, 
died November 2, 1831. 3. Abigail Ann, born 
February 9, 1832, died November 8, 1832. 4. 
James Augustus, born July 28, 1833, died Oc- 
tober 8, 1888, married. October 5, 1862, Julia 
M. Oilman. 5. Josiah Morgan, born May 10, 
1835, mentioned below. 6. Asenath (Ar- 
sanah), born January 2, 1838, died May 11, 
1875: married, September 9, 1862, Sherebiah 
Webber. 7. Edward, bom June 3, 1840, died 
August 26, 1840. 8. Nancy, born March 30, 
1843, (Bible gives date 29). 9. George Al- 
bert, born December- 31, 1847, died April 19, 
1848. ID. George F., born February 20, 1850, 
married, October 22, 1871, Mary A. Clark. 

(\TI) Josiah Alorgan Butman, son of 
James Frederick Butman (6), was born in 
Beverly, r^Iassachusetts, May 10, 1835. He 
was educated in the common schools, and 
learned the butcher's trade. He engaged in 
business in Peabody, Massachusetts, until 
1876. when he removed to Lowell, Massachu- 
setts, and established the Lowell Bone Fer- 



tilizer Company. He built up a large and flour- 
ishing business manufacturing and dealing 
in fertilizer, ground bone, glue, hard tallow, 
bone grease, neatsfoot oil, beef scraps and 
other by-products of the meat business. His 
rendering works were in Chelmsford, Massa- 
chusetts. In 1904 he retired from business, 
and is living quietly at his residence. No. i 
Coral street, Lowell. In politics Mr. Butman 
is a Republican. In religion he is a Universal- 
ist. He is a man of public spirit, well known 
and highly respected by his townsmen. 

He married, June 9, 1862, Elma M. Graves, 
daughter of Joseph Graves. Children: i. 
Annette, born May 15, 1863, assists her father 
in the management of his business and care 
of his property. 2. Harriet Frances, born 
July 29, 1866. 3. Lizzie Frye, born June 3, 
1873. 4- Ethel Josephine, born July 4, 1882, 
graduate of the Howard Seminary of West 
Bridge water, Massachusetts. 



Thomas Crockett, the im- 
CROCKETT migrant ancestor, was born 

in 1606 in England. Ac- 
cording to tradition his brother was progeni- 
tor of the Virginia family of Crockett. Thomas 
seems to be the progenitor of all the New 
England families of this name, though the 
lineages are especially difficult to trace in the 
Maine towns where they lived at an early 
(late. In fact, most of the Crocketts belong 
in Maine or in New Hampshire not far from 
the Alaine botmdary. Thomas Crockett was 
in Kittery, Maine, in 1648, and at York in 
1652. According to one deposition made by 
him he was bom in 1606; according to another 
in 161 1. It is likely that in one of these cases 
his age was given approximately, merely to 
show whether he was of age or not. He was 
at one time in the employ of Captain John 
Mason, and the records show that he received 
for his services the sum of six pounds from 
Ambrose Gibbons. He was probably located 
in Portsmouth part of that year, for another 
item shows the payment of twelve shillings to 
John Pickering for "three weeks diet for 
Crockett." He signed the "Submission of 
York" in 1652. He received about 1642 the 
gift of a parcel of land consisting of one hun- 
dred and eightv-seven acres on the east side 
of Spruce creek from Thomas Gorges, and to 
this (lay the locality is known as Crockett's 
Neck. From this fact and the employment by 
Mason, the partner of Gorges, we may as- 
siune that Crockett had been for some time in 
the service of the founder of Maine. Crockett 



.MIDDLESEX COTXTY. 



305 



was a constable of Kitterv in 1657. His widow 
Anna was the administratrix of his estate in 
1679. and she married again before 1683 Dig- 
gory Jeffreys, at Kittery F'oint. She was hv- 
ing in 1712. Children: 1. Ephraim. horn 

1641, tailor by trade; married Ann : 

son Richard settled in Exeter. Xew Hamp- 
shire. 2. Elilni, deeded land in 1683: was liv- 
ing in 1698. 3. Joseph, married Hannah 

; had a large family of children, born at 

Kittery. 4. Joshua, mentioned below. 5. 

Hngh. married .Margaret ; had grant of 

land in 1678. 6. .Mary, married liar- 
ton. 7. .\nne. married William Roberts. 8. 
Sarah, married John I'arrott. 

(II) Joshua Crockett, son of Thomas 
Crockett (i),was l>orn about 1650, and died July 
6. 1719, at Kittery. .Maine. He married before 
May 19. 1682, Sarah Trickey. daugiiter of 
Thomas Trickey. Children: 1. John, men- 
tioned below. 2. Joshua, married. Decem- 
ber 7, 1707, .Mar\- llickford. in Portsmouth. 
3. Richard (?) and wife Mary joined the 
church at Falmouth. .August 20. 1732. 4. (?) 
Samuel, settled at Falmouth. 

(III) John Crockett, son of Joshua Crock- 
ett (2), was born in Kitterv almut 1680. 
Married in Xewington. Xew Hampshire. May 
16. 1718. Mary Knight, daughter of .Xathan 
and .Mary Knight, of Scarborough. .Maine. He 
was a ;;hipwright by trade, and located at Fal- 
mouth (now Portland) where he was living in 
1748. John Crockett, of Scarborough, was in 
the service against the Indians in 1724-25. 
Children: I. John, mentioned below. 2. 
Joshua, settled at Gorham. .Maine. 3. .An- 
drew (?). removed to Gorham. 4. Jonathan 
(?), born July 2. 1741. at Falmouth, settled at 
Thomaston, Maine, with brother .Xathaniel. 

(I\') John Crockett, son or nephew of 
John Crockett (3). was bom about 1730 in 
Falmouth or vicinity. He was among the first 
settlers of Sunmer. Maine, in 1784. at the 
close of the Revolution, and he and his sons 
and descendants have been prominent citizens 
of that town and \\'e?t F'.utterfield. which was 
set off the town of Sumner. He resided in the 
first school district of Sumner in 1795. He had 
an allotment of land in 1791, and at the same 
time one was given his son Levi. He signed 
the first petition for a new town in 1793; in 
1795 his sons John. Joel. Joseph. William and 
Levi also signed and were presumably of age. 
In 1797 he signed another petition by mark, 
indicating perhaps loss of health. The records 
of these Maine towns were not kept, and it is 
difficult to get the records of this family com- 
plete. Children: i. John. Jr.. born about 1755. 
i-20 



mentioned below. 2. Joel, born about 1760. 
voter in West Butterfield in 1797 as well as 
his brothers John and Joseph. 3. Joseph, 
l)orn about 1764. 4. William. Ixirn alx)Ut 1708. 
5. I,e\i. born about 1770. 

\\ \ John Crockett, son of John Crockett 
14). was born in Falmouth or vicinity about 
1755. He was a soldier in the Revolution, 
corporal in Captain Wentworth Stuart's com- 
pany. Colonel Ednunid Phinney, in 1775. 
John and Joseph Crockett, of Sunmer, Elaine, 
who were in the War of 1812. were relatives. 
])erhaps, sons. 

( \'l) Timothy Crockett, son or nephew of 
Joim Crockett (5), was horn in West Sunmer, 
-Maine, lie was brought u]) on the farm and 
educated in the district schools. He settled 
in his native town and married Sallv Star- 
board. Child. John ( iardner. born 1836. men- 
tioned below. 

( \'in John (iardner Crockett, son of Timo- 
thy Crockett (6). was born in West Sunmer, 
Maine, in 1836. and died in Lowell, .Massa- 
chusetts, in 1881. He received his education 
in the conuiion schools of his native town, and 
remained until he was of age on the home- 
stead heli)ing his father with the work of the 
farm. He came to Lowell, .Massachusetts, to 
learn the trade of machinist. He entered the 
em])loy cjf the Hamilton Corporation .Mills in 
Lowell and rose to the jxisition of overseer in 
his de]jartment, filling it with great credit and 
to the utmost satisfaction of his employers. He 
stood high also in the estimation of his towns- 
men and was accounted one of the best citi- 
zens of the city. In politics he was a Republi- 
can. He was a member of the Odd Fellows 
and of the F'irst L niversalist Church. He 
married, in iSfe. Harriet E. I'riggs. daughter 
of (Jeorge and Hannah H. (Hopkins) Briggs, 
of Lowell. She survives her husband and 
makes her home with her son Eugene in Low- 
ell. Children: i. Flora, lives at home with 
her brother and mother. 2. Eugene G.. born 
.April I. 187 1, mentioned below. 

(VIII) Eugene G. Crockett, .son of John (i. 
Crockett (7), was born in Lowell, .Massachu- 
setts, April I, 1871. He was educated in the 
public schools of his native city, and then 
learned the daiggist businers in the store o{ 
.Albert Crowell. In [895 he engaged in busi- 
ness on his own account and conducted a drug 
store there with uniform success until 1905. 
Since then he ha.s had an ice cream and bak- 
ery lousiness in Lowell and has built up a large 
and flourishing trade there He is popular 
and stands well in the business comnitmity. 
In ])!ilitics he is a Republican, but not ambi- 



3o6 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



tious for public position. He is an active 
member of Highland Veritas Lodge. Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and Highland 
Council, Royal Arcanum. He married, No- 
vember 7, 1905. ILstella Ci. Holden, born No- 
vember ii, 1881, daughter of Josephus and 
Rosina H. (Lairdj Holden, of Lowell. They 
have one child, Gardner J., born October 25, 
1906. 



The surname Bullock, or 
BULLOCK Bulloke, is derived doubtless 
from the name of the animal, 
and is of the same class as the surnames Lion, 
Doe, Lamb, Hart, Bull, Roe, and Stagg. The 
ancient seat of the family, according to Burke, 
was in Arborfield, Berkshire, several members 
of which served in the oiUce of sheriff in the 
fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 
The ancient coat-of-arms is described : Gules 
a chevron ermine between three bulls' heads 
cabossed argent armed or. Crest — Five 
Lochaber axes handles or, blades proper 
bound with an escarf gules tassels or. John 
Bullock, of Great Wigborough, county Essex, 
who died in 1595, used the same coat-of-arms. 
His motto was: "Nil Conscire Sibi." Branches 
of the family are located in Shipdam, Norfolk- 
shire, in Norton, Onston and Darley in Derby- 
shire, the time of Henry \T. 

(I) Robert Bullock, of Herburghfield or 
Arborfield, Berkshire, used the arms borne 
by the Essex family ; he was sheriff of Berk- 
shire and Oxfordshire in the eighteenth year 
of Ricliard II, and died in 1405. 

(II) Thomas Bullock, son of Robert Bul- 
lock, also lived at Arborfield. 

(III) Thomas Bullock, great-grandson of 
Thomas Bullock (2), married Alice Kingmill, 
daughter of John Kingmill, one of the justices 
of the king's bench. Of their six sons, Rich- 
ard remained at Arborfield, William is men- 
toned below. 

(IV) Willam Bullock, son of Thomas Bul- 
lock (3), married Elizabeth Bellet, daughter 
and heir of John Bellet, of Moreton, Cheshire. 

(V) John Bullock, Esq., son of William 
Bullock (4), was the first of the family in 
Essex, and presumably ancestor of most of the 
families there. He died February 10, 1595, 
and is buried in the chancel of the church in 
Great Totham. 

(VI) Sir Edward Bullock, son of John 
Bullock, Esq. (5), was knighted. He was 
born in 1580 and died in 1644. He married a 
daughter of Thomas Meldor-Wyld Esq., of 
Glazdeyshall. Salop. About 1637 Sir Ed- 



ward bought the manor of Faulkbourn of 
John Fortesque, and this manor has been the 
seat of this family to the present time. 

(VH) Henry Bullock, born 159 — , the 
American emigrant mentioned below, was 
grandson of John Bullock (5), according to all 
*he evidence at hand. He lived at St. Law- 
rence parish, Essex, and belonged to the 
Essex Bullocks. He was born in Essex in 
1595, and came to America in the ship "Abi- 
gail," In June, 1635. He and his family were 
certified as formerly living in St. Lawrence. 
His age was given as forty, his wife Susan's 
as forty-two ; children : Henry, aged eight ; 
jMary, si.x ; Thomas, two. He settled in 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, removing in 
1638 to Salem, where he had a grant of land 
in 1643 and another December 2, 1663. His 
wife Susan died about November 2, 1644, at 
Salem. From the fact that many settlers went 
back and forth between Salem and Rehoboth, 
where Richard Bullock settled, and for various 
other reasons, it is thought that Richard Bul- 
lock of Rehoboth was closely related to Henry 
Bullock of Salem. Another Bullock, also pos- 
sibly a brother, was Edward, husbandman, 
aged thirty-two when he came in the ship 
"Elizabeth," sailing from England, April 17, 
1635. Edward lived in Dorchester, and died 
probably in England about 1656, his will being 
dated in 1649, when he was about to go to 
England. ' 

Henry Bullock died December 2"/, 1663. 
His will was dated December 21, 1663, and 
was proved June 29, 1664, bequeathing to 
wife Elizabeth, son Thomas ; grandchildren 
John and Elizabeth, children of deceased son, 
Henry. Children, born in Essex, England: 
I. Henry, born 1627; mentioned below. 2. 
Marv, born 1629. 3. Thomas, born 1633. 

(VIII) Henry Bullock, son of Henry (7), 
was born in England in 1627, and died in 
1657, before his father. Children, born at 
Salem: 1. John, mentioned below. 2. Eliza- 
beth. 

(IX) John Bullock, son of Henry Bul- 
lock (8), was born in Salem about 1653. He 
was mentioned in the will of his grandfather, 
Henry Bullock (7). The will of the elder 
John Brown, dated November, 1685, be- 
bequeathed to his grandson John "the house 
and warehouse and that part of the orchard I 
have let unto John Bullock," and some of his 
land adjoined "the farm of John Bullock. John 
Bullock was a soldier in King Philip's war, 
and in 1680 the records show that he was fa- 
vored as a citizen because he had been "crip- 
pled in the service" in the Indian war. In 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



307 



1692 we find him siiminoned as a witness in 
the witchcraft cases against Alice Parker and 
the notorious Ann Pudeator. He was then a 
resident of Salem. Among his children was 
John, Jr., mentioned below. 

(X) John Bullock, son of John Rullock 
(9), was born in Salem, about 1685. He set- 
tled also in his native town and married Mary 

. They joined the First Church of 

Salem about 1717. Children, baptized in the 
First Church. Salem: i. John, born 171 1; 
mentioned below. 2. Elizabeth, baptized Aug- 
ust II, 1717. 3. Mary, baptized August 23, 
1719, died young. 4. Hannah, baptized June 
25, 1721. 5. Benjamin, baptized June 30, 
1723. 6. Mary, baptized March 14, 1725. 

(XI) John 'Bullock. Jr.. son of John Bul- 
lock (10), was born about 171 1. He was bap- 
tized March 17, 1717, ''then almost six years'" 
old. He settled at Salem, and married Eliza- 
beth . Their three eldest children were 

baptized together, January 23, 1742, at Salem. 
Children: i. Elizabeth. 2. Mary. 3. John, 
baptized with two sisters January 23, 1742, 

married Barbara , and removed to 

Danvers. 4. Preserved, baptized January 19, 
1749. 5. Benjamin, baptized March 6, 1747, 
died unmarried (p. 208, v. 6, Essex Inst.). 6. 
Nathaniel, baptized March 4, 1749. 7. Isaac, 
baptized April 19, 1752 : mentioned below. 8. 
Samuel, baptized February 16, 1755. 9. 
Sarah, baptized .April 25, 1756. 10. Abigail, 
baptized May 7, 1758. 

fXII) Isaac Bidlock, son of John Bullock 
(11), was baptized in Salem First Church, 
.^pril 19, 1752. He was a soldier in the Revo- 
lution in Captain Benjamin Ward, Jr.'s com- 
pany, enlisting January 22, 1776; also in cap- 
tain John Symond's company of matrosses in 
Salem, July, 1776, "reported on board the 
Lee." He married Elizabeth Boyd. Child : 
James, mentioned below. 

(XIII) James Ballard (name changed by 
act of the legislature from Bullock), son of 
Isaac Bullock (12), was born in Salem about 
1790. He was in the navy in the war of 181 2. 
He was educated in the public schools and 
learned the trade of coach painter. His home 
was in Lafayette street. South Salem. He 
was a man of methodical habits and pro- 
nounced opinions, and in his older days was 
accounted somewhat eccentric. .\t the time 
of his death he was the oldest resident of 
Salem. He died about 1884. Mr. Ballard 
married Eliza Cotton Archer, daughter of 
Samuel Archer 3d. Her father was born in 
Salem, April 8, 1768: was a merchant, cap- 
tain of the local company of militia, then colo- 



nel of his regiment : built the old Franklin 
building, Salem ; lived at one time in the Hos- 
mer house at No. 10 Pleasant street. Colonel 
Archer married Susannah Babidge ; married 
second, Deborah McNutt, born October 27, 
1779, died July 2, i860, daughter of Alartin 
and Rebecca (Stuart) McNutt of Nova Scotia 
(see p. 208, vol. 6; also p. 244, vol. 22, Essex 
Inst, and reference to vol 4). Benjamin 
Bullock, bnither of James (Bullock) Ballard 
was a harness maker. 

Children of James and Eliza C. (Archer) 
Ballard : i . Charles. 2. Henry Archer, born 
November 14, 1822, mentioned below. 3. 
Otis : his .son Charles is in the express busi- 
ness in Salem : daughters of Charles reside in 
Salem. 4. Roswell ; began life as a mariner ; 
engaged in the manufacture of piano keys in 
company with the elder Chickering in Boston, 
and his son succeeded him in this business. 5. 

Alary Eliza, married White ; their son 

George W. White is a well-known artist of 
Salem. 6. Angeline L. 

(XIV) Captain Henry .\rcher Ballard, son 
of James Ballard (born Bullock 13), was 
born in Methuen. Massachusetts, November 
14, 1822. He was educated in the public schools 
and graduated from the Salem high school. 
Like all his brothers he followed the sea in his 
youth, beginning as a cabin boy, shipping be- 
fore the mast, and finally becoming a master 
mariner and ship-master in the merchant ma- 
rine. For many years he commanded a vessel 
engaged in the Cliina and Japan trade. He 
gave up his ship for a time to become the 
local representative of Yokohama, Japan, of 
the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, touch- 
ing regularly at that port. In 1867 he again 
took command of a vessel and made numerous 
voyages to foreign ports. He was well known 
in Salem, and among the seafaring men of 
New England. He was a skilful and careful 
skipper, commanding the obedience and con- 
fidence of his men and enjoying the esteem 
and respect of his associates and rivals in the 
business world. After he retired, he lived with 
his son at Maiden, Massachusetts, where he 
died March 4, 1887. He was for many years 
a member of Essex Lodge of Free Masons, 
of Salem : in religion he was a Baptist. 

He married. , 1849, Lydia SafFord 

Brown, born in Salem, October 6, 1826, and 
died in Maiden, August 30, 1898, daughter of 
Parker and Lydia Waters (Richardson) 
I'.rown. Her father was born in Ipswich Ham- 
let, now Hamilton, Massachusetts, September 
22, 1787, son of Stephen Brown, torn 1756, 
a soldier in the Revolution, and descendant 



3o8 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of John [Irovvne, an early settler of Ipswich, 
Massachusetts. Her mother, Lydia Waters 
(Richardson) Brown, was born in Danvers, 
Massachusetts, August i8, 1800, daughter of 
Seth and Hannah (Waters) Richardson. Seth 
Richardson was also a soldier in the Revolu- 
tion. Cliildren of Captain Henry A. and Lydia 
S. Ballard: i. Harry Parker, born May 13, 
1856 ; mentioned below. 2. Minna Waters, 
born at Yokohama, Japan, December i, 1865; 
married John F. Parker, of Mialden, son of 
John H. Parker, October 24, 1888; daughter, 
Marjorie Gilmore, born November 15, 1889. 
John F. Parker died June 5, 1890. 

(XV) Major Harry Parker Ballard, son 
of Captain Henry Archer Ballard (14), was 
born in Salem. May 13. 1856. When he was 
a young child the family moved to Japan, and 
he spent the years of his early childhood and 
youth in that country and Qiina. receiving his 
first instruction from private teachers. In No- 
vember, 1867, his father returned to this coun- 
try and made his home at Maiden, Massachu- 
setts, and the son attended the public schools 
in that town. In 187 1 he left school and be- 
gan his business career as office boy in the em- 
ploy of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company at 
Maiden. He won promotion to positions of 
responsibility in this concern, and is at present 
assistant treasurer of the corporation, a posi- 
tion requiring extensive knowledge of busi- 
ness and financial affairs, sound judgment and 
absolute integrity. The same capacity and 
force of character that advanced him in busi- 
ness has won Major Ballard distinction in 
military life. He enlisted in the Second Corps 
of Cadets of Salem in' 1873. He was elected 
captain of Company L, Fifth Regiment Massa- 
chusetts Volunteer Militia, located at Maiden, 
in 1883, serving in that capacity until 1886. 
He was adjutant of his regiment from 1888 to 
1897; major from 1897 to 1901, when he was 
appointed inspector of the Second Brigade of 
Massachusetts Militia with the rank of major, 
retiring finally from the militia in 1904. He is 
well and favorably known by the officers and 
men of the state militia of the commonwealth 
as an active, alert, and efficient officer. Major 
Ballard is a Republican in politics, and a man 
of influence in his party, but has never sought 
public office. He is past master of Converse 
Lodge of Free Masons ; member of Taber- 
nacle Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, of Mel- 
rose ; of the Council, Royal and Sdect Mas- 
ters ; of Beauseant Commandery, Knights 
Templai*, and has held office in the command- 
ery. He has been district deputy grand mas- 
ter of the Seventh Masonic District of Massa- 



chusetts. He is also a member of the Kern- 
wood Club of Maiden. In religion he is a 
Baptist. 

He married first, Lila Parker, born Novem- 
ber 6, 1857, died May 14, 1895, daughter of 
Charles F. Parker, and niece of John H. 
Parker (see sketch in this work). Major 
Ballard married second. May 11, 1898, Mabel 
E. Thorpe, of West Newton, Massachusetts, 
born June 25, 1872, daughter of Joseph H. 
and Mary (White) Thorpe. Her father was 
born in Digby, Nova Scotia, and came to th^ 
LTnited States about i860. His mother was 
Rebecca (Eaton) Thorpe, of a leading Nova 
Scotia family. The Thorpe family came from 
England to New England among the first set- 
tlers, and a branch of the family located later 
in Nova Scotia. Joseph H. Thorpe was a dry 
goods merchant at Westerly, Rhode Island, 
and in Naugatuck, Connecticut, and died June 
16, 1895, at Westerly. His wife, who died at 
Maiden, Massachusetts, November 12, 1906, 
was a daughter of Keith White, born April 9, 
1810, died July 20, 1873, a prosperous farmer 
of Brattleborough, Vermont ; he married first, 
April T], 183 1, Laura J. Robbins, who died in 
1835 : second, December 23, 1836, Mary Howe 
Goodall, who died in 1840; third, in 1843, 
Elizabeth Rice Goodall, born November 4, 
1816, died December 4, 1883. 

Children of Major Harry P. and Lila Bal- 
lard : I. Edith Parker, born in Maiden, Decem- 
ber 30, 18S7. 2. Albert Parker, born in Mail- 
den, April 4, 1894. Child of Major Harry P. 
and Mabel E. Ballard: 3. Joseph Thorpe, born 
in Maiden, January 10, 1902. 



Thomas Battell ( 1 ), immi- 
BATTLES grant ancestor of James Mon- 
roe Battles, superintendent of 
St. Mary's House for Sailors, of the Episco- 
pal City Mission, East Boston, was of French 
ancestry, and was born in England, about 
1620. He was the progenitor of a numerous 
posteritv, some of whom changed the family 
name to Battles. He was in Dedham, Massa- 
chusetts, in 1642, was admitted a townsman 
1648. to the church January 22, 1653-4, and as 
freeman May 3, 1654. In 1664 he was in Sud- 
burv. but returned to Dedham in 1674. He 
married, September 5, 1648, Mary, daughter 
of Joshua Fisher, of Dedham, granddaughter 
of Anthony Fisher, of Syleham, Essex coun- 
ty, England. She died August 6, 1691; he 
died February 8, 1705-6. Children: i. Mary, 
born Mav 6, 1650, married John Bryant. 2. 
John, bom July I, 1653, see forward. 3. 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY 



309 



Sarah. i)orii August 8. 1654, married Silas 
Titus. 4. Jonathan, born July 24, 1658. mar- 
ried, A])ril 15, 1690. Mary ( )nion. 5. Martha, 
born .August 19. 1660, died aged fourteen. 

(II) John Battles, son of Thomas lialtell 
< n, was born in Dedham, July i, 1653, died 
September 30, 1713. He married, November 
18. 1678, Hannah Holbro<ik. at Dedham. He 
settled in his native town. Children, born in 
Dedham: i. Hannah, July 26, 1680. 2. M'ary, 
March 12. 1684. 3. John. .April 17. 1689. 4. 
Ebenezer, January 2, 1692. 

(III) John Battles, son of John Battles (2). 
was born in Dedham, April 17, 1689. He set- 
tled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He married 

Mary . Children: I. Jonathan, txirn 

1718. 2. Martha. Ixtrn 1720. 3. John, born 
1721. 4. Edward, torn 1723. 5. Mary, born 
1726. 6. Bathsheba. born 1728. 7. Timothy, 
born 1730. 8. Rebecca. Ixirn 1732. 9. .Samuel, 
born 1734. 10. Joshua. 

(R) John Battles, son of John Battles (3), 
was bom in Plymouth, 1721. He married in 
Stoughton. September 22. 1749. Hannah, 
daughter of Edward Curtis. He removed from 
Plymouth to the North Parish of Bridgewater 
( now East Stoughton ) near the original home 
of the family. He was a mason by trade. He 
ser\'ed on the schcxil committee of Stoughton. 
where he was a prominent resident. He con- 
structed the first iron furnace in Plymouth, 
and erected at Stoughton Comer, for his own 
occupancy, the first brick house in Norfolk 
county. This house wa.s destroyed by fire in 
1892, but the walls are still standing, and attest 
the workmanlike manner in which they were 
built. Children, 1x>rn in Bridgewater: I. John, 
died young. 2. Jonathan, born 1755, see for- 
ward. 3. Samuel, married Dorothy Aver (in- 
tentions dated March 17, 1776). 4. Asa. born 
about 17 — : married. .April 17, 1788, .Mary 
Pratt; resided in Bridgewater. 5. I'riah. 6. 
Edward, removed to Vermont : married. .Au- 
gust 29. 1793. Polly (ioldthwait. 7 Curtis, re- 
moved to Vermont: married Susanna Bates 
(intentions dated March 16. 1790), 8. Han- 
nah, married I'enjamin Jordan, January 24. 
1771. 9. Rebecca, married Daniel Billings 
(intentions dated January 15, 1777)- 10. 
Susannah, married I'enjamin Washburn. 

(\') Jonathan I'.attles, son of John Battles 
(4). was Ixjrn in Stoughton or Bridgewater, 
1755, died 1830. He was a soldier in the Rev- 
olution, private in Captain Peter Talbot's com- 
pany. Colonel Lemuel Robinson's regiment. 
.April 19, 1775: also in Captain Simeon 
Leach's company. Colonel Benjamin (iill's 
regiment, and helped fortify Dorchester 



Heights in .March, 1776: served as sergeant in 
Captain Job Cushing's company. Lieutenant 
Colonel Samuel Pierce's regiment, 1779. at 
Tiverton, Rhode Island: also sergeant in Ciip- 
tain Luke Howell's company, Colonel Nathan 
Tyler's regiment, 1779-80, in the Rhode Island 
campaign. He \yas a lifelong resident o"f 
Stoughton, where he carried on farming, and 
was also engaged in trade. He was specially 
interested in the schools, and was very active 
in tile church. He married (intentions dated 
May 31. 1783), Hannah Porter, born 1757, 
died 1827, a woman of unusual personal at- 
tractiveness, beauty and charm, as well as of 
great piety and industry. Children: i. Jona- 
than, born July 17, 1786: married, .April 4, 
1811, Maria Dickerman. 2. Hannah, b<irn 
Miay 17, 1788. 3-4. Joseph and Benjamin, 
twins, born July 27, 1790. 5. Betsey, born 
July II, 1792, died October I, 1795. 6. Erank. 
born May 14, 1794: died at Milledgcville, 
Georgia, July 12, 1819. 7. Cyrus, Ixjrn .August 
20, 1796, died April 12, 1872; married Eliza 
Morton, who died January 2, 1873. 8. Eliza- 
beth, born .August 20, 1799, married, Novem- 
ber 20, 1820, Lemuel Drake, of Stoughton. 

(\T) Benjamin liattles, son of Jonathan 
Battles (5), was born and reared upon the 
home farm. In early life he taught school in 
company with Captain Jesse Pierce, father of 
Henry L. and Edward L. Pierce, the former 
of wdiom was at one time mayor of Boston. 
\\'hile still a young man, in company with his 
twin-brother Joseph, he was engaged in the 
manufacture of cotton goods at Canton. Mas- 
sachusetts, but the factory was soon after 
closed owing to the business depression result- 
ing after the w^ar of 1812. Going to Dorches- 
ter, he was for six years in the employ of the 
Dorchester Cotton and Iron Company. In 
1827 he became connected with the Newmar- 
ket (New Hampshire) Manufacturing Com- 
|)any. but later moved to a farm in Derry. New 
Hampshire, upon which he resided for one 
vear. Erom Derrv he removed to a farm in 
Chelmsford. Massachusetts, and there remain- 
ed for the rest of his life, which closed in 1858. 
His wife, Charlotte Smith, born in 1794. a 
daughter of William Smith, of Stoughton, 
dierl in 1883, at the age of nearly ninety years. 
She was the mother of eight children, of whom 
those now living are: .Mary Elizabeth, widow 
of Sewall Parkhurst, late of Chelmsford : 
John Ouincy : James Monroe, the immediate 
subject of this sketch : and Emma .A,, wife of 
Mertram Harrison, of Lowell, Massachusetts, 
The parents in their later years attended the 
Methodist church. 



3IO 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(MI) James Monroe Battles, son of Benja- 
min and Charlotte (Smith) Battles, was born 
in Newmarket, New Hampshire, March 2, 
1830. He received his education in his native 
town and in Derry, New Hampshire. In 1846 
he entered the business office of a large woolen 
mill in Lowell. He was subsequently advanced 
from the position of accountant to that of pay- 
master, and still later to the post of superin- 
tendent, remaining with the associate com- 
panies in various capacities for a period of 
thirty years. Having become interested in re- 
ligious work, he decided to enter actively into 
the Episcopal missionary field in Boston, and 
was selected to superintend the special mission- 
ary enterprise which has resulted in the estab- 
lishment of St. INIary's House for Sailors. Of 
this institution and the excellent work it is 
accomplishing among seafaring men, the 
souvenir edition of the .Iri^nis-Adz'ocate con- 
tains the following interesting description : 

"This House for Sailors is a part of the 
Episcopal City Mission, and its attractive ex- 
terior induces many a seaman to spend his 
time ashore within its hospitable walls, away 
from evil influences. The building now occu- 
pied for this commendable charity is a hand- 
some brick structure, built in 1893, through 
the donations of benevolent people, and archi- 
tecturally an ornament to East Boston, al- 
though its location near the docks makes it 
scarcely familiar to many. This institution. 
the scope of whose work is far reaching, owes 
its inception to Mr. and Mrs. James Monroe 
Battles, who first held services for sailors in 
a tenement house in Haynes street, in 1889, 
and who for many years superintended the 
good work in the new house. The increasing 
attendance called for larger accommodations, 
and in 1890 the location was changed to the 
corner of Webster and Cottage streets, where 
the work was continued until the present 
building" was completed. 

"The House is a congenial resort for sailors 
and immigrants, who are visited on shipboard 
and made to feel at home while under the hos- 
pitable roof of the mission. Smj(ll sums are 
charged to those who can afford to pay for the 
various accommodations of the place, but none 
are turned away, and all are treated well, no 
matter what their nationality, creed or color 
may be. The management of the institution 
is exceedingly liberal, and the popularity of 
the place has been significantly shown by its 
rapid growth and extension of the scope of its 
work. The House contains a reading room 
supplied with a fine library and illustrated 
papers and magazines, with facilities for cor- 



resf>ondence at the writing tables. The game 
room is generally crowded evenings with 
hearty sailors, intent on bagatelle, chess or 
checkers, at the same time drawing comfort 
from their pipes. There are bath rooms, 
dormitories for a dozen men, and a class room. 
The House contains a hall known as Trinity 
Hall, with a seating capacity of one hundred 
and fifty, in which Sunday evening services 
are held, being appropriate to and much ap- 
preciated by the sailors after having partaken 
of a lunch and hot coffee in a room below. A 
gospel service is carried on with hearty sing- 
ing, a shortened form of prayer, and earnest 
addresses. Tuesday evenings a temperance 
meeting is held, and Thursdays a sailors' con- 
cert. The House has numerous floating 
libraries, books, magazines and illustrated 
papers being furnished sailors to take away to 
sea. The floating library scheme is remark- 
ably popular. They are strong boxes with 
brass handles, lock and key, and contain from 
fifteen to thirty volumes each. Every library 
is numbered, and is kept track of in this way : 
A library is put on board a ship, in charge of 
some officer or sailor who is responsible for its 
safe return. The loyalty of the sailor patron 
of this House in returning books and making 
remittances for favors and entertainments 
here, goes far to show the result of the good 
influences spread among them. That the in- 
stitution comprises one of Boston's most 
worthy charities, is easily seen from the vast 
amount of work accomplished by it. The 
superintendent, James Monroe Battles, with 
his excellent helpmeet, has devoted many years 
of his life to the spiritual and bodily welfare 
of the common sailor. Largely through his 
efforts the present thriving institution was 
founded, and the temporary wants and urgent 
necessities of thousands of sailors have been 
alleviated." 

He died at his post, June 8, 1901. The good 
work still goes on. After the death of Mr. 
Battles, Mrs. Battles took charge for one year, 
then came to Lowell, and founded the Battles 
Home for Aged Men, established October 28, 
190 1. It is located at 15 Belmont street, and 
is organized under the Massachusetts laws. 

In 1866 Mr. Battles married Miss Mary 
Caroline Eaton, daughter of Richard and 
Lydia A. (Wheeler) Eaton, of West Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts. An uncle of Mrs. Bat- 
tles stated some years since, he being then an 
aged man, that their branch of the family 
formerly lived "down here in Newbury Old 
Town."' The printed records show that Ben- 
jamin Eaton was admitted to the church in 




l^hAA^dZo^c/lj2/r ^c^44f^. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Roxbiiry in 1709. From Heiijamin (3) torn 
in 1683, son of John {2). and j^randson of 
Jonas ( 1 ) Eaton, who came from iui,<;lan<l. 
was in W'atertown in 1643, and sctlK-d at 
Rcading^ in 1647, it is said are descended manv 
Eatons of Boston. Roxbury and Marblehead. 
J'.enjainin Porter Battles, born in 1872, only 
child of .Mr. and Mrs. Battles, died in infancy. 
Mr. ISattles was a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity : also a member of the New England 
Historic-Genealogical Society. In politics he 
was a Republican, and served on important 
committees, but was disinclined to special 
activity in political affairs. 



Deacon Thomas Dyer was born in 
D'N'ER England, where the record of the 
Dyer family is to be found 
as early as 1436. The Dyer coat-of- 
arms was a plain shield surmounted by 
a wolf's head. Thomas D\er came from 
England in 1632 and settled soon after- 
ward at Weymouth, Massachusetts. He was 
admitted a freeman there May 29, 1644. He 
was a cloth worker by trade. He also was an 
inn-keeper in Weymouth, and was one of the 
leading citizens of Jiis day. He was a deputv 
to the general court in 1(^46 and four years 
afterward. He was deacon of the Weymouth 
clnirch. He held various town offices. He died 
November 16, 1676. His will was dated No- 
vemlier 3. 1676, and proved November 13, 
1676. He bequeathed to his wife fifty pounds 
and the estate of her former husband at Med- 
field. He bec|ueathed to his children named 
below, to his grandchildren, to his pastor. Mr. 
Samuel Torrey, and to the We}-mouth church. 
His estate was valued at two thousand one 
hundred and three pounds. The widow Eliz- 
abeth in her will dated November 20, 1678. 
proved January 31. 1678-79. bequeathed to her 
sons .\braham and John Harding, daughter 
Elizabeth .Adams, daughter Prudence, son 
Joseph Dyer and grandchildren. He married 
.\gnes Reed, who died December 4. 1667. He 
married (second) Elizabeth Frary. widow 
successively of .\braham Harding, of .Med- 
fiekl, and of John Erary, Jr. She died 1679. 
Children: i. Alary, born July 3. 1641. married 
Samuel White. 2. John. July 10. 1643. 3. 
Thomas, 1645, died young. 4. .Abigail, 1647, 
died March 13, 1717-8; married Jacob Nash. 

5. Sarah, 1649, married John Roggles. 6. 
Thomas. May 5, 165 1. 7. Joseph, November 

6, 1653 ("twin), married Hannah Frary. 8. 
Benjamin (twin), November 6. 1653. 9. Wil- 
liam, born about 1658. mentioned below. 10. 
Elinor, born about 1660. 



(II) William Dyer, son of Deacon Thomas 
Dyer ( i ). was torn about 1658. at Weymouth. 
He married Joanna Chard, born .August 17, 
1667. Children: I. William, born March 23, 
1693, died 1750. 2. Christopher, 1701, men- 
tioned below. 3. Joseph, married Jane 
Stephens. Probably others. 

(III) Christopher Dyer, son of William 
Dyer (2), was born at Weymouth, Massachu- 
setts, in 1 70 1. He settled in Abington, an ad- 
jacent town. He married Hannah Nash, 
daughter of Ensign James Nash, November 

27, 1725. She died 1760. He died .August 
II, 1786. Children: i. Mary, torn 1726. 2. 
Hannah. 3. C'hristopher, lieutenant, resided 
at .Abington. 4. Sarah. 5. Jacob. 6. Betty. 
7. James, mentioned below. The preceding 
were born between 1726 and 1743. 

(IV) James Dyer, son of Christopher Dyer 
(3), was torn at Weymouth, or in the vicinity 
in 1743, and died October i, 1843. ""'J hun- 
dred years old. He married Mercy Small, 
torn .August 5, 1755, died December 5, 1817. 
They lived at .Abington, Massachusetts. He 
was a .soldier in the Revolution, a private in 
Captain .Nathan Snow's company, in which 
Christopher Dyer, his brother, was second 
lieutenant, in 1776. He served at Bristol, 
Rhode Island. He was also in Captain Benja- 
min Bates's company. Major Cary's regiment, 
in 1780. He was then of .Abington, Massa- 
chusetts, but later removed to Maine. He re- 
ceived a grant of land in what became the 
town of .New Sharon. .Maine, and as his sons 
became of age he gave each a farm of one 
hundred acres. Cliildren of James and .Mercy 
Dyer: i. Captain Reuben, born in Tnu'o or 
.Abington. .Massachusetts, March 18. 1778, 
died in .Maine. .Axigust 9, 1862: married Alary 
Knowles, born March 18. 1778, died August 
30. 1854: settled in New Sharon. Maine. 2. 
Hann-ili S.. June 5. 1780, died October 7, 
1869. 3. Christopher. .August 29. 1782, men- 
tioned Ix'low. 4. Mercy, December 8, 1784, 
married James Small, lived and died at Truro, 
Cape Co<l. Massachusetts. 5. James. Jr., May 
29, 1787. settled at .Abington, Massachusetts. 
and died there June 13, 1867. 6. Lucy, May 

28, 1789, died May 28, 1790. 7. Gideon B., 
July 17. 1 79 1, died October 28. 1783. 8. John 
S.. November 25. 1793, died February 7, 1844. 

9. Nathaniel .S.. October 31, 1798. died June 

10. 1847. 10. Henry, born .August 8, i8t)i, 
died March 12. 1881'. 

(\') Christopher Dyer, son of James Dyer 
(4). was torn in .Abington, or Truro. Massa- 
chusetts. .'Xugust 29. 1782. died at New Shar- 
on. Maine, May 5, 1879, aged ninety-six years. 



312 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



eight months. He went with his father to 
New Sharon, Maine, and settled there on a 
farm given him by his father when he came of 
age. He enhsted in the War of 1812, and 
late in life received a pension from the gov- 
ernment for his service. He was representa- 
tive to the general court of Massachusetts, and 
when the state of Maine was set off from that 
state, he was a delegate of both sessions to the 
constitutional convention. He married, Sep- 
tember 9, 1809, Susan Gordon, born June 2, 
1792, died October 19, 1844. 

Children: i. John W., born September 15, 
1810, died November 19, 1866, aged fifty- 
seven years ; married, Novanber 29, 1842, 
Roxanna W. Bean, born in New Sharon, 
Maine, October 10, 1820, died February 25, 
1895, daughter of Ivory and Philena (Savage) 
Bean, the former of whom was torn in Lewis- 
ton, Maine, May 7, 1791, the latter in Read- 
field, Maine, October 12. 1796: Mr. and Mrs. 
Bean were married December 29, 1814. Chil- 
dren of John W. and Roxanna \V. (Bean) 
Dyer : i. Susan M., born February 17, 1845, 
married, May 15, 1872, L. G. M. Fletcher; ii. 
Ivory B., born July 16, 1846, died June 12. 
1849; iii. Ivory B., born April i, 1850: iv. 
Hiram T.. born February 24, 1853: v. Rosie 
M., born January 7, 1857. 2. Mercv, born 
December 26, 181 1, died June 10, 1905: mar- 
ried Alonzo Walker : children : Christopher, 
died January, 1907 ; Ann, deceased ; Priscilla, 
Mrs. Edgar, of Rochester, Minnesota : Henry, 
of Livermore Falls, Maine, proprietor of a 
shoe store. 3. Mary A., born February 19, 
1814, died August 21, 1880, unmarried. 4. 
Lucy, born December 27. 1815. died 1890; 
married a Mr. Mooers.of Farmington ; one son, 
Jabez, resident of New Sharon, Maine ; mar- 
ried twice and was the father of three chil- 
dren : Flora, Susan, John. 5. Henry E., born 
September 18, 1818, died 1878. aged sixty 
years ; married Laura Cram, daughter of Gen- 
eral Cram ; one son, Henry E., living in 
Maine. 6. Perwilla B.. born April 30, 1821, 
married Eastman Page. 7. Christopher W., 
see forward. 8. Susan M., horn October 14, 
1825, died August 31, 1844, unmarried. 9. 
Charles H., born December 11, 1827, died 
1876; married Nellie, daughter of Major 
Goodridge, of New Sharon, Maine, and 
(second) Miss \\'ar, daughter of Judge War. 
10. Frances A., borji June 9, 1830, living; 
married George Wingate Chase, of Haverhill, 
Massachusetts, the historian. They had four 
children : Charles, .-\bbie, deceased ; Sarah ; 
George, died 1905. Mrs. Chase and daughter 
Sarph and son Charier reside in Dorchester, 



Massachusetts, at the present time. 11. Pris- 
cilla S., born November 7, 1834, died October 

15. 1843- 

(\ I) Christopher \\'illshire Dyer, third son 
and seventh child of Christopher Dyer (5), 
was born in New Sharon, Maine, September 
7. 1823, and died in Maiden, Massachusetts, 
February 26, 1890. He was educated in his 
native town, and was a teacher and was princi- 
pal of a high school before he was twenty-one 
years old, teaching from seventeen to twenty- 
one. He engaged in the business of a ship 
chandler and ship brokerage in Augusta, 
Maine, when a young man and was a success- 
ful foreign merchant there. In 1856 he came 
to Boston and engaged in the millinery busi- 
ness there. He made his home that same year 
in Maiden and resided there for the remainder 
of his life. He was a Whig and Republican in 
politics, a faithful worker with the party, but 
always declined public office. In religion he 
was a Congregationalist, as were his fathers 
before him for many generations. He was a 
member for many years of IMount Vernon 
Lodge of Free Masons, but of no other organ- 
izations. He was a man of strong character 
and sterling integrity, connnanding the respect 
of his associates in business and of all his 
townsmen. 

He married, I'ebruary 27, 1849, Harriet 
Elizabeth Soule, born July 14, 1826, at New 
Sharon, Maine, died at Maiden, June 10, 1907, 
daughter of Phineas and Betsey (Noyes) 
Soule, of New Sharon. Her father is de- 
scended from a "Mayflower" ancestor, George 
Soule, the first ancestor to come to this coun- 
try. Children: 1. Horace Edwin, born De- 
cember 14, 1849, mentioned below. 2. Hattie 
Priscilla, born in .\ugusta, Miaine. February 8, 
1852. educated in Maiden public grammar 
and high schools, is a milliner with a parlor in 
Temple Place, Boston, enjoying an exclusive 
and extensive patronage: she resides in the old 
home in Maiden and is well-known in church 
and society there. 

(\'II) Horace Edwin Dyer, scfli of Christo- 
pher W. Dyer (6), was born in Augusta, 
Maine, December 14, 1849. He was educated 
in the public schools of Maiden, whither his 
parents removed when he was a young boy. 
He is at present the assistant cashier of the 
Boston Belting Company. He resides in 
Andover, Massachusetts, though his business 
is in Boston, and has a large farm which he 
carries on. He is a Republican in politics. 
He divides his time between his home on the 
farm and his business in the city, and belongs 
to no clubs or organizations. 



m^ 




u?>z ^^.-■- 




</Li>^^L<:.e<^^^"<2>^^^ '^o-c.<J,ij ^c^^d^. 



MIDDLKSEX COL'XTY 



3'3 



He married (first) Mary L. Slcei)cr, born 
May 2"/, 1855, died December 8. 1894, daugh- 
ter of Nancy J. X'inton. He niarried (seconii), 
July 26, 1896, Hattie Pringle Jeffrey, of Read- 
ing, Massachusetts, born July 26, 1875. daugh- 
ter of May 1'. Headman. Children of Horace 
Edwin and Mary L. Dyer: Grace Elizabeth, 
born November 26, 1877, married Edward 
Webb, of Reading, Mas.sachusetts ; she died 
June 4, 1907; children: Edwin Dyer Webb, 
born at Hartford, Connecticut, September 26. 
1901. Raymond Barnes Webb. Ijorn January 
1. 1905. 2. Leon Orrin. boni F'ebruary 9. 
1880. in Maiden. 3. Lottie May. l)orn April. 
1882. died Tune. 1883. 4. Edith Mav. lx)rn 
October 12." 1884. died April 3. 1886. '5. Ed- 
win Christopher, born A])ril 18. 1888. died 
April 16, 1889. 6. Henry Albert, bom August 
15. 1891, in Reading, Massachusetts, educated 
in the Reading public schools and at Andover. 
Child of Horace E. and Hattie Pringle Dyer : 
7. Christopher W.. born in .Andover, Massa- 
chusetts, October 27, 1902. 



The earliest record of the 
HEARSEY Hearsey family which can be 
obtained is the name of a cer- 
tain Sir Malvicius de Hercy in the year 1210. 
The family appears to have come originally 
from Flanders, and a Hughe de Hersey was 
Governor of Trou-Xormandy in 1204. Ed- 
ward L held another Hugh when a minor, i. e. 
took all his rents until he came of age. There 
is a Count Herce-I\Iaine, France, running 
from the year 1550. Sir Malvicius married 
Theophania. daughter and co-heir of Gilbert 
de -Arches. I'.aron of Grove, and from him de- 
scended the family of Hercy of Grove, one of 
the first families in the county of Nottingham. 
Rranches of this family seem to have settled 
in several of the southern counties of England, 
and they seem to have been prominent. The 
name is foimd in Sussex. England, in 1376 to 
1482. owning property seven miles round. In 
Warwickshire there is still a village which is 
called Pillerton Hersey or Hercy. The Her- 
seys of Grove only show a direct descent in 
the male line down to 1 570. but the branches 
in Oxfordshire and P>erkshire go to 1794, at 
which date a son-in-law took the name Hersey. 
and these branches in England come down to 
the present time through him. 

There are numerous Hearseys. Hersees, 
TIearses. and Her.seys to be found, and a num- 
ber of entries are in the London churches. 
The name of Robert Hearse occurs as minister 
of Trinity Church. Ijnidon. in 1378. The arms 



ol the luiglish Hercys are, Gules, a chief ar- 
gent; crest, a Moor's head wreathed on a 
coronet. 

(1) Nathaniel Hearsey ( I lercy ) lived in 
Reading. Berkshire county. luigland. and died 
there in 1629. He was descended from Sir 
31alvicius de Hercy. who lived in the reign of 
King John. Children: I. William, iiorn 1596, 
mentioned below. 2. Thomas, born 1599. 

(H) William Hearsey. son of Nathaniel 
Hearsey (i), was born in England in 1596 
and was the immigrant ancestor. He came to 
New England in 1635. and early in the au- 
tumn of that year settled in Hingham. Massa- 
chusetts. He was granted a house lot of five 
acres. July 3, 1636, on what is now SoutJi 
street, nearly opposite West street. He was 
called husbandman and was admitted a free- 
man in March, 1637-38. .At the time of the 
trouble about the election of officers for the 
train band in 1644-45, ^^ ilHam Hearsey was 
assessed a heavy fine for supporting the views 
of Rev. Peter Hobart and his friends. The 
family rate towards the erection of a new 
meeting house was the largest but one on the 
list. He was selectman in 1642-47-50, and in 
the artillery company in 1652. He married 

Elizabeth , who died October 6, 1671. 

He died March 22, 1657-58. His will was 
dated March g. 1657-58, and proved .\pril 29, 
1658. He bequeathed to his wife and children; 
to grandchildren John Croade and William 
Hersie. His wife was executrix. His estate 
was appraised April 28. 1658. at four hundred 
and nineteen pounds thirteen shillings and six- 
pence. Children: i. Gregory, had son Robert 
who died in England leaving no issue. 2. L'ru- 
dence. 3. Nathaniel, left son and grandson 
who died in England about 1794, leaving no 
issue. 4. William, mentioned below. 5. 
Frances, married, .\pril 29. 1656, Richard 
Croade. of Hingham. afterwards of Salem. 6. 
Elizabeth, married Moses Gilman, of Exeter, 
New Hampshire. 7. Judith, baptized in Hing- 
liam, July 15, 1638: married, December 21, 
1663, Humphrey Wilson, of Exeter, New 
Hampshire. 8. John, born .August 9, 1640. 9. 
James, born 1642 or 1643. 

(HI) William Hearsey. son of William 
Hearsey (2), probably came to New England 
with his parents in 1635. He resided on the 
homestead in Hingham. which was willed to 
him by his father. He was selectman in 1678- 
82-90: constable in 1 66 1 ; was admitted a free- 
man in 1672. He married (first), alxnu 1656 
or 1657. Rebecca Chubbuck, baptiz.ed in Hing- 
ham, .April, 1641, and died June i. 1686. 
daughter of Thomas and .Alice Chubbuck. He 



314 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



married (second) Ruhamah . He died 

September 28, 1691. His will was dated 1689 
and proved January 27, 1691-92. Children, all 
born in Hingham by the first wife: i. William, 
October 11, 1657. 2. John, October 27, 1659, 
mentioned below. 3. James, December 2, 1661. 
4. Rebecca, August 20, 1663, married, June 11, 
1683, Benjamin Johnson. 5. Deborah, Janu- 
ary I, 1665-66, married, April 29, 1687, Sam- 
uel Lincoln. 6. Hannah, February 13, 1668- 
69, married, December 27, 1688, Ebenezer 
Lane. 7. Elizabeth, May 26, 1671, married. 
May 18, 1695, John Bcal. 8. Ruth, February 
10, 1673-74, married, February 4, 1695-96. 
Caleb Beal. 9. Mary, June 4, 1676. 10. Joshua, 
;\Iarch 29, 1678. II. Judith, September 6, 
1680, died September 13, 1681. 12. Judith, 
August 29, 1686, married Israel Vickerv, of 
Hull. 

{IV) John Hearsey, son of William Hear- 
sey (3), was Ixirn at Hingham, October 2j. 
1659, and died at Milton. December i, 1725. 
He was selectman at Hingham in 1694. He 
married Elizabeth and removed to Mil- 
ton soon after 1700. His will was dated at 
Milton, September 30, 1712, and bequeathed 
to his wife, sons Caleb, Israel and Solomon ; 
daughters Elizabeth Montgomery, Ruth Wild, 
]\Iary Bowditch, Deborah and Rachel Hearsey, 
and also his brother, \Mlliam Hearsev. Chil- 
dren : I. Elizabeth, born September 23, 1694, 
married, March 24, 17 18, at Milton, William 
JNIontgomery. 2. Ruth, April 13, i6g6. 3. 
Caleb, April 11, 1698, married, March 15, 
1727-28, Hannah Stoddard, at Milton. 4. 
Mary, March i, 1699-1700. 5. Israel, April 
17, 1702, mentioned below. 6. Solomon. Feb- 
ruary, 1703-04, died March 30 following. 7. 
Solomon, married at Milton, August 23, 1730. 
Anna .Swift. 

(V) Israel Hearsey, son of John Hearsey 
(4), was born at Hingham, April 17, 1702, 
and removed with liis parents to Milton, He 

married Abigail ■ , who died about 1740. 

He married (second) Tabitha . Chil- 
dren : T. John, born April 20, 1728. 2. Abigail, 
November 27, 1733. 3. James, March 12. 
1734. 4. Elizabeth, March 11. 1739. Chil- 
dren of the second wife: 5. William, October 
24, 1741, mentioned below. 6. Elias, Novem- 
ber 5, 1743. 7. Esther, March 10, 1745. 8. 
Susanna, December 17, 1746. 9. Samuel Park- 
man, September 3, 1748. 10. Dorcas, March 
16, 1749-50. 

(VI) ^^'illiam Hearsey, son of Israel Hear- 
sey (5), was born October 24, 1741. He was 
in the Revolution as a private in Lieutenant- 
Colonel Jabez Hatch's regiment guarding 



stores in 1777; in Captain Nathan Packard's 
company, Colonel Thomas Carpenter's regt- 
ment on the expedition to Rhode Island in 
1778; and in Captain Nathan Alden's com- 
pany. Major Eliphalet Cary's regiment on the 
Rhode Island expedition in 1780. Cliildren, 
born at Boston: i. William, born March 19, 

1764, mentioned below. 2. John, May 27, 

1765. 3. Samuel, November 3, 1766. 4. Ed- 
ward, June 2, 1768. 5. Elias, November 8, 
1769. 6. Mary, April 8, 1771. 

(VII) William Hearsey, son of William 
Hearsey (6), was born March 19, 1764. He 
was a soldier in the Revolution in the same 
company with his father. He married Sarah 

, born March, 1766, died October 16, 

1857. He resided in Boston. Children, born 
in Boston : i. William, April 6, 1786, died Oc- 
tober 19, 1848. 2. Mary, April 26, 1788. 3. 
Martha R., January 26, 1790, died July 4, 

1816, 4. Sarah, February 9, 1792, died De- 
cember 21, 1854. 5. John F., April 10, 1794, 
mentioned below. 6. Abigail, June 13, 1795. 
7. Edward, Alay 10, 1796, died November 23, 
1864. 8. George W.. June 16, 1798. 

(VIII) John F. Hearsey, son of William 
Hearsey (7), was born in Boston, April 10, 
1794, and died July 3. 1839. Only child, bom 
in Boston, William Edward, December i, 

1817, mentioned below. 

(IX) William Edward Hearsay, son of 
John F. Hearsey (8), was born in Bos/on, 
December i, 181 7. He married Nancy Bake- 
nian Smith, bom September 19, 1819, daugh- 
ter of Elisha and Sally (Bakeman) Smith. 
Her father sailed from- Brookville, Maine, in 
the schooner "Hero" and was last heard from 
December 17, 1818. He settled at Castine. 
Maine. Children of Elisha and Sally (Bake- 
man ) Smith : i. John B. Smith, born Septem- 
ber II, 1811; ii. Alfred Smith, October 7. 
1813, died January 29, 1814; iii. Albert Smith, 
February 4, 1815, died August, 1865 ; iv. 
Elisha Smith. Jr., January 19, 1817, died May 
17, 1817; v. Nancy B. Smith. September 19, 

1818, clied February 14, 1896: all born at 
Boston, Massachusetts. Children of \^'illiam 
Edward and Nancy Bakeman (Smith) Hear- 
sey, some of whom were born at Castine. 
Maine: i, \\'illiani Edward, Jr., January 17, 
1840, died December 13, 1867. 2. Frances 
Augusta, March 4, 1842. 3. Sarah Ellen, 
June 26, 1844. 4. George \^^^itten, July 19, 
1846, died April 22. 1865. 5. Charles Augus- 
tus, September 25, 1849, mentioned below. 6. 
John Albert. November 5, 185 1. 7. Mary 
Eayres, April 16. 1854. 8. James Henry. 
March 28, 1856, died August' 15, 1858. 9. 



.MIDDLESEX COLXTY 



,^1; 



Walter IJcrbcrt, in Cambridge, Xovcmber 14, 
1859. JO. Alice Bakenian, .April 14, 1862, 
died December 26, 1863. 

(X) Charles .Augustus Hearsey, son of 
William l-'dward Hearsey (9), was born at 
Boston, September 25, 1849. When he was 
nine years old the family moved to Cambridge 
and he was educated in the public schot)ls of 
Boston and Cambridge and in the Cambridge 
high school. He was a clerk for one year in a 
wholesale hardware concern : in 1864 he enlist- 
ed at Boston in Company E. Si.\tieth Regi- 
ment, Massachusetts \'oluntcer Infantry, for 
one hundred days, and at the expiration of this 
term re-enlisted in Company II. .Sixty-first 
Regiment. Massachusetts \'olunieer Infantry, 
and served to the end of the Civil war. He 
took part in the battle of Petersburg and other 
engagements, .^fter he was mustered out of 
the army he served five or six months in the 
navy and then began an extended career on 
whaling voyages, to the .\rctic Ocean. He 
went to .\ustralia in 1872, but returned home 
in 1873 and gave up his sea life. In 1873 '^^ 
went to Colorado on a prospecting trip. Upon 
his return east he entered the employ of the 
Boston Can Company and in 1876 was elected 
a director. He made a trip to .'\rizona and re- 
mained about five months in 1876, but return- 
ed to the Boston Can Company where his 
knowledge of metals and his enterprise and 
energy made him particularly useful. In 1900 
the can company was absorbed by a larger 
corporation and Mr. Hearsey became connect- 
ed with the Worcester Iron and Metal Com- 
pany. He retired in 1904 from the manufac- 
turing business and engaged in farming at 
Stow, Massachusetts. He has twenty-one 
acres and makes a specialty of poultry and 
eggs. He is a Republican in politics. He and 
his family attend the Unitarian church at 
Stow. He is a past noble grand of Mt. Ver- 
non Ij)dge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows : past chief patriarch of Mystic Encamp- 
ment : past worthy patron of Middlesex Chap- 
ter, Eastern .Star: member of Mt. Ilermon 
Lodge. Ancient Free and .-\ccepted Masons: 
Mystic Cha])ter. Royal .\rch Masons ; Med- 
ford Council. Royal and .Select Masters : Bos- 
ton Commandery, Knights Templar : master 
of Stow Grange, Xo. 103, Patrons of Hus- 
bandry: life member of Massachusetts Giarit- 
able Mechanics' .Association. 

Mr. Hearsey married, September 28. 1886, 
Charlotte Foye Saul, born Cambridge. Massa- 
chusetts. September 19, i8r)2. daughter of 
William Henrv and Elizabeth Howard 
(Gates') Saul. Children: i. .Alice Gates, Ixjrn 



at I'A-erett, December 19, 1887, educated in the 
public and high schools of West .Medford, 
\\'orcestcr and Stow, now training for the pro- 
fes.sion of nurse at the Waltham (Massachu- 
setts) Hospital. 2. Evelyn, born .April 25, 
1891, graduate of the Stow high school, now 
a student in 'I'ufts College, class of 191 1, vice- 
president of her class. 3. Helen Elizaljeth, 
born at West Medford, .August 13. 1894, stu^ 
dent in the Stow high schcxil. 



The surname Bessom is the 
BE.S.'-JO.M survival of one of the numer- 
ous spellings of the surname 
of an old Marblehead. Massachusetts, family. 
In the early records the name was spelled Bes- 
son, Bezoon, Bezune, Bessom, Besume, Bis- 
son, and it seems to be the same name spelled 
Bason, Basom. Barshani. Bessom, P.azume, 
Bos.son, in Boston and Roxbur\- records. (See 
sketch of the Roxbury family of Bosson). In 
both places the final letter was as often "m" 
as "n." From evidence accessible at present, 
even the name of the immigrant is in doubt. 
As early as July 22. 1646, Nicholas Batson, 
seaman, bought a ship in Boston of Christo- 
pher Law.son. Of his family we know nothing, 
but the fact that this name is the same as that 
of the first known settler in Marblehead, and 
was also in the same business, points to re- 
lationship if not direct ancestry. Then we find 
Richard Basin in Boston, a resident, included 
in an order issued by the selectmen September 
30, 1695. This Richard had a wife Elizabeth, 
and the following and perhaps other children : 

I. Katherine, born in Boston July 21. 1690. 2. 
John, born December 30, i6qi, died young. 3. 
John, born December 31, 1(^93. baptized June 

II, 1694. 4. Isaac, born January 18, 1696. 5. 
Gershom (see probate records for prcxif). 
Katherine, born August 12, 1694. Richard 
seems to have a brother Samuel Bason who 
by his wife Mary, had. in Boston: i. Samuel, 
born March 17. 1 700-1. 2. Richard, born 
January 21, 1703. 3. Marv. liorn September 
27. 1705. 

(I) Nicholas Bes.son, the first of the name 
appearing in the records of Marblehead, was 
horn about 1 700: was probably son or nephew 
of .Samuel or Richard Besson. of Boston, and 
perhaps grandson of Nicholas, mentioned 
alxjve. The spelling of this rather luuisual 
name creates great difficulties in the way of 
proving the lineage. Nicholas married at 
Nhirblehead, June 8, 1725, Rebecca Bowden 
(Bowdoin). Children, baptized at Marble- 
head: I. John, baptized March 26. 1727. died 



3i6 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



young. 2. Mary, baptized August 4, 1728. 3. 
Elizabeth, baptized February 21, 1730-1. 4. 
John, baptized April i, 1733. 5. Rebecca, 
baptized April 25, 1736. 6. Nicholas, bap- 
tized November 4, 1739. 7. , baptized 

April 26, 1 74 1. Richard Besson died in 1812, 
aged eighty-four years. 

(II) Philip JJesson, son or nephew of Nich- 
olas Besson (i), was born in Alarblehead or 
vicinity, in 1 73 1 -2, and died there September 
4, 1797, aged sixty-six. His wife Sarah died 
December 12, 1802, aged sixty-six years two 
months. Children, born at Marblehead: i. 
Mary, born October 14, 1753. 2. Sarah bap- 
tized October 13, 1754. 3. Mary, baptized 
November 7, 1756. 4. Philip, baptized July 
13, 1760. 5. Joseph, baptized February 12, 
1764; mentioned below. 

(III) Joseph Bessom, son of Philip Bessom 
(2), was born at Marblehead, Massachusetts, 
February 12, 1764; married, February 28, 
1786, Rebecca Chin. Children, born at Mar- 
blehead: I. Philip, baptized August 20, 1786; 
mentioned below. 2. Rebecca, baptized Feb- 
ruary 27, 1 79 1. 3. Joseph, baptized January 
26, 1794. 

(IV) Philip Bessom, Jr., son of Joseph 
Bessom (3), was baptized August 20, 1786. 
He was called "Junior" because of another 
and older Philip Bessom in the same town. 
There are two records of his death on the town 
books, one giving it in May, 1824, stating that 
he died at sea by suicide ; the other recording 
the fact of his death as "Received September 
II, 1824." He is called "son-in-law of Dick 
Master" — a puzzling description. He married, 
first, January 22, 181 1, Elizabeth Martin: 
second, December 7, 1817, Rebecca C. Smith. 
He was deceased before May i, 1825, when 
two of his children were baptized. Children 
•of Philip Jr. and Elizabeth Bessom, born at 
Marblehead: i. F'hilip, born November 24, 
181 1 ; mentioned below. 2. Joseph, born Jan- 
uary 7, 1815. Children of Philip Jr. and Eliz- 
abeth Bessom, born in Marblehead : 3. Sarah, 
Elizabeth, baptized May 24, 1818. 4. Hannah 
Phillips, baptized May I, 1825. 5. Charlotte 
Woodruff, baptized May I, 1825. 

(V) Philip Bessom Jr., son of Philip Bes- 
som (4), was born in Marblehead, Massa- 
chuisetts. November 24, 181 1. He married 
Louisa , and settled at Lynn, Massa- 
chusetts. Children: i. Charles F., mentioned 
below. 

(V'l) Charles F. Bessom, son of Philip Bes- 
som (5), or Besson, was born in Lvnn or 
Marblehead, Massachusetts, in 1844. He mar- 
ried Mary F. Lovejoy. born in Nashua, New 



Hampshire, Alarch 24, 1847, daughter of John 
E. and Mary Ann (Avery) Lovejoy. He was 
educated in the Lynn public schools, and 
learned the trade of printer, and was in the 
printing business all his life. In religion he 
was a Unitarian, in politics a Republican. He 
enlisted in the civil war in Company F, Sixth 
Massachusetts Regiment Massachusetts Vol- 
unteers. He died March 31, 1872. Children: 
I. Charles F., single, lives in Reading, Massa- 
chusetts. 2. Gertrude L., who married Frank 
L. Edgerley, of Reading, Massachusetts ; they 
have one child, Alice C. 3. Frank Arthur, 
born in Lynn June 13, 1872 ; mentioned below. 

(VTI) Frank Arthur Bessom, son of 
Charles F. Bessom (6), was born in Lynn, 
Massachusetts, June 13, 1872. His father died 
two and one-half months before be was born, 
and his mother removed to Hollis, New 
Hampshire, later to Reading, Massachusetts, 
where he was educated in the public schools, 
graduating in 1889 from the Readmg nigh 
school. He began his business career as clerk 
in a dry-goods store in Reading. Since 1897 
Air. Bessom has been assistant postmaster of 
Reading. He is also a partner in the under- 
taking firm of Edgerly & Bessom, Reading. 
He is a Republican in politics, and a Congre- 
gationalist in religion. He is a member of 
Good Samaritan Lodge, Ancient Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, and of Security Lodge of Odd 
Fellows, of Reading. 

He married August 30, 1903, at Reading, 
Alice B. Rand, Ijorn April 6, 1880, a graduate 
of the Boston high school, daughter of Charles 
S. Rand, an inspector of the Metropolitan 
Water Board, Boston. She is a descendant of 
Governor William Bradford. They have no 
children. 



The surname Stickney is of 
STICKNEY Saxon origin, though the 

family in England is de- 
scended from a Norman noble who took the 
name of the place as a surname on becoming 
Lord of the Manor. In 1331 John de Stickney 
was in possession of the Manor of Stickney, 
Lincolnshire. In 1422 it passed into the hands 
of the Craycroft family, which has held it to 
the present time, so that it may be said that the 
ancestors of the present possessor have held 
the place about a thousand years. Stickney 
IS a large village on the Boston road, eight 
miles and a half from the Boston station and 
three from New Bolingbroke. pleasantly sit- 
uated on the borders of East and West Fens 
in the Soke of Bolingbroke, Union of Spiisby, 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



317 



Lindsey division, diocese of Lincoln, England. 
The clutrcli of Stickney is dedicatcii to St. 
Luke. The Stickney coat-of-arnis from time 
immemorial has been : Ermine three lozenges. 

(I) Robert Stickney, progenitor of the 
American family given here, died at Eramptoii 
parish. Wapentake of Korton, parts of Hol- 
land, county Lincoln, England, situated three 
miles and a quarter from lioston. The names 
of many of the .Stickney family are found on 
the parish register from 1558 to itoy, when 
the family seems to have left the place. 

(IT) William Stickney, son of Robert Stick- 
ney (i), was baptized at St. Mary's Church, 
Frampton, Lincolnshire, December 30, 1558; 
married there June lO, 1585, .Margaret I'eir- 
son. 

(HI I William Stickney, son of William 
Stickney (2), was baptized at Frampton 
Church, September 6, 1592. He was the im- 
migrant ancestor of the American family, set- 
tling first in Hull, England, whence he came 
to -America in 1637, and was admitted to the 
church at Boston, Massachusetts, January 6, 
1638-9, with his wife, Elizabeth, and dismiss- 
ed from that church to the church at Rowley, 
. Massachusetts, by letter dater November 24, 

1639. He was admitted a freeman October 7, 

1640. He was a planter, or husbandman. In 
1643 he received in the division of lands an 
acre and a half on Wethersfield street, adjoin- 
ing the houselot of James Rarker. He built 
his house at the corner of Bradford and 
\\'ethersfield streets, west of the home of the 
late Deacon Nathaniel Nugent : it descended 
to his son Lieutenant John Stickney in i()()4. 
Under John's will, dated 1708, the homestead 
went to his son Samuel, whose son Moses had 
a part of it after his death. Hannah, daughter 
of Moses, died September 19, 1653, at the age 
of ninety, widow of Joseph Kilborn, owned 
part of the old homestead, and after her it was 
owned by Mrs. Sarah (.Stickney) LJpton, her 
niece. The old King James Bible brought 
over by the pioneer has been preserved in the 
same branch of the family that held the home- 
stead. The most ancient halfway covenant of 
the Rowley church is found written in this old 
Bible. William Stickney was on the committee 
of 1652 to draw up a covenant and agreement 
between Rowley and the first settlers on the 
Merrimac lands, now Bradford, Massachu- 
setts. He was a clerk of the market ; juror in 
1653: selectman in 1656 and 1661 : lieutenant 
in 1661, or earlier. He died in January, 
1664-5, 3"^ ^^'t^s buried January 25. His will 
was dated January 21, 1664, and proved 
March 28, i66^. Children of Lieutenant Wil- 



liam and Elizabeth Stickney: 1. Samuel, born 
1633; mentioned below. 2. Amos, born 1635; 
married June 24, 1663, Sarah Morse. 3. Mary,, 
born 1637; married James liarker, Jr. 4. John, 
born March 14, 1640; married June 9, 1690,. 
Hannah Brocklebank. 5. Faith, born Febru- 
ary 4, 164 1 ; married Samuel Gage. 6. Andrew, 
born May 11, 1644-5; married Emma Lam- 
bert and Elizabeth Jevvett. 7. Thomas (twin), 
born March 3, 1(146-7; died. 8. I*"Jizabeth 
(twin), born March 3, 1646; died Decenaber 
4, 1659. 9. Mercy (twin), born January 14, 
1648: died January 14, 1676, 10. Adding 
(twin), born January 14, 1648; died Septem- 
ber 17, i6f)o. The dates of birth in the 
genealogy are wrong, due apparently to the 
writer's ignorance of the old style calendar. 

(I\') Lieutenant Samuel Stickney, son of 
Lieutenant William Stickney (3), was born in 
1633, and died in 1709. He married at Row- 
ley, Massachusetts, February 18, 1653, Julian 
Swan, who died in Boxford about 1670; mar- 
ried second, April 6, 1674, Prudence ( Leaver) 
Gage. He was dismissed from the church of 
Haverhill to r)radford, January 7. 1682-3; re- 
moved to I'loston, and again to Rowley. He 
received his (wrtion of his father's estate when 
he came of age. and purchased of William 
Acre a freehold with land, dwelling house and 
barn, laid out originally to Thomas Leaver on 
Holmes street near the home of his father-in- 
law, Richard .Swan, and bounded south by the 
common lands and east by the street. He was 
keeper of the pound, 1662-7. At the expira- 
tion of his seven year lease of the Rogers 
land he sold his house in 1669-70, and re- 
moved to Bradford, where his wife died. He 
was a selectman of Bradford in 1671-81-82- 
89-91-93-94-95; constable 1676; representa- 
tive to the general court in 1689 and 1690. 
He took the oath of fidelity December 16, 
1678, and later the oath of allegiance of 
Major General Denison at Ipswich ; was ad- 
mitted freeman October 11, 1682; was lieu- 
tenant as early as 1691 ; ser\'ed on the grand 
jury April 13, 1697; as juror 1701-8; tithing- 
man in 1704. He deeded his homestead to his 
sons William and Samuel, Jr. \\'illiam had the 
house. Samuel had six-score acres of land in 
Bradford by deed dated January 28, 1703-4. 
The homestead was on the Merrimac river, 
extending to Rowley I^ane, now in George- 
town, Massachusetts. Part of the homestead 
is still owned by descendants in Groveland, 
-Massachusetts. His wife died October 26, 
1716 (gravestone). His will was dated .\ug- 
ust 30, 1716, his son John being executor. 
Children: T. Elizabeth, born May 9, 1661 ; 



3i« 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



married Daniel Tenney. 2. Samuel, born 
Vpril 5, 1663; mentioned below. 3. William, 
born October 21, 1665, died young. 4. Sarah, 
born October 20. 1667; died April 15, 1089. 
5. William, born January 2, 1774; .married 
September 4, 1701, Ann Haseltine. 6. 
Thomas, born March 19, 1676-7 ; drowned in 
the Merrimac river, June 12, 1689. 7. Jona- 
than, born February 11, 1679, died unmarried. 

(V) Samuel Stickney, son of Samuel 
Stickney (4), was born in Rowley, in 1663, 
and was baptized there April 4, 1675. He 
married Mary Haseltine, born in Rowley, 
April 30, 1672, daughter of Abraham and 
Elizabeth (Langhorne) Haseltine. In 1684 
he was on a committee of the town to see 
about the setting up of a corn mill in Brad- 
ford. This mill was erected on Johnston 
creek. He was selectman in 1 686-87-89- 170 1- 
03: assessor in 1694; constable in 1699 and 
surveyor in 1707 and 1708. He was one of 
the purchasers of the tract of land ten miles 
square in Haverhill, by deed dated March 28, 
1700. He received his farm from his father 
by deed of gift dated January 28, 1703-04. 
Samuel died December 30, 1714. His widow 
was admitted to full communion March 17, 
1716, and her children baptized. She married 
second, August 30, 1722, Joseph Tidd, and 
was dismissed to the church at Lexington, 
May 26, 1723. She died at Lexington, Janu- 
ary 4, 1731. Children: i. Sarah, born De- 
cember 9, 1690; married June 17, 1717, Sam- 
uel Spofford. 2. Mary, born September 29, 
1692 ; married Richard Kimball, Jr. 3. 
Thomas, born August 23, 1694 ; married Mary 
Mullikin, and second Dorothy Mutiroe. 4. 
Elizabeth, born August 20, 1696; married 
Benjamin Mullikin. 5. Amos, born October 
31. 1699; died 1716. 6. Samuel, born August 
24, 1701 : married Elizabeth Hardy and Su- 
sanna Johnson. 7. Abraham, born October 
16, 1703; married Abigail Hall. 8. Ebene- 
zer, born July 25. 1705; died August 2, 1705. 
9. Jonathan, born January 19, 1707; men- 
tioned below. ID. Richard, born May 9, 1709; 

married Mary and Susannah Tucker. 

II. Dorothy, born March 18, 1711-12; mar- 
ried July 31, 1731, Joseph Tidd. 12. Benja- 
min, born October 27, 1714, died young. 

(VI) Jonathan Stickney, son of Samuel 
Stickney (5), was born in Bradford, Massa- 
chusetts, January 19, 1707: married in Box- 
ford, June 21, 1734-35, Alice Symonds, proba- 
bly daughter of Nathaniel of Middletown, 
Massachusetts. Richard Kimball was appoint- 
ed guardian of Jonathan, March 2, 1723, when 
he was eighteen vears old. He was admitted 



to the Second Church of Bradford, Massachu- 
setts, May 26, 1728. He was a soldier in the 
Crown Point expedition under Captain Nehe- 
miah Lovewell from April 27 to October 31, 
1758, in the French and Indian war. He re- 
sided in Boxford and Tewksbury, Massachu- 
setts, and Pelham, New Hampshire, where he 
died. His son Asa was appointed administra- 
tor December 14, 1796. His widow died 
January 26, 1803, aged eighty-six years. Chil- 
dren: I. Asa, born February i, 1736; died at 
Boxford, September i. 1736. 2. Daniel, born 
August 9, 1737; married Susanna Head. 3. 
Alice, born October 12, 1739; married Rich- 
ard Woodman. 4. Asa, bom December 10, 
1742: mentioned below. 5. Abigail, born 
1745; married December 16, 1768, Nathaniel 
Head. 6. Jacob, born June 14, 1748; died 
November 5, 1749, at Tewksbury. 7. Phebe, 
born 1750; married Thomas Runnels. 8. 
Jacob, born December 17, 1753; died Febru- 
ary 6, 1758, at Pelham. 9. Dorothy, born 
1754; married May 5, 1774, Ebenezer Perry. 
10. Sarah, born July 25, 1756 : married Abner 
Wheeler and Richard Currier. 

(VTI) Asa Stickney, son of Jonathan 
Stickney (6), was born December 10, 1742; 
married at Pelham, New Hampshire (pub- 
lished February 8), 1768, Molly Richardson, 
who was born August 1742, and died March 
31, 1 82 1. He enlisted at the age of eighteen 
from Tewksbury, April 7, 1760, in Captain 
Benjamin Byam's company in the Canada 
expedition, and was at Crown Point in 1761. 
He was also in the servce in 1762 from March 
26 to November 18. He was a member of the 
train band in 1777, and served in Captain 
Joseph Bradley Varnum's company. Colonel 
Simeon Spaulding's regiment, on guard duty 
at Cambridge, etc. He was a cordwainer by 
trade. He died at Pelham, January 18, 1826. 
Children: i. Lydia, born 1769: married Na- 
thaniel Woodman. 2. Jonathan, born August 
2, 1771 : married Alice Webster and Elizabeth 
Hall. 3. Daniel, born 1773. 4. Abiah, born 
August, 1775 ; married Josiah Gage, Jr. 6. 
Asa, born August 20, 1785 : mentioned below. 

(VIII) Asa Stickney, son of Asa Stickney 
(7), was born in Pelham, New Hampshire, 
August 20, 1785 ; married November 26, 1807, 
Alice Gage, bom November 15, 1788, daugh- 
ter of David and Elizabeth (Atwood) Gage. 
Children, born in Pelham: i. David Gage, 
born April 2. 1809; mentioned below. 2. 
Daniel, born January 18, 1811 ; died February 
27, 1814. 3. Darius, born March i, 1813, 
married S. Spofford. 4. Daniel, born Octo- 
ber II, 1814; married December, 1844, Betsey 



Al 1 UULKSKX L( ) L' XT V. 



319 



Emen-. 5. Stephen B., born April 6, 1817; 
died August 5, 1853. 6. Mary, born August 
15, 1820; married December 23, 1840, l'"red 
A. Spofford. 7. Asa, born June 4, 1822 ; mar- 
ried Susan A. Six)ft"ord, in 1844. 8. William 
Hardy, born June 15, 1824; died May 9, 1827. 
9. Elizabeth dagc, born April 10, 1827: lived 
at Lowell, Massachusetts. 

(IX) David Gage Stickney, son of Asa 
Stickney (8), was born April 2, 1809, at Pel- 
ham, New Hampshire, died May 23, 1881. 
He married April 7, 1835, Mary Jane Wood- 
ward, born June 3, 1811; died October 2, 
1870, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Dole) 
Woodward, of .Sutton, New Hampshire. He 
resided in I'elham until after the birth of their 
children, then removed to W'est Concord, Ver- 
mont. From 1856 to the time of his death, 
however, he was a farmer at 1 )racut, Massa- 
chusetts. Children. t»rn at Pelham, Xew 
Hampshire ; William Hardy. l>>rn Xoveniber 
27, 1836: died September 22, 1903. 2. 
Cliarles Hazen. born .\pril 18, 1839; luen- 
tioned below. 3. Caroline Gage, born Sep- 
tember 9, 1842; died June. 1895. 4. Rhoda 
Jane, born December 15, 1847; died Novem- 
ber 17, 1874. 

(X) Charles Hazen Stickney. son of David 
Gage Stickney (9), was born in Londonderry, 
New Hampshire, April 18, 1839. He lived 
in Pelham in early youth and attended the dis- 
trict school there. .\t the age of twelve he 
removed with his parents to West Concord, 
\ ermont. and completed his education there 
in the public schools. After four years and a 
half the family removed to Dracut, Massa- 
chusetts, where his father leased a farm for 
twenty-five years, and he remained at home 
working for his father on the farm until he 
left to enlist in the Civil war. He entered 
the service November 22, 1861, and was for 
twenty-three months in General Butler's divi- 
sion at New Orleans. He was given a com- 
mission as first lieutenant in a regiment of 
colored troops, and remained in the service 
until March, 1866. He was at Port Hudson 
for fourteen months. After he left the army 
he worked in a grocery store in Lowell for 
two years and a half. He gave up his busi- 
ness to take possession of the fann at Dracut. 
bequeathed to him by the Misses Eliza and 
Hannah Cheever, daughters of Ezekiel 
Cheever. This farm had been in the Cheever 
family since about 1700. Mr. Stickney has 
greatly improved the old farm and made it 
one of the finest in his section. He has a herd 
of fifty cattle and four horses. He has been 
active and prominent in public afifairs : select- 



man for two years. 1875-76; town clerk for 
thirteen years: overseer of the poor; town 
treasurer two years ; on the school committee 
nine years ; and was a member of the board of 
registration. He is a member of Lowell 
Lodge Xo. 95. Independent ( )rdcr of Odd Fel- 
lows; of Dracut Cirange. Patrons of Hus- 
bandry; and of James .\. ( larfield Post, No. 
120. (jrand .\rmy of the Re])ul)lic. of which 
he is past commander. Me married January 
23, 1867, Sarah Jane ISnrnham, born Alay 30, 
1839, at Pelham, daughter of Jesse Smith and 
Esther Pearl (Spofford) Ikirnham (see Spof- 
ford Family). Children: i. Edwin L., born 
Xovember 10, 1867: married Grace L. Flint 
and has two children : i. Esther Louise, bom 
February 23. 1893. ii. Edwin Flint, born 
June 22, 1897. 2. -Asa, born October 7. 1875: 
married P'lizabeth M. Collins, of Dracut; 
child. Asa Collins Stickney. born March 2, 
1907. 



Graham is a distinguished 
GRAHAM name in Scotland, and also in 

England and Ireland there are 
to be found distinguished persons of this an- 
cient name. The clan of Graham has acted a 
chivalrous and important part in the annals 
of Scottish history. Their traditional origin 
is of the highest antiquity, the ducal family of 
Montrose tracing its descent to the fifth cen- 
tury. Froni its gallantry in the different wars 
the clan was called the "gallant Graemes." It 
is not our purpose here to give a long history 
of the clan or a list of its many distinguished 
members. The family of Graham of which 
this article treats, trace their ancestry to the 
Irish, and the works of heraldry state that the 
(iraham family of Ireland have for their shield 
the following blazon : Ar. an escallop sa. ; on 
a chief of the last three escallops of the first. 
Crest, — a hand, in fesse. couped ppr., holding 
a fleur-de-lis or. 

(I) Edward (iraham was born at Drim- 
last, county Donegal, province of Ulster, Ire- 
land. The name of his wife is unknown. He 
was a farmer, and raised many cattle and 
sheep. He was a man of very quiet manners. 
Children: i. Frank. 2. Ricliartl. 3. Herry. 
4. George. 5. Edward, see forward. 6. 
Isaac. 7. Nathan. 

(II) Edward Graham, son of Edward 
Graham (i), was born at Drimlast, county 
Donegal, Ireland. He died about 1850. His 
wife. Margaret Graham, was a daughter of 
Edward and Christine (Johnson) Graham. 
Mr. Graham received the education common 



320 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



to the country boy of that time. He and his 
brothers were early introduced into the art 
and mysteries of farming. He remained on 
his father's farm until he was of age, when 
he came into possession of a farm of some 
twenty acres by inheritance from his father, 
when he started farming on his own account, 
and was very successful, raising large quanti- 
ties of. fla.x, etc. In religious belief he was an 
Episcopalian. Children: i. William, born 
July 22, 1845, see forward. 

(Ill) William Graham, son of Edward 
Graham (2), born at Drimlast, county Done- 
gal, Ireland, July 22, 1845. He married 
(first), at Woburn, Massachusetts, June, 
1871, Annie Foster, daughter of Richard and 
Margaret M. Foster, who died December 6, 

1875, and married (second), February 15, 

1876, Rebecca Hanlon, of Somerville, daugh- 
ter of John and Jane (Boyd) Hanlon, of 
Gilbertstown, Ireland. She died April 23, 
1893. and he married (third). September 6, 
1893. Annie Graham, born June 22, 1856, 
daughter of Richard and Isabel (Graham) 
Graham. 

Mr. Cjraham was educated in the schools at 
Tullynought, and was brought up a farmer. 
H€ came to this country, arriving here May 
15, 1869, and entered the employment of John 
Cummings at his tannery at Cummingsville, 
Woburn, where he remained for one year, 
subsequently working on Mr. Cuinming's 
farnii for sixteen years, the last seven years 
having general charge of all the work. In 
1886 he bought of Mr. Cummings the farm 
known as the Locke place, in the southerly 
part of Burlington, containing forty-four 
acres, which he has greatly improved, erecting 
n€w buildings to accommodate his ever in- 
creasing business. He makes a specialty of 
lettuce, celery and cucumbers, and raises gen- 
eral crops besides. He disposes of his pro- 
duce in the Boston market, among the whole- 
salers and commission dealers, his eldest son, 
William J. Graham, having charge of the Bos- 
ton end. He has a large herd of Holstein and 
.Ayrshire cows, disposing of the milk among 
the retailers in Woburn and vicinity. Mr. 
Graham is an Episcopalian in religious belief, 
but at present attends the Burlington Congre- 
gational church, and is a member of the parish 
committee. He is a Republican in politics, 
and has served many years as selectman, as- 
sessor, and overseer of the poor of the town of 
Burlington. He is a member and at the pres- 
ent time treasurer of True Blue Lodge, No. 
119, Royal Orange Institution, at Woburn. 



iMr. Graham is a man of quiet manner, very 
hospitable, and is a respected and influential 
citizen. 

Children, all by his second wife: i. William 
John, born February 26, 1877. 2. Major 
Henry, born May 15, 1878, married Minnie 
Patten of Burlington, and have : Ethel May. 
3. Chester Flerman, born July 24, 1880. 4. 
Fred Garfield, born January 14, 188 — . 5. 
Ethel Lena, born July 14, 1885, died March 
22, 1888. 6. Selwj'n Harrison, born February 
II, 1889. 



John Barber, a native of Mack- 
ll.ARBER elfield, Cheshire, England, and 

a silk weaver at Waball, Eng- 
land, had a son William, born in the town of 
his own nativity, who was brought up to the 
occupation of his father. William Barber 
came to New England with other young men 
attracted by the offers of profitable employ- 
ment in the cotton and woolen mills of Lowell, 
and found employment in the Thorndike Mill, 
where he was a skillful operator and received 
rapid advancement. He was married, Novem- 
ber 27, 1872. to Mary .\shworth, daughter of 
Luke and Elizabeth (Socroft) Ashworth, of 
Lancaster, England. Mary .A.shworth was 
born in Lancaster, England, one of eight chil- 
dren, named in the order of their birth : Will- 
iam, John, Mary, Robert, Sarah, Martha, 
James, Hampson. The children of William 
and Mary ( Ashworth ) Barber, were : Martha 
Barber, born June 28, 1873: died .\pril 27, 
1874; Maud Ella, born April 5, 1875; Thomas 
William Barber, born June 15, 1882, died 
September 14, 1882. William Barber, left the 
Thorndike Mills to engage in the manufacture 
of tape, a business which he had learned and 
followed successfully in Waball, England. He 
became a member of the Republican party on 
becoming a citizen of the United States, and 
a voter in the commonwealth of Massachu- 
setts, but never held political office. He was 
a regular attendant at St. Anne's Protestant 
Episcopal Church, Lowell, Massachusetts, and 
established his residence at 71 South Whipple 
street in that city. Both Mr. and Mrs. Barber 
and their daughter were prominent workers 
in the charitable societies and guilds associated 
with the parish of St. Anne's, but did not con- 
fine their benefactions to the church, as they 
sought out the needy who had no church 
home, and ministered to the comfort of the 
afflicted irrespective of creed or denomina- 
tional faith. 



MIDULKSEX COUNTY 



321 



James Russell Lowell, one of 

LOWELL America's most distinguished 
authors, and who has left an 
enduring mark upon American literature and 
thought, was born in Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, February 22, 1819, and came of an ex- 
cellent ancestry. 

He was descended from Percival Low-ell, 
who came from Bristol, England, in 1639, 
and settled in Newbury. His father, Rev. 
Charles Lowell, was born in Boston, August 
15, 1782, son of Judge John and Rebecca 
(Russell) Tyng Lowell, and grandson of Rev. 
John and Sarah (Champney) Lowell and of 
Judge James and Katherine (Graves) Russell, 
these generations numbering among their 
members named, distinguished clergymen 
and lawyers and jurists. 

Charles Lowell was graduated from Har- 
vard College -V. B. 1800, .\. M. 1803; studied 
theology in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1802-04; 
was made a fellow of Harvard, 1818: and re- 
ceived from the same institution the degree 
of S. T. D. in 1823. After completing his 
theological course in Edinburgh he traveled 
for a year in Europe. He was installed pas- 
tor of the West Congregational Church. Bos- 
ton. January i, 1806, and served in that ca- 
pacity fifty-five years. His health failing, in 
1837, Dr. Cyrus A. Bartol became his associ- 
ate, and I>r. Lowell traveled for three years 
in Europe and the Holy Land. He was sec- 
retary of the Massachusetts Historical So- 
ciety ; a corresponding member of the 
Archaeological Society of Athens ; and a 
founder and member of the Society of North- 
ern Antiquarians of Copenhagen. His pub- 
lished works included: "Sermons," 1855; 
"Practical Sermons." 1855; "Meditations for 
the AfHicted. Sick and E>}-ing;" "Devotional 
Exercises for Communicants." He was mar- 
ried. October 2, 1806. to Harriet Bracket, 
daughter of Keith and Mary (Traill) Spence, 
of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and sister of 
Captain Robert Traill Spence, U. S. N. The 
Rev. Dr. Charles I^well died in Cambridge, 
January 20, 1861. 

James Russell Lowell prepared for college 
at the boarding school of William Wells. 
Cambridge, and graduated from Harvard 
College A. B. 1838: LL. B. 1840: and A. I\L 
1841. He received the following honorary 
degrees : from Oxford University, D. C. L. 
1873 • from the L^niversity of Cambridge, 
LL. D., 1874; and the latter degree also from 
St. .\ndrews, Edinburgh, and Harvard. 1884: 
and Bologna. 1888. On January 2. 1884. he 
was elected Ixird Rector of the L'niversitv of 



St, .Andrews, Scotland. He was an overseer 
of Harvard, 1887-91 ; a fellow of the Ameri- 
can Academy of Arts and Sciences ; a mem- 
ber of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
the American Philosophical Society, and the 
Royal Academy of Spain ; and a fellow of the 
Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal 
Society of Literature of London. In all these 
bodies he enjoyed a unique distinction, and in 
Europe his talents commanded the highest ad- 
miration. 

Mr. Lowell was devoted to letters from the 
first. While in college he edited Harvardiafuj. 
After his graduation he opened a law office 
in Boston, but had no inclination for the pro- 
fession, and gave his time to literature, writ- 
ing numerous pieces of verse which were 
published in magazines, and were put into 
lx)ok form in 1841, his first published volume. 
In 1842 he brought out the Pioneer maga- 
zine, which was shortlived. A pronounced 
Abolitionist, he was a regular contributor to 
the Liberty Bell and he afterward became 
corresponding editor of the Anti-Slavery 
Standard. In 1846 his famous "Bigelow Pa- 
pers" appeared in the Boston Courier and be- 
Ix'came famous from the outset, and exerted a 
powerful influence upon the political thought 
of the day. These were satirical poems in the 
Yankee dialect and were eagerly read, not only 
for their peculiarity of expression, but for 
their underlying philosophy. He was now a 
somewhat prolific writer, principally upon po- 
litical topics, and through the columns of the 
Dial, the Democratic Re^'ieii.' and the Massa- 
chusetts Quarterly. He spent about a year in 
Europe in 1851-52. In 1855 he succeeded 
Henry W. Longfellow as Smith professor of 
French and Spanish languages, literature and 
belles lettres at Harvard, serving until 1886, 
and was imiversity lecturer 1863-64. He was 
also editor of the Atlantic Monthly. 1857-62, 
and joint editor with Charles Flint Norton of 
the North American Re^nezi; 1863-72. He 
was active in the organization of the Republi- 
can party in 1856. In 1876 he was a presiden- 
tial elector from Massachusetts. In T877 he 
was appointed minister to Spain by President 
Hayes, and in 1880 was made minister to the 
court of St. JaiTies, England, serving as such 
until 1885. During his residence in England 
he was highly honored, delivering many ad- 
dresses, and being the orator on the occasion 
of the unveiling of the bust of Coleridge in 
Westminster Abbey, in May, 1885. In these 
various efforts he displayed a breadth of 
scholarship, originality of thought, elegance of 
expression and depth of feeling, which proved 



322 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



a revelation to Old World litterateurs. He 
was a devoted student during all his absences 
from this country, and in 1887 delivered before 
the Lowell Institute, Boston, a course of lec- 
tures on the English dramatists. On his re- 
turn home he retired to his country seat, "Elm- 
wood," on the Charles river, Cambridge, and 
devoted himself to study and literature, con- 
tinuing his lectures at Harvard. He edited the 
poetical works of Marvell, Donne, Keats. 
Wordsworth and Shelly for the "Collection of 
British Poets," by Professor Francis J. Childs, 
of Harvard. His published works include : 
"Class Poem." 1838; "A Year's Life," 1841 ; 
"A Legend of Brittany, and Other Miscel- 
laneous Poems and Sonnets," 1844: "\'ision 
of Sir Launfal." 1845 '• "Conversations on 
Some of the Old Poets," 1845 '• "Poems," 
1848; "The Bigelow Papers," 1848. and a 
second series, 1867: "A Fable for Critics," 
1848; "Poems," two volumes, 1849, ^"d two 
volumes under same title, 1854; "Poetical 
Works." two volumes. 1858; "Mason and 
Slidell, a Yankee Idyl," 1862 : "Fireside Trav- 
els," 1864; "The President's Policy," 1864; 
"Under the Willows, and Other Poems," 
1869: "Among My Books," 1870; "My Study 
Windows," 1871 ; "The Courtin'," 1874; 
"Three Memorial Poems," 1876; "Democ- 
racy, and Other Addresses." 1887; his 
"American Ideas for English Readers." 
"Latest Literary Essays and Addresses," and 
"Old English Dramatists." were published 
posthumously in 1892. At the time of his 
death he was engaged on a "Life of Haw- 
thorne." His last published poem, "My 
Book," appeared in the New York Ledger, 
in December, 1890. He died in Cambridge, 
August 12. 1891. He was married, in 1844, 
to Maria White, of Watertown. Massachu- 
setts, who died in 1853. In 1857 he was mar- 
ried to Frances Dunlap. a niece of Governor 
Robert P. Dunlap, of Maine. His life work 
is commemorated in "James Russell Lowell : 
a Biography," by Horace E. Scudder, two 
volumes, 1901. In 1898 a part of his estate — 
Elmwood — was purchased by the Lowell Me- 
morial Park Fund, nearly forty thousand dol- 
lars of the purchase price being obtained by 
popular subscription. 



Oliver Wendell Holmes, splen- 
HOLMES didly equipped as a medical 

practitioner and instructor, is 
best known and most highlv esteemed for his 
literary accomplishments. .\s "The Autocrat 
of the Breakfast Table," and "The Professor," 



he is more enjoyed than he was a half-century 
ago. He was born in Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts, Awgust 29, 1809, son of Rev. Abiel and 
Sarah (Wendell) Holmes. He was a de- 
scendant of John Holmes, who settled at 
Woodstock, Connecticut, in 1686, and of 
Evert Jansen Wendell, who emigrated from 
Emden, East Friesland, Holland, and settled 
at Albany, New York, about 1640. His pater- 
nal grandfather. Dr. David Holmes, was a 
captain in the colonial army in the French 
and Indian war, and subsequently served as 
surgeon in the revolutionary army. 

Rev. Abiel Holmes, father of Oliver Wen- 
dell Holmes, born in Woodstock, Connecti- 
cut, December 24. 1763, was graduated from 
Yale College in 1783: was a tutor there, 1786- 
87, while pursuing theological studies ; he re- 
ceived the honorary degrees of A. M. from 
Harvard, 1792; D. D. from Edinburgh Uni- 
versity, 1805 ; and LL. D. from Allegheny 
(Pennsylvania) College, 1822. He was pastor 
of the Congregational church at Midway, 
Georgia, 1787-91. and of the First Parish. 
Cambridge, 1792- 1832. He was a fellow of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 
and a member of the Massachusetts Histori- 
cal Society and the American Philosophical 
Society. He wrote various works : "Stephen 
Pannenius ;" "The Mohegan Indians :" "John 
Lathrop : a Biography ;" "Life of President 
Stiles ;" "Annals of America," two volumes ; 
a voli!<me of poems, and various contributions 
to the "Collections of the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society." He died at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, June 4, 1837. He married, in 
1790, Mary Stiles, daughter of President 
Ezra Stiles, of Yale College; and (second), 
March 26, 1801, Sarah, daughter of Hon. 
Oliver Wendell, of Boston. Their son, 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, began his educa- 
tion in private schools, and in his fifteenth 
year had as classmates Richard Henry Dana, 
Margaret Fuller, and Alfred Lee, who was 
afterward Bishop of Delaware. He was sent 
to Phillips Academy, in the hope that he 
would incline to a ministerial life, but the 
reverse was the case, and he cherished de- 
cided Unitarian sentiments — a marked con- 
trast to the stern Calvinism of his father. 
While a student in the Academy he gave the 
first evidence of his literary teniperament, 
producing a translation of Virgil's "Aeneid." 
Plntering Harvard College, he was graduated 
therefrom in 1829, in the same class with 
William H. Channing. Professor Benjamin 
Pierce, James Freeman Clarke, the Rev. S. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



323 



F. Smith, and Benjamin R. Curtis; and hav- 
ing as fellow students, though not in the 
same class, Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner 
and John Lothrop Motley. He was a fre- 
quent contributor to college publications, 
wrote and delivered the commencement 
poem, and was one among sixteen of his class 
whose scholarshij) admitted them to the Phi 
Beta Kappa fraternity. For one year he at- 
tended the Dane Law School, and during this 
poem wrote the famous apostrophe to "Old 
Ironsides"'— the frigate "Constitution," then 
threatened with breaking-up by the navy de- 
partment, and which his stirring verse saved 
from an ignominious end. 

Disinclined to law, after one year's study 
he began preparation for a medical career, in 
Dr. James Jackson's private medical school, 
and in 1833 visited England and France, ob- 
serving hospital practice. Returning to 
Cambridge in 1835, he received his degree 
from the Harvard Medical School the next 
year, and at once entered upon practice, hav- 
ing received three of the Boylston prizes for 
medical dissertations. He was professor of 
anatomy and physiology at Dartmouth Col- 
lege, 1838-40, and the following year located 
in Boston. In 1843 h*^ published his essay 
on "The Contagiousness of Puerpural Fever" 
— the announcement of his own original and 
valuable discovery, which, while now ac- 
cepted by the entire profession, then aroused 
bitter controversy. In 1847 he became Park- 
man professor of anatomy and physiology at 
Harvard Medical School, besides occasionally 
giving instruction in microscopy, psychology 
and kindred subjects; and in the year indi- 
cated he retired from practice and became 
dean of the medical school, which position he 
occupied until 1853. As a class room lecturer 
he was a great favorite, and was able to hold 
the close attention of his auditors even after 
they were well nigh exhausted by previous 
study and attendance upon lectures. He re- 
signed his professorship in 1882, and was 
retired as professor emeritus — a unique dis- 
tinction from Harvard. He gave to his pro- 
fession several works of permanent value; 
"Lectures on Homeopathy and its Kindred 
Delusions," 1842; "Report on Medical Liter- 
ature," 1848; "Currents and Countcrcurrents 
in Medical Science," 1861 ; "Borderland in 
Some Provinces of Medical Science," 1862; 
and with Dr. Jacob Bigelow he prepared 
Marshall Hall's "Theory and Practice of 
Medicine," 1839. 

Ranking high as a medical practitioner 
and teacher. Dr. Holmes' great fame and his 



strong hold ujxjn the .\merican heart, down 
to the present time, rests upon his work as an 
essayist and poet. In the first year of his 
medical career he gave out his first volume, 
comprising forty-five miscellaneous poems. 
In 1852 he delivered in several cities a course 
of lectures on "The English Poets of the 
Nineteenth Century." In 1857 he became 
one of the founders of The Atlantic 
Monthly, he giving it that name, and begin- 
ning in it his delightful conversational papers, 
"The .\utocrat of the P>reakfast Table," and 
in which were embodied some of his best 
poems. This was so favorably received that it 
was followed by "The Professor at the Break- 
fast Table," 1859; and in 1872 by "The Poet 
at the Breakfast Table." Me contributed 
to The Atlantic .Ifonthly the serial 
novels: "Elsie Venner," 1861; "The 
Guardian -\ngel," 1867; "A Mortal .\nti- 
pathy," 1885; besides, "Our Hundred Days 
in Europe," 1887; and "Over the Teacups," 
1890. He was longer connected with that 
periodical than was any other writer. On 
December 3, 1879, the editors gave him a 
breakfast in honor of his seventieth birthday, 
on which occasion he read a poem written 
therefor, "The Iron Gate." In addition to 
those before mentioned, his published works 
included, "Soundings from the Atlantic," 
1864: ".Mechanism in Thought and Morals," 
1871 ; "Memoir of John Lothrop Motley," 
1879; "Memoir of Ralph Waldo Emerson," 
18S4; "Before the Curfew," 1888; verse: 
"Uriana," 1846; ".A.strea," 1850; "Songs 
in Many Keys," 1861; "Songs of Many Sea- 
sons," 1875; "The Iron Gate, and Other 
Poems," 1880. His poems were afterward 
collected into three volumes under the title 
of "Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Wen- 
dell Holmes," by John Torrey Morse, Jr., 
1896: and Emma E. Brown wrote a "Life of 
Holmes." 

Dr. Holmes died in Boston, October 7, 
1894, and he was buried at Mount Auburn. 
He married, June 15, 1840, Amelia Lee, 
daughter of Associate Justice Charles Jack- 
son, of Boston, of the supreme judicial court. 
They settled in Boston, and their three chil- 
dren were born at their home in Montgomery 
place, afterward Bosworth street : Oliver 
Wendell, born March 8, 1841, of whom fur- 
ther; Amelia Lee, died in 1889; and Edward 
Tackson, died in 1884. Mrs, Holmes died in 
"1888. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, son of Dr. Oliver 
Wendell and .A.melia Lee (Jacksonl Holmes, 
referred to above, was educated in Boston 



324 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



schools and Harvard Universit)-, from which 
he was graduated m 1861, (being class poet), 
when twenty years of age. When he was 
graduated he was a member of the Fourth 
Battalion of Infantry, at Fort Independence, 
in the first year of the civil war. He was 
commissioned second lieutenant in the Twen- 
tieth Regiment ^lassachusetts \'olunteers, 
and participated in the engagements at Balls 
Bluff, N'irginia; Antietam, Maryland; and 
Marye's Heights, Virginia, being severely 
wounded in the first named action. He was 
commissioned lieutenant-colonel in 1863, 
but the regiment being depleted beluw the 
minimum, he could not be mustered into ser- 
vice as of that rank. From January 29, 1864, 
to July 17, following, he served as aide-de- 
camp with the rank of captain on the staff of 
General Horatio G. Wright. He was gradu- 
ated from Harvard Law School in 1866, and 
the following year was admitted to the bar 
and entered upon practice in Boston. He 
was instructor in constitutional law in Harv- 
and Law School, 1870-71 ; edited The Ameri- 
.. can Law Review, 1870-73 ; lectured on com- 
mon law before the Lowell Institute, 1880; 
was professor of law at Harvard Law School, 
1882-83; justice of the supreme court of 
Massachusetts, 1882-99, and in August of the 
latter year succeeded the deceased Chief 
Justice' Walbridge A. Field. He edited 
, "Kent's Commentaries," 1873; and is author 
of "The Common Law," 1881 ; and 
■"Speeches," 1891, 1896; and has contributed 
to various professional journals. He received 
the honorary degree of LL.D. from Yale 
College in 1886, and from Harvard College 
in 1895; and was elected a member of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society, and a fel- 
low of the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences. He was married, June 17, 1872, to 
Fanny Dixwell, daughter of Epes S. Dixwell, 
of Boston. 



The Swan family of England is 
SWAN widely distribttted in various 

counties, and includes many noble 
families. Most of the coats-of-arms have the 
swan as an emblem. The Swan family of 
Kent has : .\z, a swan ppr. The family at 
Southfleet and Denton Court, Kent, has ; Az. 
a chev. ermine between three swans ar. Crest : 
a demi-talbot saliant gu. collared or. The 
name is varied in spelling, as Swann, Swanns, 
Swans, Swain, Swayne, Swaine, but Swan 
seems to be the original surname, suggested 
by the fowl, as many kindred names — Crane, 
Bird, Swallow, Sparrow, etc. 



(I) Johii Swan, the immigrant ancestor, 
was born in England in 1620; died Jvme 5, 
1708, in his eighty-eighth year. He came to 
Watertown, Massachusetts, and was brought 
up in the family of Thomas Bittlestone, who 
provided by his will, dated November 3, 1640, 
that his widow Elizabeth should be served 
live years by the boy John Swan, and she 
should then pay him five pounds. He was a 
proprietor of Watertown in 1642, but removed 
to Cambridge, in the section called Menotomy,. 
where his posterity have lived ever since, now 
Arlington, Massachusetts. He was a farmer. 
He belonged to the church, but for some un- 
known reason was excommunicated in 1684. 
It would seem that he was not easily moved 
from his purpose, good or bad, for in that 
day, when e.xcommunication was regarded as 
an eft'ectual bar against salvation, he withstood 
the power of the church more than twenty 
years, but finally, in extreme old age, he made 
his peace with his brethren in the church, and 
was restored to communion December 22,. 
1706. He died June 5, 1708, aged eighty- 
seven, as written on his gravestone. His wife 
Mary died February 11, 1702, aged sixty-nine. 
He married, June i, 1650-51, Rebecca Palfrey, 
who died July 12, 1654; married second, 
March 2, 1655-56, Mary Pratt. He had two 
sons in King Philip's war. He was taxed in 
Charlestown in 1688. Children: i. Ruth, 
born March 10, 1652. 2. Gershom, born June 
30, 1654; mentioned below. 3. Samuel, born 
May I, 1657; died March i, 1658. 4. Mary,. 
born May 2, 1659. 5. Elizabeth, born July 
14, 1661 ; married Ezekiel Richardson, of 
Woburn, July 27, 1687. 6. Lydia, born July 
28, 1663. 7. John, born May i, 1665, re- 
sided in Woburn, 1712. 8. Hannah, born 
February 27, 1667. 9. Ebenezer, born No- 
vember 14, 1672. 10. (Had ten children in 
1676.) 

We find in the "New England Historic 
Genealogical Register," at the rooms on Sum- 
mer street, Boston, in vol. 2, p. 158, is the 
entry that one Hannah Swan married Samuel 
Peabody. In vol. 4, p. 261, we find the names 
of persons who were examined of their con- 
formity by the minister of Gravesend, Eng- 
land ; and took oath of allegiance and supre- 
macy and were transported to Virginia in the 
ship' "Globe," of London, Jeremy Blackman, 
master, August 6, 1635 ; among these appears 
the name of John Swan. 

(II) Gershom Swan, son of John Swan 
(i), was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
June 30, 1654. He married December 20, 
1677, Sarah Holden. He settled in Meno- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



325 



tomy, where he died July 2, 1708, his wife 
Sarah surviving liim. He was taxed in 
Charlestown in 1688. Children, born in Meno- 
tomy: i. Sarah, born about 1679; died un- 
married. April 25, 1C99. 2. Rebecca, born 
August 24. 1681, died young. 3. John, born 
October 3, 1683 ; mentioned below. 4. Ruth, 
born December 25, 1685 ; married Theophilus 
Richardson, of Woburn, July i, 1714. 5. Abi- 
gail, born February 12, 1686-87; married 
John Richardson, of Woburn. 6. Lydia, born 
November 10, 1689; married William Man- 
sur. of iledford, February 2, 1714-15. 7. 
Rebecca, born 1698; married. I'"ebruary 2, 
17 14-15, George Abbot. Perhaps other chil- 
dren. 

(III) John Swan, son of Gershom Swan 
(2). was born at Menotomy, Massachusetts, 
October 3, 1683. He iniierited the homestead 
at Menotomy, being the only son. He died 
I\Iarch 31, 1752. He married Elizabeth 

, who died December 21, 1723, aged 

twenty-eight. He married second. May 25, 
1725. Mary Cowdrey, of Reading, Massachu- 
setts, who died October 28. 1780, aged eighty- 
five. Children, born at Menotomy: i. John, 
baptized April 12, died June 11, 1719. 2. 
Timothy, born August 3, 1720. 3. Elizabeth, 
born (October 12, 1722. Cliildren of second 
wife: 4. Esther, born March 15, 1725-26; 
married April 19, 1759, Zebadiah Richardson. 
5. John, baptized August 4, 1728. 6. Ger- 
shom, baptized August 10, 1729, died young. 
7. Susanna, born October 4, 1730; married 
Joseph Parks, Jr., of Concord (1753) or Sam- 
uel Watts, of Woburn, April 4, 1757. 8. 
William, born September 4. 1737; published 
to Lucy Robbins, of Boston, ^Iarch 15, 1759. 

(IV) John Swan, son of John Swan (3), 
was born in Cambridge, 1728. and baptized 
August 4, 1728; died at Cambridge. October 
26. 1804. He was admitted to the precinct 
church at Menotomy, July 3, 1757. and was 
precinct collector in 1761. He married (pub- 
lished January 15. 1774) Mary Richardson, 
of Stoncham, who died September 18. 1826, 
aged eighty-two years. He was taxed from 
1765 to 1773 in Charlestown. His will is 
dated 1800. proved December 22. 1804, devis- 
ing to his first three sons. His farm was part 
of the original homestead. Children: I. John, 
born January 10. 1775; mentioned below. 2. 
Reuben, born March 27, 1778. baptized A])ril 
5, 1778: called "the Father of Giarlestown ;" 
married Deceml>er 2, 1804, Ruth Teel ; seven 
of their sons were .school masters. 3. Will- 
iam, born March 21. 1781. 4. Molly, born 
November 10, 1783, died unmarried. 5. 



Stephen, Ixjrn October 20, 1785, marketman ; 
married Betsey Tucker. The foregoing were 
all baptized in the West Cambridge church. 

(V) John Swan, son of John Swan (4), 
was born in West Cambridge, or Menotomy, 
Mas.sachusetts, January 10, 1775, and bap- 
tized in the precinct church. January 14, 1776. 
He married (published October 12) 1816, 
Sarah Hall Mason, daughter of Benjamin. He 
died at West Cambridge, September 6, 1864, 
aged eighty-eight; his wife died October 17, 
1866, aged seventy-three. He was educated 
in the public school at West Cambridge and at 
Phillips Academy, Andover. Massachusetts. 
At the age of fourteen, while riding horse- 
back, he was thrown, his foot being caught 
fast in the stirrup, and dragged for a long dis- 
tance, injuring one leg so badly that it had to 
be amputated, and he had to use a crutch the 
rest of his life. When a young man he taught 
school at West Cambridge. He also learned 
the trade of shoemaking, and finally, in com- 
pany with his brothers, took charge of his 
father's farm. In 1818 he bought a farm at 
\^'obuTn, on Gardners' Row. formerly the 
Edward Gardner estate, and carried on farm- 
ing there the rest of his life. Notwithstanding 
his crippled condition he was a man of great 
industry, and contrived to do all his farm 
work except plowing and mowing. He raised 
large crops of peaches, for which he found a 
market in Lynn and Salem. Ho was well-to- 
do. and lent money to a considerable extent. 
He was originally of the Unitarian belief, but 
later in life joined the Baptist church. He 
was very pious, and lived an exemplary Chris- 
tian life. He was a Whig in politics, and 
held sundry town offices. 

Children: i. John, born .Vugust 25, 1817; 
mentioned below. 2. Sarah, born May 18, 
1819; died F"ebruary 5. 1905; married Sep- 
tember 18. 1845, Cyrus Butters, of Ikirling- 
ton, born February 5, 1823, died September 
I, 1891 ; children: i. Sarah Mason Butters, 
born February i. 1848. married. July 2, 1866. 
Edwin D. Bowers (child: Charles Edwin 
Bowers, born May 15. 1868. died March 31. 
1892, married July 31. 1889, .Amanda .\. 
Pike) ; ii. Cyrus Edwin I'.utters. born < Jcto- 
ber 15, 1852; died July 20. 1853: iii. Elmira 
Butters, born .\ugust 6. 1855. unmarried: iv. 
Frederick Swan Butters, born May 23. 18^)0. 
died November 24. 1879. 3. Giarles. born 
March 8, 1821 ; died April. 1895 ; married 
first, Mary Richardson Parker, of Woburn, 
Massachusetts; children: i. Mary Ellen, born 
October 5, 1846. died April 29, 1872, married 
James H. Russell, of .\rlington (children : 



326 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



George H. Russell, bom May 27, 1866; James 
L. Russell, born May 29, 1869) ; ii. Lucy 
Rebecca, born May 7, 1848, died December 
II, 1863; iii. Giarles Parker, born February 
25, 1853; married October 30, 1895, Mary L. 
Gray, of Mlalden (children: Everett, born 
August 24, 1897 ; Emma Louise, born July 
17, 1899; Harold Gray, born June 15, 1901) ; 
iv. Hannah Eliza, bom March 20, 1859. 
Charles Swan married second, Mrs. Sarah 
Elizabeth (Wells) Hines. 4. George, born 
March 16, 1823; married October 25, 1852, 
Sarah Elizabeth Marshall, of Middleborough, 
Massachusetts ; children : i. George Elmore, 
born May 30, 1854; ii. Personaby Marshall, 
born July 23, 1857; iii. Lewis, born October 

16, 1859; died July 23, 1862 (twin) ; iv. Eliza- 
beth (twin), born and died October 16, 
1859; V. Lizzie, born June 5, 1864; vi. .\lvin, 
born August 11, 1866; vii. Minnie Daisy, 
born November 8, 1871 ; married July 2, 1898 
(child, Winnie Beatrice). 5. Benjamin 
Mason, born March 20, 1825 ; died February 

17, 1907 ; married November 26, 1850, Sarah 
A'bbie Cloutman, of Charlestown, Massachu- 
setts ; children : i. George Edward, born 
August 24, 185 1, married September 5, 1894, 
Anna Young, of Dorchester; ii. Ellen Fran- 
ces, born December 22, 1857, married July 3, 
1882, Charles P. Hollis, of Boston (child, 
Ix)uise Swan Hollis, born February 21. 1891) ; 
iii. Mary Louise, born June 14, 1862, married 
December 5, 1894, William M. Rawson. 6. 
Elmira, bom January 18, 1828: married 
March 13, 1855, Samuel Hubbard Davis, of 
Woburn ; children : i. Elmira Davis, born 
November 25, 1856, married John S. Blank, 
of ^^'inchester, Massachusetts (children: Flora 
and Emily Swan Blank ( twins) ; Alice Elmira 
Blank, John S. Blank, Jr., Edith May Blank) ; 
ii. Reuben Davis, born July 10, 1859, married 
.A.nnie Mcintosh ; iii. Samuel Everett Davis, 
born January 19, 1865, died October, 1871. 
7. Claranian, died young. 8. Lucy Belknap 
died young. 9. Stephen, born June 20, 1838, 
married May 17, 1864, Susan Parker, of 
Reading, Massachusetts ; children : i. Frank 
Howard, born .\ugust 21, 1865, married No- 
vember 24, 1892, Annie Jane Matheson, of 
Westville, Nova Scotia (children: Maud 
Elizabeth, bom June 4, 1895 ; Lillian Parker, 
born November 28. 1898) ; ii. Myrtie M'er- 
tilla Hall, born .-Xugust 9, 1867; married -Aug- 
ust 25, 1888, Leonard Everett Phipps, of 
Holliston, Massachusetts (children: Harry 
Ellsworth Phipps, born May 31, 1890; Eva 
Adelia T'lii]ips. born March 13, 1894; Elmer 
Everett Phipps, born June 5, 1899). 



(VI) John Swan, son of John Swan (5), 
was born in West Cambridge, iMassachusetts, 
August 25, 1817. When the family removed 
to Winchester (then Wobum) he was but an 
infant. He was educated in the jniblic schools 
of Winchester and at Warren Academy. He 
worked on the farm, and learned the trade 
of shoemaker in his youth and followed this 
trade to the time of his marriage. One of his 
employers was S. S. Richardson. Finally he 
engaged in the manufacture of shoe stock 
soles, heels, stififenings, etc., in the old button 
factory and at his home, selling his product to 
the shoe factories at Danvers and Lynn, In 
1876 he gave up business and devoted his at- 
tention to farming, having in 1865 bought the 
interests of the other heirs- in the old home- 
stead at Winchester, and he conducted the 
farm successfully and profitably to the time of 
his death, September 10, 1890. ]\Ir. Swan 
was a faithful member of the Baptist church 
at Winchester, generous in his contributions 
to its needs and charities, of exemplary life 
and character, and was universally respected 
and esteemed. He was in early life a Whig, 
but joined the Republican party at its organi- 
zation. He served in the state militia. 

He married, January i, 1843, Sarah Jane 
Fiske, born October 23, 1825, daughter of 
.\bijah and Ruth (Rhodes) Fiske, of East 
Saugus, Massachusetts. Her father was a 
shoemaker. Children: i. John, born Decem- 
ber 5, 1843 ; mentioned below. 2. Jane Etta 
Matilda, born December 23, 1845 ; married 
September 28, 1868, Henry William Hight, 
of Winchester, who died March 25, 1901 ; 
children: i. Lillie Josephine Hight, born Feb- 
ruary 17, 1876, died November 25, 1876; ii. 
Henry Wadsworth Hight, born 1880, married 
October 4, 1904, Grace Higham (child, Grace 
Higham Hight, born July 25, 1906). 3. 
Sarah Caroline, born December 6, 1847, died 
June 27, 1849. 4- Lafayette, born April 11, 
185 1 ; married October 14, 1874, Lydia M. 
Brown, of Reedfield, ]\Iaine ; children : i.Ros- 
well Fiske, born April 3, 1875, married Cath- 
erine Wise, of Canton, Ohio : ii. Ella Mabel, 
bom -August ID 1876; iii. Florence Louise, 
born December 11, 1877; iv. Carrie Emeline, 
born July 18, 1882 : v. .\lfred Marshall, born 
July 10, 1886. 5. Ida Ruthena, born October 
31, 1853, died August 6, 1854. 6. Lillie 
Josephine, born December i, 1858; married 
November 14, 1883, William T. Henderson, 
born December 23, 1845, son of Robert and 
Marion (Johnston) Henderson ; children : i. 
Glad.stone Winchester, born December 12, 
1884; ii. Bismarck, born November 27, li 




y. 

-I" 








2 

< 









< 




Z 

< 






MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



327 



iii. Lillian Swan, bom July 7, 1893. 7. 
Liiella AugUvSta, born .May 15, i8(3o; diecl No- 
vember 13, 1873. 8. Eddy Francis, born 
February 18, i8()3; married. October 17, 1888, 
Julia Elizabctli Tilden, Ixirn July 31, 1865, 
daugliter of Fred M. and Hannah S. (Tate) 
Tilden : children : Everett Elmer, born .\pril 
26, 1889. died February 2. 1890: John, Ixini 
June 24, 1898; Helen Tilden, Ijorii .\pril 17, 
1902. 

(XTI) John Swan, son of John Swan (6). 
wa.s born at W'ohurn, Massachusetts. Decem- 
ber 5, 1843, ^"<^1 \\'as educated in the public 
and high schools of Winchester. He assisteil 
his father in carrying on the farm, and after 
his father's death succeeded to it. This fariu is 
situate at 89 Cambridge street, and comprises 
fifty acres of land, largely devoted to market 
gardening. Mr. Swan is a member of the 
Baptist church at Winchester. In politics he 
is a Republican. He was a member of Com- 
pany Ci. Fifth Regiment, in 1864 and 1865. 
He is a man of retiring disposition, command- 
ing the respect and confidence of the commun- 
ity. He is unmarried. 



(For early generations see preceding sketch.) 

(IV) John Swan, son of John 
.S\\'.\X -Swan (3), grandson of Gershom 

.Swan (2) and great-grandson of 
John Swan ( i ). born in West Cambridge, 
March 2},. 1728, was baptized .August 4, same 
year, and died there October 26, 1804. He 
married (published January 15, 1774) .Mary 
Ricliardson. born .\ugust 2. i744. daughter 
of Reuben and Esther (Wyman) Richardson, 
of .Stoneham, Massachusetts. He was a farmer 
all his life. His i)lace was located where the 
jiresent Winchester golf links are. He raised 
farm produce, for which he found a market 
in Boston and was quite prosperous. He was 
a man of strong personal traits, exact .-ind 
methodical. He believed in having the best 
of everything, so far as lie coidd, and was the 
first to own a carriage in the town. His farm 
was neat and attractive, and his personal ap- 
pearance was above criticism. He belonged 
to the military company for several years. 
He had good horses, and was always well 
mounted, making a fine figure with his hand- 
some saddle, his shining spurs and his mili- 
tary bearing. Squaw Sachem, who formerly 
owned the land, of which his farm was a part, 
was called the Queen of the Mystic. The 
brook through the place is still called .Squaw 
Sachembrook. .'^wan bought the farm Mav 
9- 1765. of Henry and Hannah Putnam. They 



had it of Joseph Hart well by deed dated 
-April, 1753, and he purchased of the original 
owner. .Swan was taxed from 1765 to 1773 
in Charlestown. In 1757 he was admitted to 
the Precinct church; in 1761 he was on die 
prudential school committee. His will is dat- 
ed 1800, proved December 22, 1804, devising 
to his first three sons. Children: i. John, 
born January 10, 1776, died September 6. 
1864; married Sarah Hall .Mason, daughter of 
Benjamin .Mason. 2. Reuben, born .March 
2-j. 1778: mentioned below. 3. William, born 
.March 21, 1781, died October 31, 1832; mar- 
ried, June 21. 1807. -Xancy Dadmun, of Fram- 
ingliam. 4. .Mary, born .\ovember 10, 1783; 
died unmarried, Sejnember 14, 1805. 5. 
Stephen, born October 20. 1785; died Octo- 
ber 16, 1871; married June 12, 1823, Betsev 
Tucker, of MiltcJii. .\lass;ichusetts, soldier in 
war of 1812. 

lA) Reuben Swan, son of John Swan (4). 
was born at West Canibridge, .Massachusetts, 
•March 27, 1778, and died at Dorchester, Jime 
18, 1856. He was brought up on his father's 
farm, and received the education common to 
a farmer's son of that period, remaining on 
the homestead until after his marriage in 
1804. He and his brother Ste])hen became 
joint owners of the farm at the death of their 
father. Soon afterward Reuben sold out to 
his l)rother and removed to Dorchester Lower 
Mills, where he engaged in the grain busi- 
ness. He used to buy his grain in Boston 
from the ^hip. teamed it to Dorchester, and 
had his corn ground at the mill there on the 
site of the jirescnt I'.aker chocolate mills. He 
sold his grain, meal, etc., in Dorchester and 
neighboring towns on established routes. 
One of his best customers was President 
John Quincy Adams, of Braintree (now 
Quincy), Massachusetts. He contimud in 
this business until early in the thirties, and 
then returned to West Cambridge to resume 
fariuing. liut after five years or more, re- 
turned to Dorchester and continued in the 
grain business another si.\ years. lie then 
retired and lived cpiietly the rest of his davs 
at his homestead near the site of the Baker 
mills. During his previous residence in Dor- 
chester his hoiue was at the foot of Dor- 
chester Mill. He was a man of unusual phy- 
sical strength, and is said to have been al)le 
to lift a barrel o' cider into his wagon un- 
assisted, lie was a gentleman of the old 
school, and while strict in matters of conduct 
and religion in his family he gave his chil- 
dren the advantage of a liberal education, 
and several of his sons became school teach- 



328 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ers. He was a member of the Dorchester 
Congregational church. He acquired a com- 
petence. He married December 2, 1804, 
Ruth Teel, born July 30, 1786, at Charles- 
town, Massachusetts, and died at Dorchester, 
August 16, 1847, daughter of Jonathan Teel, 
born January 30, 1754, died June 7, 1828; and 
his wife, Lydia (Cutter) Teel, who was born 
October 26, 1757, died September, 1831. Her 
father was a farmer. Children: i. Reuben, 
born October 12, 1805; married first, October 
17, 1833, Mary Ann Wilson; married sec- 
ond, August 8, 1861, Hannah Louisa Dar- 
ling. 2. John, born August 17, 1807; died 
March 30, 1886; married June 4, 1832, Julia 
Nason. 3. James, born April 21, 1809; died 
March 26, 1873; married October 21, 1835, 
Maria Austin Locke, of Charlestown, Massa- 
chusetts. 4. Albert Dorr, born July 20, 181 1; 
married first, October 9, 1835, Ursula Ann 
Howe; married second, Mrs. Emma Jack. 5. 
Joseph Teel, born August 27, 1813, died 
April 1895; married, November 14, 1838, 
Abby Atherton of Stoughton, Massachusetts. 
6. William Henry, born March 17, 1816; mar- 
ried April 16, 1838, Mary Elizabeth Brons- 
don, of Milton, Massachu-^^etts. 7. Mary 
Richardson, born August 17, 1818: died De- 
cember 5, 1819. 8. Stephen Augustus, born 
August 17. 1818; drowned in Mystic Pond, 
December 25, 1839. 9. George, born Sep- 
tember 26, 1820; mentioned below. 10. Sar- 
ah Louise, born September 10, 1822; died 
July 14, 1887; married November 3. 1841. 
James Pope, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 
he died in December, 1907. ii, Charles Fran- 
cis, born November 14. 1824: married De- 
cember 19, 1849, Mary Leonard French, of 
Canton, Massachusetts. 12. Emily Jane, born 
August I, 1827; married November 5, 1856, 
George Pope, of Dorchester. 

(VI) George Swan, son of Reuben Swan 
(5), was born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, 
September 26, 1820. He received his educa- 
tion in the common schools and private 
schools of Dorchester, and then learned the 
trade of harness maker, serving an appren- 
ticeship of four years under John A. Tucker, 
of Dorchester. He subsequently attended 
Phillips Academy. Andover, Massachusetts, 
where he fitted for the profession of school 
teaching, graduating in 1842. He began 
teaching in the school at West Cambridge. 
He was a good disciplinarian, and brought 
order out of chaos. His success brought him 
a call to a larger field, and he was appointed 
teacher of the Spring Hill school of Somer- 
ville, Massachusetts, later of the Winter Hill 



school. He was prmcipal of those two schools 
for a period of nine years. In 185 1 he be- 
came principal of the Warren school, Charles- 
town, which he taught for the remarkable 
period of thirty-one years, all the rest of his 
life. He died October 11, 1882. For many 
years he resided near the scene of his daily 
toil, but in 1871 he returned to the home of 
his childhood in Arlington, erecting a hand- 
some residence at the corner of Maple and 
Pleasant streets. His home and the sur- 
rounding grounds were a source of much 
pleasure to him in his later years. Quiet and 
imobtrusive to the last degree, his influence 
was always large and good. His sterling 
qualities of heart and mind won the love and 
respect of more than one generation of men 
and women. He was eminently successful in 
his chosen profession, and every pupil be- 
came a friend in after life. His labors are 
still bearing good fruit in the character and 
capacity of the men who were once his pupils. 
He was a faithful and earnest member of the 
Arlington Congregational church and of the 
Winthrop Congregational church of Charles- 
town. He was gifted nuisically, and for many 
years sang tenor in the churches with which 
he was connected, sometimes also being the 
leader of the choir. He was prominent in 
church affairs, and served on the parish com- 
mittee and in other important offices of the 
church. He was first a Whig in politics, lat- 
er a Republican. He was a member of King 
Solomon Lodge of Masons, Charlestown; of 
the Congregational Club of Boston, and of 
various school associations. 

He married. November 18, 1846, Clara 
Cushing Cook, who was born at North Scit- 
uate, Massachusetts, October 16, 1822, 
daughter of Charles and Clarissa (Jenkins) 
Cook, of Scituate. Clarissa was born Octo- 
ber 29, 1799, a lineal descendant of the Lin- 
coln progenitor of Abraham Lincoln. Charles 
Cook was a sea captain. Children: i. Alfred 
Skelton, born March 23, 1848. 2. Louisa 
Towne, born January Q, 1852, died .\pril, 
1895. 3. George Arthur, born October 5, 
1854; mentioned below. 4. Charles Henry, 
born March 10, i860; married first, Novem- 
ber 30, 1887, Caroline Louise Rugg, of Arl- 
ington, born August 11, i860, died Novem- 
ber 7, 1891; children: i. Marguerite 
Thayer, born March 23, 1889: ii. Howard 
Atherton, born May 20. 1891; died October 
9. 1891 : Charles Henry married second, June 
6. 1894, Gertrude Augusta Butler, of Arling- 
ton; no issue. 

(\TT) George .Arthur Swan, son of George 



^. 



-S! 





^^/^j: 



<^ 



(^iyzi>^-Z^ 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



329 



Swan (6), was born at Cliarlestown, Massa- 
chusetts, October 5, 1854. He received his 
education in the pubHc scliools, graduating, 
from the Charleslown high school in 1872. 
He chose a mercantile career, and began as 
clerk in the store of Sprague & McKey, whole- 
sale dealers in boots, shoes, etc., at 30 Pearl 
street, Boston. Later this firm became E. L. 
Sprague & Co., and after four years he be- 
came book-keeper for the new firm. Subse- 
quently he entered the employ of L. T. Jefts, 
a shoe manufacturer and dealer, whose fac- 
tory was at Hudson, Massachusetts, and 
whose store was in Boston. This firm made 
a specialty of shoes for women and children. 
After four years he became a partner, and he 
remained with this concern for thirteen years. 
In 1890 he withdrew to become salesman for 
Rice & Hutchins, one of the largest shoe 
manufacturing concerns of New England, 
having extensive factories in Marlborough. 
Rockland and South I'raintrec. Massachu- 
setts, and at Warren. Maine, with their own 
lanyards at Peabody, Massachusetts, and 
Lewistown, Pa. In 1892 the firm was incor- 
porated, and in 1898 Mr. Swan became a 
stockholder. Mr. Swan is in the sales de- 
partment, and is also responsible in some 
measure for the new lasts and styles of shoes 
adopted by the house. The agency of the 
company in Boston is known as the Atlas 
Shoe Company, incorporated under the laws 
of Massachusetts, Mr. Swan being president 
of the company, Edward P. Tuttle, vice-pres- 
ident, and J. A. Dasha, secretary and treasur- 
er. This company acts as the selling de- 
partment of Rice & Hutchins. Incorporated, 
in the New E,ngland territory. .Mr. Swan re- 
sides in the house built by his father, at 67 
Pleasant street. He attends the Mrst Con- 
gregational Church in Arlington. In politics 
he is a Republican. He is a member of the 
Boston -Athletic Association, the .Arlington 
Finance Club, the Middlesex Club, the Eco- 
nomic Club of Boston, the .\rlington Young 
Men's Qub of the Church, the Arlington Im- 
provement .Association, the lupiity .Associa- 
tion of Boston, the .Arlington Co-operative 
Bank ; charter member of the Arlington 
Boat Club, and served on its building com- 
mittee; was formerly director of the Arling- 
ton Golf Club: president of the Boston Shoe 
Association. He was formerly a member of 
the Home Market Club of Boston. 

He married. October 10. 1881, Bertha Bag- 
nail Russell, born Xovember 17, 1855, and 
died at .Vrlin.gton, December 20, 1882. daugh- 
ter of Walter and Harriet (Tufts) Russell. 



of Arlington. Her father was a successful 
market gardener; was selectman and water 
commissioner of the town of -Arlington. Mr. 
Swan married second, December 4, 1894, 
Adelaide .Augusta \\'ells, who was born at 
Somerville, Alassachusetts, September 27, 
1857, daughter of Charles bVancis and Char- 
lotte Augusta (Snelling) Wells, of Boston, 
Massachusetts. Her father was in the real 
estate and insurance business, a prominent 
Free .Mason, and a member of the Ancient 
and Honorable .Artillery Company of Bos- 
ton. !\lr. Swan had no children by either 
marriacre. 



John Marion, immigrant an- 
AIARION cestor, was born about 1620, in 
England. He came to Water- 
town, Massachusetts, about 1640. His name 
and that of his descendants for several gen- 
erations was also spelt iMarean. Merion, and 
even Merriam. He was a cordwainer, or 
shoemaker by trade. He was admitted a free- 
man May 26, 1652, and in 1693 was selectman 
of Boston, whither he removed after living 
a few years at Watertown, He bought a 
house and lot in Boston, February 18, 1648, 
and another in 1661 in Boston. He bought 
still other lands in 1674, when the deed was 
witnessed by his sons Samuel and John, Jr. 
He died January 27, 1705-06, aged eighty-six 
years, or in his eighty-sixth year. His will 
was proved February 12 following. He be- 
queathed to his wife Sarah ; to sons : John, 
w'ho was a cordwainer; Samuel, tailor; Isaac, 
Joseph and Benjamin ; daughters Sarah, wife 
of John Balston and Thamasin Penniman ; to 
grandson John, son of Samuel Pemiiman, 

He married Sarah Eddy, who was Ixirn in 
England, in 1625, daughter of John and .Amy 
Eddy. Her father was born in England, in 
1595, and came to the Plymouth colony in 
1630 in the ship "Handmaid," and settled at 
Watertown ; was admitted a freeman Septem- 
ber 3. 1634: selectman 1635, 1636. 1*^)39; 'bed 
October 12, 1684. He was the son of Rev. 
William Eddy, of Crainbrook. Kent, En.gland. 
Children: i. Mary, bom at Watertown, 
November, 1641 ; died January, 1641-42. 2. 
John, born May 12, 1643. 3. Elizabeth, born 
1644: married, January 10, 1665-66, Henry 
Dearborn, son of Ciodfrey Dearborn, of 
Hampton ; she died July 6, 1716, aged seventy- 
two years. 4. John, bom about 165 1 ; bap- 
tized February 22, 1651-52; resided in Cam- 
l)ri(lge : married .Anna Harrison, daughter of 
John and Pcrsis Harrison: Marion was deacon 



330 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



of the church, and selectman ; married second, 
Mrs. Prudence (Balston) Turner. 5. Isaac, 
born January 20, 1652-53; died June 25, 1724, 
aged seventy-two; joined First Church of 
Boston, 1696. 6. Samuel, born December 14, 
1655 ; mentioned below. 7. Sarah, born April 
24. 1658; baptized .\pril 25; married John 
Balston. 8. Thamasin, born September 19, 
1660; married James Peimiman. 9. Mary, 
born May 15, 1663; baptized M^y 24, 1663. 
10. Joseph, horn (Jctober 14, 1666, baptized 
October 21. 11. Benjamin, born August 25, 
1670. 

(TI) Samuel Marion, son of John Marion 
(i), was born in Boston, December 14, 1653, 
baptized December, 1655. He married Han- 
nah . who died April 4, 1688, "in a sad 

manner." He married second, Mary Wilson, 
daughter of Edward and Mary (Hale) Wil- 
son. He was a member of the Ancient and 
Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. His 
wife was born in Charlestown, where she was 
baptized Jui>' 20. 1662, and owned the cove- 
nant January 4. 1690-91. She died August 
6, 1726, and was buried in King's Chapel 
Cemetery, Boston, where many others of the 
family are buried. (See page 263 of Bridge- 
man's "History of King's Chapel, Boston.") 
Children of Samuiel and Hannah Marion: i. 
John, born December 25, 1681 ; died in 
Boston, ^larch I, 1698-99. 2. Hannah, born 
June 23, 1685. 3. Mary, born June 16, 1687, 
baptized June 18, 1687. Children of Samuel 
and Mary Marion : 4. Samuel, born June 8, 
1689, baptized at Charlestown, January 4, 
1690-91 ; married Mfeir\- Ellis. 5. Catherine. 

born September 15. 1690; married 

Davis. 6. Edward, born December 2, 1692 ; 
baptized at Charlestown, June 11, 1693. 7. 
Isaac, born November 8, 1694; mentioned be- 
low. 8. Elizabeth, born November 21. 1696. 
9. Joseph, born December 18, 1698, died 
young. 10. Joanna, born May, 1701. 11. 
John, born April 5, 1703. 12. Joseph, born 
July 22, 1705. 

(Ill) Isaac Marion, son of Samuel Marion 
(2), was born at Boston. November 8. 1694, 
baptized at Charlestown, November 11, 1694; 
married July 26, 171 7, Rebecca Knight (by 
Rev. John Webb, in the Presbyterian Church. 
Boston). She was probably of the Scotch 
Knight or McKnight family, and a member 
of that church. Three of their chidren lived 
in Woburn, and it is likely that the parents 
lived there late in life. Cliildren : i. Mary, 
born in Boston, April 15. 1718; married at 
Woburn. December 24, 1741. Joseph Whit- 
more. 2. Isaac, born probably at Boston, in 



1720; mentioned below. 3. Ignatius, born at 
Boston, .August 15, 1724; married at Woburn, 
March 20, 1746, Mary Kendall, of a famous 
old Woburn family. 4. William, born Janu- 
ary 24, 1725. 5. Edward, born at Boston, 
May to, 1728. 6. Rebecca, born (3ctober 18, 
1730. 

(IV) Isaac Marion, son of Isaac .Marion 
(3), was born in Boston, in 1720. He settled 
in Woburn, and married there, June 9, 1743, 
Judith Snow, who died at Woburn, October 
25, 1790, aged seventy-four years. Children • 

1. Isaac, born M&y 12, 1745; mentioned be- 
low. 2. Judith, born January 6, 1747. 3. 
Syliil or Cybilla, born at Woburn, July 14, 
1749; married there September 17, 1770, Ben- 
jamin Tay, of Woburn. 4. Sally, born at 
Woburn, July 26, 1752. 5. Ebenezer, bom 
December 7, 1754; married .September 5, 
1776. Elizabeth Teel, of Medford, Massachu- 
setts. 6. Rebecca, born March 14, 1758. 

(V) Isaac Marion, son of Isaac Mlarion 
(4), was born at Woburn, May 12, 1745, and 
died there February 24. 1827. He was in the 
Revolutionary service. His name appears on 
a receipt given to Captain Cadwalader Ford, 
dated at Wilmington, Massachusetts, May 22, 
1778, signed by Marion and others of his com- 
pany, for wages and "sauce" money. He was 
also in Captain Joseph Walker's company, 
Colonel David Greene's regiment, the Second 
Middlesex , and marched on the .Alarm, April 
!')• ^77?)- Later in 1775 he was in Captain 
Timothy Winn's conipany (page 647, volume 
X, ".Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the 
Revolution" — note spelling). He married at 
Woburn, September 5, 1782, Mary Cutler, of 
a well-known family. Their children: I. John 
Cutler, born .\pril 16, 1784; mentioned below. 

2. Mary, born July 20, 1786. 3. Nancy, born 
September 19, 1790. All were born at 
Woburn. 

(\T) Jolni Cutler Marion, son of Isaac 
Marion (5). was born at Woburn, April 16, 
1784, He had an excellent education, and 
was influential in the community. He was a 
farmer all his life. He had about a hundred 
acres in the eastern part of Burlington, and 
was one of the successful men of the town. 
His son John located on the farm adjoining: 
and during his later years, when his health 
failed, he turned over the homestead to his son 
Elijah and lived with him until his death. He 
was quiet and reserved in manner. He was 
a member of the Woburn church, and re- 
mained orthodox in his faith when the Unitar- 
ian division occurred. In his later years he 
was a Whig in politics. He was in the militia 



, "jr-W- 



tJf &' 




^^jen L^y ^^ //%<iA/£^ 



/cn^i 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



331 



when a young man. He niarricil, June 15, 
1806, Martha Carter, of Burlington, and the 
town records of \\'oburn liave his name spelt 
"Merriani." Oiildren : i. John, born April 
7, 1807, mentioned below. 2. Charles, born 
June 15, 1808, died August 6, 1833. 3. .Xb- 
ner, born December 13, 1809, died January 2, 
1858: married. March 13, 1834. .Sarah Pres- 
cott, of Concord. Massachusetts; children: i. 
Ann Melina. born January 26. 1835; ii. Abncr 
Prescott. .August 12, 1836; iii. Nathan Henry. 
September 25, 1838; iv. Edwin Theodore. 
May 14, 1841 ; v. Dr. Horace Eugene, Aug- 
ust 3, 1843; vi. Otis Humphrey, January 12, 
1847; vii Sarah Elizabeth, May 10, 1851. 
4. Elijah, born December 28. 1812, married 
Ann Parker, of Woburn : children: i. Elijah 
Parker : li. Ann Elizabeth ; iii. Charles Ed- 
ward, died October 31, 1905; iv. William 
Chester; v. Ella Chestina. 5. Martha, born 
March ifi, 1820. married Humphrey Prescott, 
of Burlington; children: i. Martha Eliza- 
beth ; ii. John Humphrey ; iii. Lucy. 6. 
George, born October 19, 1822, died unmar- 
ried. 

(VTI) Deacon John Marion, son of John 
Cutler Marion (6), was born at Piurlington, 
April 7, 1807, died there September 4, 1883. 
He worked on the homestead and learned the 
trade of shoemaker, making it his occupation 
until after his marriage, in 1829, when he 
went to live with his wife's father, Ebenezer 
Cummings. \Micn her father died Mr. and 
Mrs. Marion succeeded to the farm and lived 
on it the remainder of their lives. In 1859 
he turned the management of it over to his 
sons, John E. and Henry S., but continued 
active in the work of the farm. During the 
Civil war Deacon Marion had charge of the 
enlistment of the town of Piurlington's share 
of soldiers for the Union army. He was dea- 
con f)f the Orthodox Congregational church 
of Burlington, and was very prominent in 
church affairs, filling many of the offices of 
church and parish, and thinking no sacrifice too 
great to make for the church. He was a Whig 
in politics, later a Republican, and for many 
years served on the school committee and 
board of overseers of the poor and the town 
cemetery committee. He was an officer of the 
^^'oburn militia company. 

He married. May 26, 1829, Emcline Cum- 
mings, Ixirn January 17, 1808, died July 10, 
1879. daughter of Ebenezer and Ruth fSkil- 
ton) Cmnmings, of Burlington. Her father, 
Ebenezer Cummings, was born November 18, 
1775, died January 12, 1845; her mother, 
Ruth (Skilton) Cummings, born November 



I, 1778, died l-ebniary 11, 1852. Children: 
I. John Ebenezer, born June 2, 1831. married, 
September 30, i860, Celia Lorina Hills, of 
Stoneham, .Massachusetts; no issue. 2. 
Henry Skilton, born June 12, 1833. mentioned 
below. 3. Charles William, born December 
19, 1837, married, September 20, 1863, Amelia 
Staples, of Bedford. Massachusetts; children: 
i. Ered Lucius, born July 20, 1864; ii. 
Charles Walter, October i, 1865; iii. Harry 
Elmer, .\ugust 14, 1866; iv. Emma Jose- 
phine, June 21, 1870, died October 19, 1870. 
4. Mary Emeline. born July 25, 1841, mar- 
ried, November 5, 1865, William Christopher 
Columbus Colgate, of Woburn ; chiUlren : i. 
.Arthur Marion Colgate, born October 10, 
iSfifi. died July 31. '1899; ii. Herbert Will- 
iams Colgate. September 30, t868; iii. Eula 
Celia Winn Colgate, July 19, 1885 (?). 5. 
Leonard Wheeler, born December 21, 1847, 
married, March 7, 1872, Sarah Nixon War- 
ren, of Framingham. Massachi;setts ; no issue. 
6. Frank Hartwell. born March 11, 1853, 
married, .\ugust 31, 1879, Clara Trull 
Thompson, of Stoneham; children: i. John 
Trull, born -September 19. 1882; ii. Bertha 
Thoinj)son. .September 8, 1884; iii. Gertrude 
Belle, February 16, 1888. 

(N'llI) Henry Skilton Marion, son of Dea- 
con John Marion (7), was born at Burlington, 
June 12, 1833. He attended the schools of his 
native town until he reached the age of six- 
teen years. He worked on his father's farm 
in the summer seasons, and drove a team for 
his father until he was of age. He purchased 
a milk route of Samuel Walker and conducted 
it for a period of eight years. Then he and 
his brother. John E. Marion, rented their 
father's farm and coiiducted it for five years. 
He worked at Brookline. New Hampshire, on 
the farm of Harvey Hall and in his saw mill. 
For another year he worked for his wife's 
father. Francis Carter, on his farm at Billerica. 
He then went to work for William Duren at 
Woburn, but a year later purchased his father's 
farm and conducted market gardening until 
1904, when he went to live with his son Frank, 
retiring from active labor, and in the spring 
of 1906 sold the homestead to Herbert T.ord. 
He attends the Congregational church of Bur- 
lington. In politics he is a Republican, and 
has been delegate to various nominating con- 
ventions, and for three years served as select- 
man of Burlington. He married. November 
24, 1859, Frances Maria Carter, born in Bil- 
lerica, May 17. 1838, died May 6. 1890, 
daughter of Francis and Harriet ( Gowin) 
Carter, of Billerica. Her father was a farmer 



332 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Children: i. Francis Carter, born November 
I, 1863, mentioned below. 2. Harriet Eme- 
line, born July 14, 1869, unmarried. 

(IX) Francis Carter Marion, son of Henry 
Skilton Marion (8), was born at Burlington, 
November i, 1863. He received his early 
education in the public schools of Burlington 
and Woburn, and later took a course in 
Bryant & Stratton's Business College at 
Boston. He is now engaged in market gar- 
dening. He was formerly a member of the Bur- 
lington Congregational church, but since 1904 
has been a member of the Wobvirn Congrega- 
tional church. In politics he is a Republican. 
He married, October 2, 1889, Leila Johnson 
Walker, born at Burlington, July 10, 1861, 
died November 12, 1903, daughter of William 
Henry and Abbie (Johnson) Walker of Bur- 
lington. Her father, William H. Walker, was 
a farmer. Children: i. Raymond, born Sep- 
tember 3, 1890, died September 12, 1890. 2. 
Henry Leonard, born October 15, 1892. 



(For early generations see preceding sketch.) 

(\TI) Elijah Marion, son of 
MARION John Cutler Marion (6), was 
born at Burlington, Massachu- 
setts, December 28, 1812. He received the usual 
education of the farmer's son of that period, 
going to the district school in winter and 
working on the homestead at other seasons, 
and he remained at home farming until al)out 
1840, when he hired the Frothingham farm, 
known also as the old Johnson place, and 
conducted it for two years, then removing to' 
Woburn, where he carried on the Joseph 
Kendall farm for three years, after which he 
returned to his native place and cared for 
his ]5arents during their old age. He inherit- 
ed the homestead at Burlington, and j^roved 
a successful farmer. He manufactured cider 
in addition to his general farming. He was a 
man of quiet manner, but of fixed principles 
and sturdy character, and was loved and re- 
spected by a large circle of friends. He was 
a Whig in early life, later a Republican; was 
delegate to many nominating conventions; 
highway surveyor; overseer of the poor; and 
in 1872 representative to the general court. 
He was active in the temperance movement, 
and himself a total abstainer. He attended 
the Burlington Congregational Church. He 
was in the militia when a young man. He 
died June, 1883. He married, at Woburn, 
June 4. 1840, Ann Parker, of Woburn, born 
October 23, 1816, and died at Woburn, March 
20, 1879, daughter of Deacon Joseph and 



Betsev (Richardson) P'arker, of Woburn. 
Children: i. Elijah Parker, born December 

28, 184 1. 2. Ann Elizabeth, born May 14, 
1843; married, October 5, 1865, John Pol- 
lock, of Potsdam, New York; children: i. Ida 
Marion Pollock, born December 27, 1865; ii. 
Harriet Elizabeth Pollock. 3. Charles Ed- 
ward, born August 16, 1846; married Octo- 
ber 12, 1870, Katherine Downes of West- 
brook, Maine; children: i. Henry Elmer, 
born September 15, 1871; married Ethel 
Giggie; ii. Francis Herbert, born September 

29, 1876; married Emily Sanborn, of Wo- 
burn; no issue; iii. Everett Hancock, born 
January 6, 1882; died April 8, 1882; iv. Einily 
Elva, born .^pril 3, 1883; married Myron 
Lovering of Woburn; child, Everett August- 
us, born September 9, 1907. 4. William 
Chester, born May 23, 1852; married Sarah 
Thompson, of Stoneham, Massachusetts; 
children: i. Louis Chester; ii. Arthur; iii. 
Everett; iv. Helen; v. Stanton. 5. Ella 
Chestina, born December 7, 1834; lives at 
Burlington, unmarried. 

(VHI) Elijah Parker Marion, son of Eli- 
jah Marion (7), was born at Burlington, De- 
cember 28, 1841. He removed with his par- 
ents when an infant to Woburn, but returned 
when about five years old, and was educated 
in the district schools of Burlington and at 
the Warren Academy of Woburn. He 
worked with his father on the farm until after 
he came of age, until he was about thirty- 
five, when he removed to Woburn and 
bought, June 21, 1879, his present farm on 
Lowell street, which now comprises twenty- 
six acres, of Luther Wyman, of Brooklyn, 
New York. It was the old Wyman place, 
situated at 47 Lowell street, in Central 
Square. Mr. Marion is engaged in market 
gardening, raising celery, cucumbers, lettuce 
and tomatoes for the Boston market, sending 
produce twice a week by his own teams. Be- 
sides his homestead, Mr. Marion has invested 
in other Wol)urn real estate, having three 
houses in Hart Place. He is a man of sterl- 
ing character and large influence in the com- 
munitv, widely known and esteemed. He at- 
tends the Congregational church. In politics 
he is a Republican, and has represented his 
party in state, senatorial and representative 
conventions. In 1896 and 1897 he was a 
member of the board of aldermen of Woburn. 

He married, June 24, 1878, Evelyn Man- 
ning, who was born in Burlington, July 3, 
1845, daughter of William and Elizabeth 
(Shedd) Manning, of Burlington. Her father 
was a shoemaker and farmer. Children: i. 





i^yi^crn^ 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



333 



Edith Evelyn, born June 22, 1879; graduate 
of Burdette Business College, Boston; book- 
keeper; resides at home. 2. Guy Ehvood, 
born March 25, 1882; graduate of Tufts Col- 
lege; now employed by the American Brass 
Company, Waterbury, Connecticut. 



(For early geiieratious see John Marion 7.) 

I'rank llartwell Marion, son 
MARION of Deacon John Marion (7), 
was born at Burlington, 
Massachusetts, March 11, 1853. lie received 
his education in the connnon schools of his 
native town and at Warren Academy at Wo- 
burn. He worked at home on his father's 
farm during his youth, except during school 
terms. At the age of seventeen he was ap- 
prenticed to learn the trade of key finisher 
in the factory of Sylvester Tower, manufac- 
turer of piano keys at Cambridgeport, Massa- 
chusetts. Here he remained for eighteen 
months, and then accepted a similar position 
in the factory of Milo Whitney, organ 
key manufacturer at 201 West Brookline 
street, Boston. He worked there six years, 
residing in the meantime in Stoneham, 
Massachusetts. In 1885 he bought of his 
brother Wheeler Marion the present five- 
acre farm situated in the western part of Wo- 
burn, on Cambridge street, a part of the old 
Shedd place, formerly known as the Jonas 
Hale farm. Mr. Marion has since been en- 
gaged in market gardening, making a speci- 
alty of lettuce, cucumbers and celery, and 
raising also general produce. In 1903 he built 
a well-equipped greenhouse, 30 by 212 feet, 
fitted with the latest heating apparatiis. His 
market wagons make daily trips to Boston. 
Mr. Marion attends the ( )rthodo.x Congrega- 
tional Church at W'oburn. In politics he is a 
Republican. 

He married, August 31, 1879, Clara Trull 
Thompson, born at Stoneham, November 7, 
1852, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Green 
(Sturtevant) Thompson, of Stoneham. Her 
father was a shoe manufacturer, and was 
prominent in town affairs, serving as assessor 
and selectman. Children: i. John Trull, 
born at Stoneham, September 19, 1882. 2. 
Bertha Thompson, born at Stoneham, Sep- 
tember 8, 1884. 3. Gertrude Belle, born at. 
Woburn, February 16, 1888. 



John Graves, the immigrant an- 
GR.AVES cestor, was born in England. 

settled among the first at Con- 
cord, Massachusetts, and was one of the first 
members of the church at Concord. He re- 



moved to Connecticut. Children: i. Benja- 
min, mentioned below. 2. John, born about 
1650; married, December i, 1671, Mary 
Chamberlain, and had son John, born July 8, 
1672. 3. .Vbraham, married Ann Hayward, 
and had Elizabeth and Sarah. 4. Sarah, mar- 
ried, April 23, 1072, Joseph Brabrook. 

(11) Benjamin Graves, son of John Graves 
(.1), was born about 1645. tie married at 
Concord, Alassachusetts, October 21, 1668, 
Mary Hoar, daughter of John Hoar, of Con- 
cord. He was a soldier in King Pliilip's war 
in Captain Thomas Wheeler's company, and 
was in the tights at Wicnaboag Pond and at 
Brookfield, .August 16, 1675. He served at 
Groton in l-ebruary, 1675-7O, and his name 
appears again on the pay-roll August 24, 1676. 
Children, born at Concord: 1. Mary, born 
January 18, 1668. 2. Elizabeth, born April 
25, 1(371. 3. Ruth, born November 25, 1O74. 

4. Benjamin, born March 2, 1670-77, died at 
Colchester, Connecticut, December 30, 1652. 

5. Joseph, born September i, 1679. 6. 
Joanna, February 2, 1O81-82. 7. John, men- 
tioned below. 

(HI) Deacon John Graves, son of Benja- 
min Graves (2), was born alx)ut 1688-89. tie 
lived at Saybrook and Killingworth, Connec- 
ticut. He was elected deacon of the church. 
He married Hannah Farnum. Children, born 
at Killingworth: i. John, born 1708-09; re- 
moved to Walpole, New Hampshire, before 
1762, after his brothers had settled there; was 
fence viewer 1762; selectman in 1764; deacon 
in 1778; one of twenty-five members of the 
old church in 1767, under Rev. Thomas Fes- 
senden ; bought a large tract of land still 
owned or recently by his descendants, 
the land extending east from Lane's 
Mills to and including the place lately 
owned by William Graves ; sons : i. 

John, Jr. ; ii. Eliphas, married 

W'ebb, and second Hannah Kelsey, of New- 
port, New Hampshire ; iii. Eliad, married 
.-\bigail Clark, located on the homestead 
owned lately by William Graves. 2. Nathan, 
bom about 1710; sons: i. Joel, settled on the 
border of Westmoreland and Walpole, New 
Hampshire, on a plat now known as the 
Graves pasture now or lately owned by Henry 
Burt ; was a clockmaker, and went by the sol> 
riquet of "Jinglefoot Graves;" ii. Azel 
(Asahel) was at the Ashuelots (Keene and 
Walpole, New Hampshire) among the earliest, 
perhaps earlier than his father and uncles ; 
served in the military company in 1748, Cap- 
tain Josiah Willard. 3. Hannah, born about 
1712. 4. .Abner, born about 1714: mentioned 



334 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



below. 6. .\aron, born 1716; removed to 
W'alpole. New Hampshire, before 1750, and 
IS the progenitor of one of the largest and 
most respectable families of that town ; mar- 
ried in Saybrook, Connecticut, or vicinity, and 
brought several children with them. ( See 
"History of Walpole, New Hampshire" for 
children.) He died .August 8, 1814, aged 
ninet)'-two years : his wife Phebe died M'arch 
20, 1813, aged eighty-five years. 7. Lydia. 
8. Mary. 9. Phebe. 10. Sylvanus. 

(IV) Abner Graves, son of Deacon John 
Graves (3), was born in Connecticut, in 1714: 
was soldier in the French war with Phineas 
and Josiah Graves, in Captain Bezaleel Bris- 
tol's company. He removed to the Ashuelots, 
from which was established the towns of Wal- 
pole and Keene, etc. There he and Joshua 
Graves (brother or cousin), obtained the lib- 
erty to turn the stream of the East Branch, 
May 29, 1759, for building a saw mill and 
corn mill. 

(V) Ezekiel Graves, son (or nephew) of 
Abner Graves (4), was born in Killingworth, 
about 1748, and was killed at Acworth in an 
accident in June, 1813, and was si.xty4.'ive years 
old. He married ; children, all baptized at 
the same time in 1794 in Walpole, New 
Hampshire: i. Sylvanus, named for his 
uncle; died unmarried, in 1841, at Burlington, 
Vermont. 2. Abner, had a cousin of the same 
name ; mentioned below. 3. Orange (this odd 
name is found among the descendants of 
Thomas Graves of Hartford, Connecticut) : 

married Sykes. 4. Hannah, married 

Thomas Cunningham. 5. Pamelia, bom 
August XI, 1791 : died January 13, 1766; mar- 
ried Dr. Anson Davton, of Harpersfield, New 
York. 

(VI) Abner Graves, son of Ezekiel Graves 
(5), was born in Walpole, New Hampshire, 
or vicinity, about 1780. He removed from 
Walpole. New Hampshire, to StrafTord, Ver- 
mont, where he married Katherine Kibling, of 
Ashburnham, Massachusetts. This name was 
originally Kiblinger, of German origin. 
Jacob Kibling, the immigrant, was born in 
Germany, in 1753, and came to Ashburnham, 
Massachusetts ; died at Strafford, Vermont, in 
1839: married Sarah Coolidgc, who died at 
Strafford at the age of ninety-one years ; their 
children : i. John Kibling, born May 9, 1778, 
died at Ashburnham, Massachusetts; ii. 
Sarah Kibling, born February 3, 1780; mar- 
ried Bundy, of Ludlow, Vermont ; iii. 

Catherine, born May 3, 1782; mentioned 
above ; married Abner Graves ; iv. Jacob Kib- 
ling. Jr., lx)rn November 9, 1784, married 



Miss Slyfield; v. Betty Kibling, born March 
16. 1793, married 15enjamin George; vi. 
Sylva Kibling, born October 15, 1795, mar- 
ried Thomas Hazeltine ; vii. Stillman Kibling, 
born i\larch 26, 1800; married Amelia Hatch; 
viii. Nancy Kibling, married Luther Fay, of 
Sharon, Vermont. Abner Graves was a far- 
mer and veterinary surgeon widely known in 
his section of the state, and he practiced till 
within a few years of his death. He died in 
i860, his wife in 1863. Children: i. Cather- 
me, died 1876; married first, George W. 
Brockway, of Sutton, Vermont, and had chil- 
dren : George W. Brockway, of Penacook, 
New Hampshire, and Jerome B. Brockway, of 
Williamstown, Vermont; Catherine married 
second, Joel Bolster, of Barre, Vermont. 2. 
George Washington, born February 14, 1805 ; 
mentioned below. 3. Willard, died October 
9, 1882; married Elizabeth Walker, of Heb- 
ron, New Hampshire ; son, Dr. Frank Graves, 
of Woburn. Massachusetts. 4. Sarah, died 
1876 ; married Horace Smith, of Williams- 
town, Vermont ; children : i. Willard Smith, 
of Rome, New York ; ii. Solon Smith, of 
Washington, Vermont; iii. Belle (Mrs. 
Flury), of St. Albans, Vermont. 5. Pamelia, 
died aged fifty-four; married Ambrose Ris- 
ing, at Barre, Vermont. 6. Emily, born 1820; 
married Nathan Brown, of Strafford, Ver- 
mont; daughter Kate married Rev. T. 
Thompson, of Lynn, and resides in Norwood, 
Massachusetts. 7. Sylvanus, born 1815, at 
St. Johnsbury, died 1883, aged sixty-eight; 
m.arried Frindy C. Ide, of St. Johnsbury, Ver- 
mont: one child living, Helen. 8. Orange, 
born 1822, lived with his son at Nicolaus, 
California ; married Loretta Chandler, of Straf- 
ford, Vermont ; four sons are farmers in Cali- 
fornia. 9. Wilder, died young. 10. Royal, 
died aged two years. These children are not 
given in the order of their birth. 

(VII) George Washington Graves, son of 
Abner Graves (6), was born in Strafford, Ver- 
mont, February 14, 1805. He was educated 
in the public schools of his native town, and 
married October 17, 1833, Laurinda Watson, 
born January 15, 1812. (See sketch of the 
Watson family.) After living a few years at 
Strafford he removed to West Fairlee, Ver- 
•mont, and thence to Chelsea, Vermont, where 
he kept a hotel for several years before the 
railroads displaced the stage lines. He re- 
moved thence to East Randolph, Vermont, 
and continued in the hotel business until the 
gold discovery in California in 1849. After 
three years in the gold fields he returned in 
1852 to East Randolph, and engaged again 



MIDDLESEX COCXTV. 



335 



in the hotel business, and became postmaster 
and selectman. He was a man of wide in- 
fluence, highly esteemed by his townsmen, and 
a useful citizen. He died at East Randolph. 
July 2b, 1879. After liis death his widow 
lived with her son George, at Maiden. She 
died while on a visit to her daughter at Gran- 
ville, (Jhio, January 2, 1887. Children: I. 
Frances Jane, born in Strafford, Vermont. July 
7. 1834 ; died in Worcester, November 6. 
1893 : married Benjamin F. Parkhurst, of 
Royalton, \"erni(jnt. who served four years in 
the Union army during the civil war : chil- 
dren : Helen Marcella, lived with her father 
in Shrewsbury. Massachusetts ; married Syl- 
vester Dwight Judd. Ph.D.. now deceased, of 
the biological survey of Washington, D. C. 
and professor of biology in Georgetown Uni- 
versity. Mr. Parkhurst married (second) 
Harriet Maynard, and lives in Florida. 2. 
Laura, born July 5, 1837, died in infancy. 3. 
.Susan Marcella. born at Strafford. Vermont, 
July 22,, 1839 ; became teacher in a female 
college in Granville. Ohio : married \V'illiam 
P. Kerr, the principal, now deceased ; she lives 
with her three children in Newton Highlands, 
Massachusetts: children: i. Hattie B., born 
April 2. 1870 ; ii. William P.. born October 
17. 1874; iii. George H., boni November 19, 
1880 : iv. Paul, died in infancy. 4. George 
Henry, born in West Fairlee, March 10, 1844; 
see forward. 5. Charles, born January 16. 
1847, fl'cd in infancy. 

(\'ni) George Henry Graves, son of 
George Washington Graves (7), was born in 
West Fairlee, V^ermont. March 10, 1844. He 
was educated in the public schools of Ran- 
dolph. Vermont. In 1861 he entered the 
army, civil war, as a member of Company G, 
Eighth ^'^e^mont Volunteers, at the age of 
seventeen: 1862. transferred to signal corps, 
regular army. Department of the Gulf: 
1864. honorably discharged from the regular 
army at New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1865 he 
graduated from Comer's Commercial College, 
Boston. In 1865 entered the service of J. J. 
Walworth & Co., Boston: 1888-1892. director 
of Prudential Fire Insurance Company, 
Boston; 1892-1897, director of Maiden Board 
of Trade (resigned) ; 1892-1902, director of 
Maiden Co-operative Bank ; vice-president, 
1903-04 (resigned) ; 1898-1900, master of 
Winslow Lewis Lodge (Masons), Boston; 
1901-1902. president of Vermont \''eterans' 
Association : 1903-1904, trustee of Home Sav- 
ings Bank. Boston (resigned) ; 1904. com- 
mander of Edward E. Kinsley Post. No. 113, 
G. .\. R., Boston ; since 1886, treasurer of 



Walworth Manufacturing Company (J. J. 
Walworth & Co., Inc.) ; since 1889, director 
of \\ alworth .Manufactiring Company ; since 
1890. trustee for bondholders of the Kern- 
wood Club, Maiden ; since 1896. director of 
Kernwood Club, president. 11/33-04; since 
1897. director of Boston Credit .Men's Asso- 
ciation, president, 1907-08; since 1900, mem- 
ber of the Past Masters' .Vssociation 
(Masons), Boston; since 1901. Sinking Fund 
Commissioner, City of ^lalden : since 1902, 
director of National .Association of Credit 
Men; since 1904, trustee of Maiden Savings 
Bank; 1907, member of (jrand I,odge of 
Masons, grand sword bearer. 

Air. Graves married, June 26, 1880, ,\nnie 
J. Rollins, who died the following summer, 
leaving no children. He married (second), 
June 20, 1888, Stella Hadlock, born in Jay, 
Vermont, September 22. 1861, daughter of 
Orrison Pratt Hadlock (see Hadlock). One 
child was born of this marriage, George Elwyn 
Graves, born in Maiden, November 29, 1889, 
he attended the (Oxford private school in 
Maiden, and Noble and Greenough School, 
Boston, and entered Harvard in 1907, at the 
age of eighteen years. 



The surname Watson is de- 
WATSON rived from "Wat," the fa- 
miliar form for Walter, with 
the termination "son." signifying, therefore, 
"son of Walter." It is of English origin, 
though the family for some generations be- 
fore coming to America lived near London- 
derry, in the north part of Ireland, and inter- 
married with the Scotch-Irish people there. 
The Watson family of England bore arms, 
anfl nu-nihers of the family were barons of 
Rockingham. To this branch of the family 
it is believed that the .\nierican family's de- 
jcent may be traced. 

Edward Watson of Lydington, Rutland 
county, had fifteen children. His eldest 
son and heir died in 1530, leaving a 
son Edward, of Rockingham Castle, county 
Northampton. His son, the second Baron 
of Rockingham, married Lady Anne 
Went worth, eldest daughter of the Earl 
of Stafford, and had two sons : Lewis, 
who became the Baron of Rockingham; and 
Thomas, who took his mother's name, Went- 
worth. The son of this Thomas (Watson) 
W'entworth became Earl of Malton, and later 
also the heir of the Barony of Rochester. 
The arms of the family, brought to .America 
by the first emigrant, are: Parted pr. pale 



336 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



first argent on chevron azure, three crescents 
or between three martletts sable. (See 
"Watson Family of Leicester," printed for 
the family.) 

(I) Matthew Watson, the immigrant an- 
cestor, was from Londonderry, coming to 
Boston in 1718 with his wife ;\Iary Orr. Her 
father was a victim of the Catholic soldiers at 
the time of the siege of Londonderry. He 
was not only killed, but his head was severed 
from the body and borne on a pike. A 
branch of this Orr family settled in New 
Hampshire, where the largest number of the 
Scotch-Irish immigrants settled. The Wat- 
sons spent the first season in Framingham, 
Massachusetts, and in 1720 settled in Leices- 
ter and built their home. In that year Mr. 
Watson introduced the potato in that section. 
Before the year was closed he was killed by 
a falling tree, and his widow and children 
had to take up the task of carrying on the 
farm. In Ireland he had been a manufac- 
turer anil dealer in linens and cloth. He 
married there in 1695, and eight of their nine 
children were born in Ireland, the youngest 
beiTig born on shipboard on the voyage. 
Watson was buried where the Leicester Con- 
gregational church now stands. Children: i. 
Alatthew, born March, 1696; died at Barring- 
ton, Rhode Island, January 17, 1803, aged one 
hundred and seven years ; married Bethia Reed : 
had a remarkable career: left an estate worth 
$80,000, a fortune for his day. 2. Samuel, 
born 1698: mentioned below. 3. Patrick, 
born 1706. 4. Robert. 5. William. 6. 
Elizabeth, born 1709; died December i, 181 5. 

7. Margaret, married McNeal. 8. 

John, born November, 1716; died at Palmer, 
November 9, 1795. 9. Oliver, born 1718; 
died December 20, 1804. 

(II) Samuel Watson, son of Matthew 
Watson (i), was born in Ireland, in 1698, 
and died in Leicester, Massachusetts, March 

19, 1776. He married Margaretta , 

who was born in 1703 and died August 6, 
1780. He was a farmer at Leicester, Massa- 
chusetts, all his life. Children, born in Lei- 
cester: I. Elizabeth, born July 22, 1723; 
married November 23, 1752, Robert Paul. 2. 
William, born February 11, 1724; died at Ox- 
ford, Massachusetts, August 9, 1775: married 
Mary Gibson of Voluntown, Connecticut; 
second, in 1752, Abigail Pierce, widow of 
Jacob, June 8, 1773. 3. Samuel, born De- 
cember 9, 1728; married his cousin, Abigail 
Watson, daughter of IMathew Watson (2). 4. 
John, born December 8, 1730. 5. Daniel, 
born October 2, 1732. 6. Matthew, born 



April 22, 1740; married April 27, 1762, Mary 
Taylor, born September 9, 1744, died January 
5, 1762. 7. Johnson, born 1741; died Sep- 
tember 30, 1777; married March 29, 1764, 
Lydia Sargent. 8. Benjamin, born 1746; 
died December 4, 1831, aged eighty-five; 
married Ruth Bancroft, who died September 

13. 1834- 

(III) John Watson, son of Samuel Watson 
(2), was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, 
December 8, 1730, and died at Spencer, 
Massachusetts. He removed to Spencer in 
1766, and lived there the rest of his days. He 
married April 9, 1761, Dinah Viles, who died 
November 2, 1802, aged sixty-five years. His 
farm was lately owned and occupied by 
Warner Livermore, of Spencer. Children, 
born in Leicester and Spencer, the first two 
in Leicester: i. John, March 6, 1762. 2. 
Jacob, January i, 1765. 3. Enoch, August 
30, 1767. 4. Lydia, October i, 1769. 5. 
Leonard, January 13, 1772. 6. Henry, Octo- 
ber 29, 1774. 7. David, October 2, 1776; 
mentioned below. 8. Sally, December 8, 

1779- 

(IV) David Watson, son of John Watson 
(3), was born in Spencer, Massachusetts, Oc- 
tober 2, 1776; married January 21, 1799, 
.A,nna Elliot, a descendant of John Eliot, 
the Apostle to the Indians, who came to 
Massachusetts in 1631. She was born Janu- 
ary 14, 1779. David was a tanner and inn- 
keeper at Williamstown, Vermont. He died 
there February 2/. 1865; his wife died No- 
vember 18, 1862. Children, born in Will- 
iamstown, Vermont: i. Anna, born Decem- 
ber 12, 1799; married Abner Nichols, Jr. 2. 
Joseph Elliot, born September 16, 1801. 3. 
Arnold Lamb, born July 26, 1803. 4. Eliza- 
beth, born September 21, 1805; married 
Keene W. Davis. 5. Catherine, born Febru- 
ary 19, 1810; died March 8, 1810. 6. Laur- 
inda, born January 15, 1812; married George 
Washington Graves (see sketch of Graves 
family herewith). 7. David, born May 3, 
1813;' died October 2, 1813. 8. Charles 
Dwight, born April 15, 181 5; married Abi- 
gail Smith. 9. Susan, bom June 5, 1817; 
married George L. Simonds. 10. Leonard 
Kittridge, born December 13, 1818. 11. 
George Henry, born December 24, 1820. 



James Hadlock, the immi- 
HADDOCK grant ancestor, was born in 

England, and settled in 
Salem and Roxbury, Massachusetts. He 
married three times. The name of his first 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



337 



wife is unknown: he married second, May 19, 
1669, Sarah (Hutchinson) Draper, widow of 

Draper, and daughter of Richard 

Hutchinson. He married third, before 1678, 

Rebecca . He made his will in Saleiu. 

November 14, 1678, proved at Moslon. June 
13, 1685. Children: i. James; mentioned be- 
low. 2. Mar)', married December 30, 1689, 
John Wothen. 3. Hannah. 4. Rebecca, 
born 1657. 5. John, bom 1658: married 
Sarah Pasco, and lived in Salem. 6. Sarah. 
born December 26, 1670. 

(H) James Hadlock, son of James llad- 
lock (i), was born in Salem. .Massachusetts, 
and settled in the adjacent town of .-Vmcs- 
bury. Massachusetts. He married, about 
1680, Abigail .Martin, daughter of George 
Martin. He was taxed at Salem \'illage in 
1682. His will was dated September 8. 17 14, 
and proved July 2. 1716. He left a widow 
Abigail. Children: 1. John. 2. .'-iarali, 
married tjeorge. 3. .\bigail. married 

Lowe. 4. 5 and 6. Three sons not 

mentioned in will. 7. Samuel, fifth son, born 
May 18, 1688-9. 8. Hannah. 9. Mary. 10. 
Damaris, mentioned in will. 11. Joseph, 
born November 2"]. 1700: mentioned below. 
12. Ruth, born July 15, 1705. 

(HI) Joseph iiadlock. son of James Had- 
lock (2), was born in .Amesbur)-, Massachu- 
setts, November 27. 1700. He settled in 
Amesbury: married Prudence . Chil- 
dren, baptized in the I-'irst Church of .Ames- 
bury: I. Jonathan, baptized July 9, 1732: 
mentioned below. 2. Elizabeth, baptized 
.March 16, 1734-5. 3. Joseph, Jr. (See "His- 
tory of Weare, New Hampshire," giving de- 
scendants). 

(IV) Jonathan Hadlock, son of Joseph 
Hadlock, (3) was born in .Amesbury. .Massa- 
chusetts, in 1732, and baptized there in the 
First Church. July 9. 1732. He settled with 
his brother Joseph in Weare, New Hamp- 
shire, and married Betty Pettee. He re- 
moved later in life to Rath. New Hampshire, 
and finally to Jay, X'ermont, where both he 
and his wife died. Children, born at Weare: 
I. Abigail, born March 19. 1769; died April 
4, 1769. 2. Samuel, born June 18, 1770, 
married Miriam Hadlock, removed to De- 
Kalb. New York. 3. Hezekiah, born .August 
10, 1772. died at (niildhall. X'erniont. 4 
Jonathan. Jr., born November 28, 1774. 5. 
Joseph, born March 4. 1777: mentioned be- 
low. 6. Pietty. born March 24. 1779. 7- 
Peter, born September 17. 1781, married 
Polly Straw, and removed to .Shipton. C. L. 
8. Miriam, born March 1784. 9. Rhoda. 

li-2 



born 1786. 10. Stephen, born l"ebruarv 20, 
1790. 

l\') Joseph Hadlock, son of Jonathan 
Hadlock (4). was born at Weare, New Hamp- 
shire, .March 4, 1777. He settled at Jay, Ver- 
mont, with his father about 1800; married 
Olive Sanborn. He had a son: Joseph, Jr. 

(\I) Joseph Hadlock, son of Joseph Had- 
lock (5), was born in Jay, \'ermont, about 
1800: married there .Alvira Bailey: was a 
farmer, member of the Orthodo.x Congrega- 
tional Church. He had two children: Ar- 
vesta, married HoUis Pjaker, of Newport, 
N'ermont, and ( )rrison I'ratt. 

(\'II) Orrison Pratt Hadlock. son of Jo- 
seph Hadlock (6), was born in Lyme, New 
Hampshire. October 21, 1833. He followed 
farming in youth and early manhood, then 
conducted a mill at North Troy. Vermont, 
and became one of the most substantial and 
prominent men of that town. He held many 
offices of trust and responsibility, and was 
selectman many years. He married Aurilla 
-Manuel, born in North Troy. \'ermont, De- 
cember 3, 1839. daughter of dardner and 
Susan (Morse) .Manuel. Her father was a 
carpenter and builder, was a soldier in the 
war of 1812. and in politics was a Whig. 
Children of Orrison Pratt and .Aurilla (.Man- 
uel) Hadlock: i. Stella, born Septeiuber 22. 
1861: married George H. Graves: (see 
Graves). 2. Ida Susan, born .April 15. 1863; 
married C. M. Verbeck: reside in Maiden: 
five children. 3. Rosetta Eliza, born .August 
31. 1866: married Charles O. Fowler: reside 
ill .\orth Troy, \^ermont: three children. 4. 
Edson Orrison. born .April 25, 1869: mar- 
ried Edith Courser: reside in Los .Angeles, 
California: two children. 5. Harold Gardner, 
born -May I. 1880: unmarried: resides in 
North Trov, \'ermont 



.Alexander Simpson, the im- 
SIMPSON migrant ancestor, was progen- 
itor of most of the .Simpsons 
of New Hampshire. He was of Scotch ances- 
try, and came with other Scotch Presbyterians 
from the province of Ulster, near London- 
derry, in the North of Ireland, to Windham, 
New Hampshire. He bought a farm of James 
Wilson, November 24, 1747, and .settled in a 
meadow about forty rods southeast of Rolx-rt 
Simp.son"s house. His brother-in-law, .Adam 
Templeton. came with him, and bntli reared 
log houses upon the surface of the ground, 
without cellars, within a few rods of each 
• ther. .Simpson was a weaver, and a highly 



338 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



skilled workman. He often said that he could 
weave anything, when the warp was strong 
enough to bear the weight of his beaver hat. 
Warner Livermore, of Spencer. Children, 
Teinrjleton was a maker of spinning wheels, 
and he carried his wheels on horseback 
through the Scotch settlements, where he 
found a ready market for his handiwork. 
Simpson followed his trade also, while clear- 
ing off the land and opening up his farm. A 
slight depression in the soil yet marks the spot 
where Simpson and Templeton excavated for 
the spring from which they procured water. 
After several years Simpson moved about Sfty 
rods southwest and erected a frame house on 
what is now jMarblehead road, a few rods 
south of tlie Deacon Dana Richardson house, 
on the opposite side of the road, and the cellar 
]ilace of his house is yet discernible. He died 
December 12, 1788, aged sixty-seven years. 
He married Janet Templeton, who died July 
28, 1787, aged sixty-eight years. Their chil- 
dren, born in Windham: i. William, born 
March 22, 1745, died young. 2. Agnes, born 

April 29, 1747; married Boardman : 

resided in Chelsea, Massachusetts. 3. William, 
born February 5, 1748; married three times; 
died October 15, 1830. 4. Janet, born Janu- 
ary 22, 1750; married George Wilson, who 
lived near Bissell's Camp. 5. Sarah, born 
February 9, 1753; removed to \^ermont. 0. 
John, bom November 8, 1754, of whom 
further. 7. Alexander, Jr., born November 
28, 1756; lived in Bow, New Hampshire. 8. 
Samuel, born 1760; married Sarah Smith; 
died August 4, i8o6. 

(H) John Simpson, son of Alexander 
Simpson (i), was born at Windham, Novem- 
ber 8, 1754, and died November 18, 1824. He 
had a house in the field a few rods west of the 
highway, at the head of Golden Pond, and the 
ruins of a house there were still visible at last 
accounts. He built on the opposite side of 
the road a small one-story house (the cellar 
of which is yet to be seen, 1908), and lived 
there until his death. He was a soldier in the 
revolution, and at the battle of Bunker Hill 
two of his fingers were shot away by a cannon 
ball, and for this injury he received a pension 
during his last years. Also, as attested by Dr. 
Isaac Thom, of Windham, he was placed upon 
the invalid list and received half pay from Jan- 
uary, 1776, to September, 1786, to the amount 
of £127. He prospered, and was one of the 
wealthiest farmers in the southerly part of the 
town, and was regarded as a man of much 
natural ability and broad influence. He mar- 
ried Mary Hennessy, of whom the historian 



of Windham says : "She was a conscientious 
but high-tempered woman. In those days jus- 
tices' courts were often held to settle neigh- 
borhood ditificulties, and when she was brought 
on as a witness she was often too honest and 
outspoken for the good of her side of the con- 
troversy." She died January 3, 1804. He 
married (second) Margaret Smith, of Salem, 
wliii died October 22, 1809, aged forty-nine 
years. He married (third) in 1810, Mrs. Jane 
Wilson, who died May 10, 1854, aged nine- 
ty-six years ; she was the widow of Thomas 
Wilson, who died at Francestown in 1808, 
and had eleven children by her first marriage. 
Children of John and Mary Simpson: i. Jolin, 
Jr., born February 27, 1781 ; married Mar- 
garet Smith, of Salem ; removed to Pelham, 
Nev^' Hampshire, then to New York, where he 
died. 2. Sarah, born November 21, 1783; 
married Alexander Smith, of Salem, and re- 
moved to Delaware, Ohio. 3. Alexander, born 
January 12, 1786; died May 22, 1804. 4. Jesse, 
born December 6, 1787; see forward. 5. Abi- 
gail, born December 11, 1789; married Levi 
Creasy ; went to Ohio. 6. Persis, born July 
13, 1793; married March 14, 1816, John A. 
Wilson. 7. Alice, born December 18, 1795 ; 
married, April 18, 1815, Thomas Wilson. 

(II) William Simpson, son of Alexander 
Simpson (i), was born February 5, 1748. He 
owned and lived upon a farm east of the T. 
W. Simpson mill. His house stood a few rods 
west of the present highway, and the old cel- 
lar remains to mark the site. After the death 
of his first wife he sold (1786) the place to 
one Cole, who in turn sold it to George Simp- 
son, of Greenland. He then moved to the farm 
now or lately owned by Mrs. Eva Cuttmg, and 
built the house that was lately demolished by 
S. W. Simpson. In 1825 he moved to a small 
place owned by Alfred Lewis. He was killed 
by falling from a load of wood, October 15, 
1830. He was married three times, and had 
sixteen children : first, Ruth Dow, died July 
16, 1786, aged thirty-eight years; second. 
Widow Grizzel Wilson, died August 23. 1810, 
aged sixty years; third, June 11, 1811, Sarah 
Morgan, died September, 1837, aged eighty 
years. Children, born in Windham: i. Alex- 
ander, born March 16, 1769; sent to Haverhill, 
X'ermont. 2. William, born February 25, 1771. 

3. Sarah, born December 18. 1772, died young. 

4. Sarah, born December 18, 1773. 5. Eliza- 
beth, born January 16, 1775 ; married John 
Hunt ; resided at Bow, New Hampshire, and 
Lowell, Massachusetts. 6. David, born No- 
vember 29, 1776; went west. 7. John, born 
May II, 1778; went to Bradford, Vermont. 8. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



339 



James, born December i6, 1779; went to Ver- 
mont. 9. Daniel, born July 29, 1781 ; went to 
X'ermont. 10. Robert D., born June 29, 1783; 
married, December 3, 1812, Betsey Shedd. 11. 
Molly, bom November 14, 1784. 12. Moses, 
bom July 6, 1786. 13. Samuel Wilson, born 
November 14, 1787; died unmarried, .Vugust 
i5j ^^73'- ''^ was a prominent citizen, and held 
various town offices — was collector of taxes, 
selectman in 1832 to 1838 inclusive, treasurer 
in 1840. representative in 1839, 1840 and 
1857 : was much interested in the schools of 
Windham, and in 1852 gave to district two a 
school fund of $1,000, and offered to give five 
hundred dollars to each of the other six dis- 
tricts provided they should raise a like amount, 
two of W'hich accepted the offer ; he owned and 
occupied the farm now (1908) known as the 
Prescott farm, in district two. 14. Ruth, born 
April 23, 1789; married Jacob Myrick. 15. 
Rebecca, born October 29, 1790; married Jesse 
Simpson, mentioned below. 16. Hannah, born 
October 28, 1792; married Samuel Simpson. 
(Ill) Jesse Simpson, son of John Simpson 
(2), was born in Windham, December 6. 1787, 
and died March 13, 1849. He bought the 
Hugh Clyde farm in W.indham, and lived on 
it until his death, dying on a town meeting 
day, while eating his dimier at the tavern. He 
married Rebecca Simp.son (3), born October 

29, 1790, died .\pril 7, 1868, daughter of Will- 
iam Simpson (2) mentioned above. Qiildren, 
born in Windham : I. Jesse, Jr.. bom October i, 
1810; see forward. 2. .Abigail Hannah, born 
May 24, 1813, died January 25, 1899; resided 
in Lowell. 3. Harriet .Smith, born ^larch 22, 
1815, died June 5, 1890. resided in Lowell. 4. 
Alonzo, born May 22, 1817, see forward. 5. 
Margaret .\nn. born September 5, 1819, died 
September 2. 1842. 6. Emeline Augusta, 
born February 13, 1822, died July 4. 1852. 7. 
Sarah Rebecca, born September 26, 1824; 
died January 29. 1852. 8. John William, 
born .\pril 29. 1827; lived with his uncle, 
Samuel W. Simpson, and died October 25, 
i860, aged thirty-three years; married Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Jonah and Elizabeth (Pat- 
ten) More, of Boston; she was born May 12, 
1829, and died March 18, 1900, at Salem, 
New Hampshire; had child, Eva. born June 
12, 1856. married XN'alter P. Cutting, bom in 
Boston, November 20, 1852; resided on S. 
W^ Simpson farm. 9. Olinthus .Ager, born 
March 31, 1829, died in Lowell, Massachu- 
setts, December 3. 1895: married, December 

30, i860, Emma Jane Stickney, daughter of 
Jonathan Stickney; children: i. George Co- 
nant, born at Windham, November 2, 1862, 



died July 11. 1904; married, i''ebruary 18, 
1895, Annie D. Bratten. ii. .Mary Frances, 
born October 2, 1864. iii. Edward .Alonzo, 
born .August 22, 1867; married, F'ebruary 23, 
1898, Laura E. Sayward. iv. Jesse Stickney, 
born at Lowell, September 19, 1874. 10. 
-Malvina Melissa, born .April 6, 1832, in Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, died .April 12, 1906; 
married as second wife. .Kuguslus Emerson, 
November I. 1877; resided in Dracut, Massa- 
chusetts. II. Eveline Bancroft, lx)rn -May 27, 
1835; married as first wife, .\ugustus Emer- 
son; died July 2. 1876: children: i. .Abbie G., 
died young, ii. .Arthur, born January 17, 
i860, died August 6, 1879. iii. Monroe C, 
born -April 28, 1863; married, October 8, 
1895, .Adaline Shepard. iv. Cora M., born 
December 5. 1865; married, August 28, 1889, 
.\lfred E. Lyford. v. Inez, born July 15, 
1869; married, October 24, 1894. Thomas W. 
-Adams, vi. Effa F., died young. 

(IV) Jesse Simpson, son. of Jesse Simpson 
(3), was born in Windham, October i, 1810. 
He settled in Somerville, where he died, Sep- 
tember II. 1877. He married, .\pril 15, 1840, 
Paulina Avery (Grover) Carroll, bom Janu- 
ary 28, 1805, died November 3, 1887, daugh- 
ter of John and Patience (Babb) CJrover. The 
parents of Patience Babb were William and 
Elizabeth Babb, and their children were: x. 
Patience, born February 2, 1775, died .August 
6. 1843; married John Grover. 2. Dorcas, 
bom January 20, 1777; married Charles Joy. 
Children of John and Patience Grover: i. 
William, born 1797, died 1839; married Mar- 
garet Folson; children: Sarah .A., bom Feb- 
ruary 15. 1819. died January 24, 1903; Wil- 
liam .A., born May 19, 1822, died .April 19, 
1843; John B., born October 17, 1824: Eliza- 
beth E., bom September 11. 1826; Rebecca, 
born 1828. died 1829; Hiram, born 1829; Levi 
L., born 1830; Rebecca E., born June 9, 1832, 
died .August 8, 1863. 2. Eliza. 3. Mary, 
born September 2^. iScx"), died January 5, 
1882; married Joseph H. Center, of Roxbury; 
children: Mary .A., bom Jime 30. 1822, died 
March 24, 1873; Joseph II., Jr., bom .April 8. 
1824, died March 1 1, 1903; Eliza, bom March 
3, 1827, died -April 24, 1843; Emily, bom De- 
cember 10, 1829, died February. 1853: 
George W., born September 10, 1831, died 
May 12. 1883; Emeline and I-'lmira. twins, 
born December 15, 1833; Emeline died Janu- 
ary, i860; Elmira died July, 1838. 4. So- 
phia, married James Wyman. died November 
13, 1863; children: i. Joseph, bom May 26, 
1830; married Mildred Pierce: second. Grace 
McKinley; third, Julia Hutchins. ii. George 



340 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



W., born April 2, 1835; married Susan Little- 
field. 5. Paulina A., born January 28, 1805 ; 
married Jesse Simpson, above named. 6. Ly- 
dia C, born March 23, 1808; married, Sep- 
ember 29, 1833, Ivory Hutchins, died August 
8, 1890; children: i. Charles I., born June 
29, 1834; married Martha M. Witham, Feb- 
uary 22, 1857 ; ii-iii. Julia and George, born 
July 6, 1840; Julia married Joseph Wyman, 
October 2, 1887; iv. Lydia F., born Septem- 
ber 2, 1842; V. Sarah E., born November 12, 
1843. fl'^fi September 24, i860; vi. James W., 
born June 29, 1846, married Mary Perley, 
January 15, 1873, and (second) Sarah E. 
Keyes, February 25, 1880; children: Guy W., 
born October 2j , 1873; Sarah C, born March 
10, 1882: Maud M., born November 21, 1884, 
died voung; Lillian H., born December 15, 
1887.' 

Children of Jesse Simpson (4): i. Margar- 
ret A., born in Somerville, Massachusetts, 
September 2-], 1843. -■ Abby P., born De- 
cember 19, 1846, lives at No. 10 Paulina 
street, Somerville. 3. Charles J., see for- 
ward. 

(IV) ./Monzo Simpson, son of Jesse Simp- 
son, (3), was born in Windham, May 22, 1817, 
and died February 8, 1870. He married Su- 
san M. Frost, of Cambridge. (See Frost). 
They resided in Belmont, Massachusetts. 
Children: i. Sarah Emeline, died May 14, 
i860. 2. Anna M., born February 9, 1856; 
married Charles J. Simpson, mentioned be- 
low. 3. Carrie R., born January 13, 1858, 
died August 16, 1883; married Charles J. 
Simpson, mentioned below. 4. John A., born 
April 19, 1861; married, November 24, 1886, 
Fannie R. Gilman; resides in Lowell; chil- 
dren: Arthur G., born January 4, 1891, died 
August 10, 1892; Marion, born June 6, 1893; 
Roger H., born August 8, 1895. 5-6. Susie 
and Hattie S., twins, born January 10, 1863; 
Susie died August 9, same year; Hattie S., 
died October 30, 1898, married, September 
12, 1894, Hubert H. Logan, children: Ruth 
S., born Alarch 16, 1896; Elsie, born October 
10, 1898. 

(V) Charles J. Simpson, son of Jesse Simp- 
son, (4), was born May 26, 1851. He married 
(first), March 31, 1880, Carrie R. Simpson, 
born January 13, 1858, died August 16, 1883, 
daughter of .\lonzo and Susan (Frost) Simp- 
son, mentioned above. He married (second) 
j\lay 13, 1891, Anna M. Simpson, born Feb- 
ruary 9, 1856, sister of his first wife. Of the 
first marriage was born a son, Harry R. 
Simpson, at Somerville, .August 13, 1883; he 
resides in Somerville. 



(I) Edmund Frost, immigrant 
FROST ancestor, was born in England 

about 1600. He came to Ameri- 
ca in the ship "Defence," in 1635, and set- 
tled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. About 
1639 he bought an estate on the westerly side 
of Dunster street, between Hai'vard Square 
and Mt. Auburn street, which he soon after- 
ward sold to Widow Catherine Fladdon. He 
then bought a house on the westerly side of 
Garden street, near Mason, and occupied it 
in 1642, selling it to Richard Eccles in 1646. 
His subsequent residence is not known with 
certainty, but circumstances indicate that he 
occupied the estate on the •lonherly side of 
Kirkland street, extending from Divinity 
Hall avenue to and beyond Francis avenue, 
this estate remaining in the possession of his 
posterity until a recent date. Paige says: 
"He was reputed to be rich in faith, and man- 
ifestly enjoyed the confidence of Shepard and 
his church. Yet he had trial of earthly pov- 
erty; and while his associate, Elder Champ- 
ney, added acre to acre, and became one of 
the largest landowners in towns, Elder Frost 
possessed little besides his homestead, and 
his pressing wants were relieved by the 
church." He was admitted a freeman March 
3, 1635-6. and was a proprietor in 1636. He 
died July 12, 1672. His will dated April 16. 
1672, proved October i following, bequeathed 
to wife Reana ; to sons Ephraim, Thomas,. 
John and Joseph; to his daughters Sarah and 
Mary ; to Jacob French and wife, and the chil- 
dren of Golden More; to Harvard College^ 
and to Mr. Alcock's son there. His wife 
Tamesin died, and he married (second) before 
1669, Reana Daniel, widow successively of 

James, William Andrew and Robert 

Daniel. Children : i. John, born in England, 
about 1634. 2. Thomas, born April, 1637^ 
died young. 3. Samuel, bom February, 
1637-8. 4. Joseph, born January 13, 1638-9. 
5. James, born April 9, 1640. 6. Mary, born 
July 24, 1645. 7- Ephraim, see forward. 8. 
Thomas. 9. Sarah, bom 1653. 

(II) Ephraim Frost, son of Elder Edmund 
Frost (i), was born in Cambridge, about 
1646. He had the homestead on the northerly 
side of Kirkland street, and was a farmer. 
He died January 2, 1717-8, aged seventy-two 
years. His widow Hepsibah survived him. 
Children, born in Cambridge: i. Edmund, 
born March 14, 1689-90. 2. Ephraim, born 
September 23, 1682, see forward. 3. Thomas, 
born probably 1688. 4. Ebenezer. baptized 
January 17, 1696-7. 5. Sarah, married. May 
17, 1720, Nathaniel Patten. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



341 



(III) lipliraiiii Frost, son of Ephraiin Frost 
(2), was born in Cambridge, September 23, 
1682. lie married Sarah Cooper, September 

9, 1714; slie was a daughter of Deacon Samuel 
Cooper. Ephraim Frost followed farming on 
his homestead at Arlington (Menotomy)." He 
died June 26, 1769; his wife died February 
^i' ^7S3> aged sixty-si.x years. Children, born 
at We.st Cambridge: i. Ephraim, lx>rn July 

10, 1715. 2. Samuel, born December 18, 1716. 
3. Sarah, born January 2, 1718-9, marrierl 
Moses Harrington, and died May 12, 1759. 4. 
Anna, born December 15, 1720, married 
Thomas Adams, September 22, 1737. 5. 
IMartha, born August 4, 1722, married Joseph 
Adams, Jr., January 10, 1740. 6. Eunice, 
born July 19, 1724, died April 10, 1732. 7. 
.\bigail, born April 25, 1726. 8. William, born 
November 13, 1727, died February 13, 1727-8. 
9. Lydia, born August 8, 1729. 

(IV) Ephraim Frost, son of Ephraim Frost 
(3), was both in Arlington, July 10, 1715. He 
resided in .\rlington, then called Menotomy, 
and died there March 5, 1799, aged eighty- 
four years. He was captain in tlie militia, and 
a member of the committee of safety and cor- 
respondence, which was a most important 
body during the Revolutionary war. He mar- 
ried, March 16, 1739, (published March 16), 
Alary, died October 20, 1805, aged eighty- 
nine years, daughter of Deacon John Cutter. 
Children, born at Menotomy: i. Anna, born 
October 22. 1740, died November 20, 1740. 
2. Ephraim. born September 29, 1742. 3. 
Jonatlian, born December 15, 1744; graduated 
at Harvard, 1767, and died April 25, 1771. 4. 
Stephen, born June 18, 1747. 5. Ruhamah, 
born Xovember 4, 1749; married, .August 31, 
17G9, John Russell. 6. Lydia, born October 
21, 1756, died October 23, 1766. 7. John, 
born September 9, I7rx3. 8. .\mos. born Au- 
gust 17, 1763: see forward. 

(\') .\mos Frost, youngest child of Ephraim 
Frost (4), WMS Ixjrn in Arlington, August 17, 
1763. died P'ebruary 25, 1850. He married 
Lydia Bemis, who died February 19, 1855: 
children: i. .'\mos. baptized June i, 1788. died 
June 18, 1812. 2. Joel, baptized March i, 
1789; see forward. 3. Thaddeus, baptized 
December 11, 1791, died October 4, 1792. 4. 
Lydia, bajitizcd Xovember 24. 1793. 5. 
Thaddeus, bajstized h^cbruary 7, 1796. 6. 
\\'illiam, baptized December 3. 1797. 7. 
-Abijah, bajrtized October 13, 1799. 8. Susan, 
baptized September 6, 1801. 9. Mary. 10. 
Emily. 11. Lucinda, born .April 13, 1810; 
married, .April 14. 1831, Oliver Russell: she 
died October 18. 1895, at Belmont. 



(\T) Joel Frost, son of y\nios Frost (5), 
was baptized in Arlington, March i, 1789; 
died October 23, 1839. He married, June 20, 
1819, Caroline Bartlett, daughter of Elisha 
and Sarah (Beals) Bartlett, died September 
23, 1840, and they settled in Newton, Massa- 
chusetts. Children: i. Amos, born 1820, died 
October 24, 1839. 2. Joel, baptized October 
17, 1824, died November 6, 1842, aged twenty 
years. 3. Reuben Bemis, baptized June 2, 
1826. He served in the civil war, in the Forty- 
fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, 
Colonel Codman, and was wounded in battle 
of Kinston, North Carolina. He married Jane 
Peabody. Children: Ilattic, unmarried; Fan- 
nie, married Henry Smith ; Joseph, married 
Maria Tarr ; four died young. 4. Elisha Bart- 
lett, born November 20, 1823; married, Sep- 
tember 10, 1848, Sarah Louisa Lawrence ; re- 
sides at .Ashby, Massachusetts ; children : i. 
Elva Louisa, born February 23, 1850, died 
October 8, 1850. ii. Clarence B., born No- 
vember 4, 1852; married Fannie C. Brewer, 
of Cambridge, Massachusetts. iii. Lunette 
Marion, born December 16, 1857 ; married, 
Xovember 21, 1878, A. W. Brooks, of Ashby. 
iv. Harry Irving, born November 12, 1867. 5. 
Lavinia, born February 10, 1836, died Janu- 
ary 15, 1882; married W. Dana Fletcher, 
1855 ; children : i. J. Willard, born January 10, 
1856, married Miletta Wilder, who died 1894 ; 
he married (second) Etta Whidden. ii. Frank 
H., born .August 5, 1858, died February 23, 
1887. iii. George .A., born September 16, 
1861, married, June 13, 1886, Frances E. 
Jackson, iv. Fannie E., born October 6, 1863, 
died April 10, 1894. v. Walter V., born Jan- 
uary 9, 1866, married, November 21, 1888, 
Cora E. Perkins, vi. Dana F., born October 
6, 1870. 6. Caroline, born December 3, 1831 : 
married, November 3, 1853, Albion O. Rus- 
sell, died January 14, 1859; child. Flovvard .A., 
born .April 5, 1858, died .April 7, 1859. 7. 
.Susan M.. born 1834. died March 25, 1865; 
married, .April 12, 1853, .Alonzo Simpson 
( See Simpson). 



John Spoflford, the iinmi- 
SPOFFORD grant ancestor, was born in 

England in 1612, and died 
in 1678. He settled in Rowley, Massachusetts, 
where before 1643 he was one of the proprie- 
tors. ( )n the division of the common land that 
year he had a house lot granted on Bradford 
street, Rowley, an acre and a half, and had 
many grants later. In 1669 he lived on Spof- 
ford's Hill in Rowlev, and was doubtless the 



342 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



first settler in what is now Georgetown, Mas- 
sachusetts. He had a farm at Gravell Plain, 
now Bald Hill, leased for twenty-one years, 
assigned to his sons John and Samiucl in 1676. 
He married Elizabeth Scott, daughter of 
Thomas Scott. (See Kimball and Scott fami- 
lies.) Spofford died in 1678; his will was 
proved November 6, 1678, bequeathing to 
wife Elizabeth, sons Francis, John, Thomas 
and Samuel ; daughters Elizabeth, Hannah, 
Mary and Sarah. The genealogy makes the 
same error in dates as the Stickney genealogy. 
In all dates given originally in figures (as 
3-1 1-1666, which is January 3, 1666-67) two 
months should be added to the date given in 
the genealogy. As far as possible the dates 
herein are thus corrected. Qiildren : i. Eliza- 
beth, born February 14, 1646-47 : married 
Ale.xander Sessions. 2. John, born Decem- 
ber 24, 1648 ; married Sarah Wheeler. 3. 
Thomas, born January 4, 1650-51 ; married 
Abigail Haggett. 4. Samuel, born January 
31, 1653; mentioned below. 5. Hannah, born 
April T, 1654. 6. Mary, born November i, 

1656; married Hunnewell. and lived 

at Westchester, New York. 7. Sarah, born 
January 15, 1658; died February 15, 1660. 8. 
Sarah, born March 22, 1662 ; married Richard 
Kimball. 9. Francis, born September 24, 
1665 : married Mary Leighton, daughter of 
Richard. 

(II) Samuel Spofiford, son of John Spof- 
ford (i), was born in Rowley, January 31, 
1653, and died January i, 1744, aged ninety- 
one. He married Sarah Burpee, December 5, 
1676, who died November 18, 1729. and was 
buried with her brother John on the old Brad- 
ford farm. He was admitted freeman in 1684. 
He left a numerous posterity. His descend- 
ants have preserved some of his account 
books. Children: i. Samuel, born September 
12, 1677; died September 23, 1677. 2. 
Thomas, born June 6, 1678; married Bethiah 
Hazcltine. 3. Sarah, born September 24, 
1680: married June 10, 1700, Robert Hazel- 
tine. 4. Mary, born August 7. 1682. 5. 
Hannah, born February 12, 1684: married 
Isaac Adams. 6. Ruth, born November 18, 
1,687 : married Samuel Erocklebank. 7. Sam- 
uel, born 1690; mentioned below. 8. Abigail, 
born March 9. 1694; married Samuel Ames. 
9. Mehitahle, baptized May 10, 1698: married 
Nathaniel Harriman. 10. Lydia, born July 7, 
1700. II. Elizabeth, born July 5. 1702: mar- 
ried j-ienjamin Stickney. 

(III) Samuel Spofiford. son of Samuel 
Spofford (2), was born 1690, baptized .April 
27. 1690: married June 17, 1717, Sarah Stick- 



ney, of Boxford, where they settled. He was 
taxed there in 1717. She died September 26, 
1758. Children: i. Bethia, born August 6, 
1719. blind many years. 2. Sarah, baptized 
January 15, 1721. 3. Samuel, born October 
1, 1722. 4. Thomas, born June 10, 1726; 
mentioned below. 5. Amos, born .August 9, 
1729; married Abigail Pease. 

(IV) Thomas Spofford, son of Samuel 
Spofford (3), was born in Boxford, June 10, 
1726; married December 5, 1750, Ro.xbee 
Moody. They were admitted to the First 
Church, December 3, 1750. Children: i. 
Sarah, born September 23, 1751 ; married 
Ephraim Jewett, of Ipswich. 2. Phineas, born 
May I, 1653; married Sarah Chadwick. 3. 
Moody, baptized April 20, 1755 ; married 
Dolly Farnham. 4. Samuel, baptized May 8, 
1757; married Lydia Peaslee. 5. Isaac, born 
May II, 1763; married Mehitable Wood. 6. 
Martha, born 1764; married Joshua Johnson. 
7. Thomas, mentioned below. 

(\') Thomas Spofford, son of Thomas 
Spofford (4), was born about 1740, and died 
about 1830, aged nearly ninety. He was a sol- 
dier in the Revolution, — sergeant in 1777, in 
Lieutenant Isaac Cochran's company. Colonel 
Moor's regiment, to reinforce the Continental 
army at Saratoga; also ensign in Colonel John 
Waldron's regiment of Dover, New Hamp- 
shire, in 1776. He was selectman of the town 
of Pelham, New Hampshire, in 1779. He 
settled in Pelham ; married Esther Pearl, and 

second about 1794 . Children of first 

wife: I. Thomas, born September 14, 1772; 
married Nancy Searle. 2. Abigail, born about 
1774, married General Samuel M. Richard- 
son. 3. Charles, born December 25, 1776; 
married Lucy . 4. Pearl, born Decem- 
ber 7, 177 — ; married Mary Atwood. 5. Dud- 
ley, born December 20, 1779: mentioned be- 
low. 6. John, born February 21, 1783. 7. 
Frederick, lost at sea, sailing from Boston to 
Deer Isle, Maine. Child of second wife : 8. 
Sophia, died 1823, quite young. 

(VI) Dudley Spofford, son of Thomas 
Spofford (5), was born at Pelham, New 
Hampshire, December 20, 1779: married Mary 
Atwood. Children: i. Charles, born Decem- 
ber 4, 1807; married Edna Scales. 2. Mary, 
born February 28, 1809: married Elijah Wil- 
son and Ira Gage. 3. Esther Pearl, born 
March 8, 1810: mentioned below. 4. Pearl, 
born May 11, 1811; married Susan F. Kelso. 
5. .Aaron P., born October 13, 1812: married 
Martha J. Way and Lydia Pike. 6. John, born 
May 20, 1814: married ^Jary .A. Taylor. 7. 
Elizabeth P., born May 13, 1815; married 



.MJDDLICSEX COLWTV. 



.U3 



Moody ilobhs. 8. Sarah, born January 31, 
1817; married Darius Stickncy. 9. Frederick 
A., born October 3, 1818; married Mary 
Stickney. 10. David, born May 2;^. i8jo; 
married Liicinda Hall. 11. Snsan A.. iKirii 
October 29. 1821 ; married Asa Stickney Jr. 
12. Mcses. born June 23, 1823; married 
Acli.sali ]!. I'.utler. 13. George W., born May 
2j. 1825; died May 9, 1887. 14. Samuel M., 
born March 27, 1827; died 1827. 15. Sophia, 
born March 14, 1828: married Henry M. 
Hook, M. D. 16. Pameiia, born July 15, 1830; 
married William Dodge. 17. Ellen A., born 
January 28, 1833, married 1851, John Clark: 
she died at Lincoln, Nebraska, July 4, 1887. 

(\"n) Esther Pearl Spotiford, daughter of 
Dudley Spofford (6), was born March 8, 
1810. She married first Jesse S. Burnham, 
who died September 28. 1847, and second, 
Daniel .\twood. Qiildren of Jesse S. and Es- 
ther P. Piurnham : I. George H. Burnham, 
born May 28, 1832, died December 10, 1907; 
married Emeline C. Boutwell. 2. Esther M. 
Burnham, born March 13. 1834; married June 
28, i860, Daniel Parham. 3. Charles S. 
Burnham, born February 9. 1836; married 
Sarah I. Avery. 4. Sarah Jane Burnham, 
born May 30, 1839; mentioned below. 5. Ed- 
win S. Burnham, born September i, 1841 ; 
married Catherine W. .Adams ; second, Eliza- 
beth Bacon. 6. Willis G. Burnham. born Oc- 
tober I, 1843; married Harriet Ciay. 7. Har- 
riet E. Burnham. Ixirn September 16. 1846; 
married .Albert F. Parker : second. Adolph S. 
Batchcldcr. Child of second husband : 8. 
Daniel Pearl .\twood. born February 23, 1853. 

(\in) Sarah Jane Burnham, daughter of 
Jesse Smith and Esther Pearl ( Spoflford) (7) 
Burnham. was born May 30, 1839 : married 
Charles Tlazen Stickney. (See Stickney.) 



Robert Harrington 
HARRINGTON (1616-1797). the nnmi- 

grant ancestor of Ed- 
win Eugene Harrington, of Maiden, Massa- 
chusetts, was born in England in 1616, came 
to New England and settled at Watertown on 
the Charles river, where he accunnilated dur- 
ing his lifetime six hundred and forty-two and 
a half acres of land valued at £717. He ap- 
pears as a proprietor on the list made out 
1642-44. He was married October i. 1649, to 
Susanna George (1632-1694). and was made 
a freeman May 27. 1663. He held various 
town offices, and was the owner of a grist 
mill. His death occurred May 11. 1707. when 
he was ninety-one years of age. The children 



of Robert and Susanna (George) Harrington 
were : ■ 1. Susanna, Ixirn .August 18, 1649, 
married (first) John Cutting in 1671 ; mar- 
ried (second) Eliezcr lieers in 1690. and he 
died in 1690; married (third) Peter Cloyes, 
of Framingham, in 1704. 2. John, born Aug- 
ust 24, 1O51. died -August 24. 1741. 3. Rob- 
ert, born 1653. died in infancy. 4. George, 
born 1635, fell while fighting against the In- 
dians at Lancaster, February 16, 1676. He 
was one of the first twenty men impressed 
from Watertown in November, 1675, for the 
defence of the colonists against the active hos- 
tilities of the Indians under the leadership of 
I'hilip. His heirs obtained a grant of land 
m Westminster in consideration of his ser- 
vices anfl his brother John who served in the 
same emergency also secured a like grant. 5. 
Daniel, born Novemlx'r i. 1657, became a 
freeman .April 18, 1690, and died .\pril 19, 
1728. 6. Joseph, born 1659, took the free- 
man's oath April 18, 1690. 7. Benjamin, born 
11)61, died 1724. 8. Mary, married John 
Bemis, alwut 1680, and had fourteen children. 

9. Thomas, born April 20. 1665. see forward. 

10. Samuel, born 1666. 11. Edward, born 
1668-69. 12. Sarah, born 1670-71. married, 
November 24, 1687, Joseph Winship, Jr., of 
Cambridge; she died 1710. 13. David, born 
1673. died 1725. 

(II) Thomas Harrington, ninth child of 
Robert and Susanna ((ieorge) Harrington,' 
born .April 20, 1665, died March 29. 1712. He 
was made a freeman .April 18. 1690. He mar- 
ried Rebecca, daughter of Josepli I'emis. and 
widow of John White, and their children 
were: Elienezer. born 1687. Susannah, torn 
1688, married Joshua Kentlall. Rebecca, born 
1690. married Simon Tainter in 17 14. and had 
six children. Thomas, born January 14. 1691- 
92. (jeorge. born 1693. 

(III) George Harrington, youngest son of 
Thomas and Rebecca (Bemis) Harrington, 
was born in Watertown. .\ugust 31, 1695. 
Married. December 3. 1715. llepzibah Fiske, 
daughter of John Fiske. of Watertown. She 
died .March 26, 1736. 

(I\') John Harrington, son of George and 
Hepzibali (Fiske) Harrington, was born No- 
vember 14. 1719. at Waltham. .Married, No- 
vember 13, 1740. Sarah, daughter of John 
Bernard and .Sarah Phillijis. and great-grand- 
daughter of the Rev. George and Elizabeth 
Phillips, first minister at Watertown. 

(V) Abraham Harrington, son of John and 
Sarah (Bernard) Harrington, was torn in 
Weston. Married, November 3. 1776, Anna 
Russell, of Weston. 



344 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(\T) Captain Luther Harrington, son of 
Abraham and Anna (Russell) Harrington, 
was born in Weston, and was the fortieth cap- 
tain in the succession of commanders of the 
Company of Light Infantry of Weston, and 
his brother, Abraham Harrington, born in 
Weston, November i6, 1790, was graduated 
at Harvard, Bachelor of Arts, 1812, Master 
of Arts in course, and died in Hopkinton in 
August, 1828. Captain Harrington married 
Axsah Viles. 

(VII) Andrew J. Harrington, son of Cap- 
tain lAither and Axsah (Viles) Harrington, 
was born in Weston, Massachusetts, Septem- 
ber 19, 1 82 1. He married Almira Brown. 

(VIII) Edwin Eugene Harrington, son of 
Andrew J. and Almira (Brown) Harrington, 
was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, July 
21, 1857. He attended the Brookline gram- 
mar and high schools, and engaged in business 
in Boston with John Graves & Company, pro- 
duce commission merchants. He was married 
January i, 1879, to Carrie A., daughter of 
George W. and Harriet S. (Deering) Bird, of 
Brookline, and granddaughter of Jenner and 
Elizabeth (Cooke) Bird, of Westford, Massa- 
chusetts. They made their home in Maiden, 
Massachusetts, after the birth of theil" first 
child, Mabel Bird Harrington, born in Brook- 
line, Massachusetts, February 22, 1880. Their 
children born in Maiden, Massachusetts, are : 
Elmer Ellsworth Harrington, born 1881, 
graduated at the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology in 1906, and was married October 
8, 1905, to Bertha, daughter of John and Irvet 
(Wight) Milliken, of Buxton, Maine. The 
third child of Edwin Eugene and Hannah S. 
(Deering) Harrington, was Sophronia, born 
February 15, 1883, died 1885, and the fourth, 
an adopted child, Ruth G. Woodbury-Har- 
rington, born January 13, 1897, at Stoughton, 
Massachusetts, daughter of A. F. and Stella 
(Bird) Woodbury, daughter of George W. 
Bird, the mother having died in February, 
1897. 



Nicholas Koorn, probably the an- 
COON cestor of the Coon family of New 
"S'ork, came from Holland to New 
Netherlands about 1642, and settled later at 
Albany. The name was spelled Koen, or 
Coon, some generations later, when we find 
Jurnaem Koen, who married Ann Erhart, at 
Albany, New York. 

(I) Orlando Washington Coon was born in 
New York state. January 9, 1838. He mar- 
ried Nancy Jane Young, perhaps a descendant 



of Simon Young (Joung) who lived in Al- 
bany; he was sherifif of Albany county in 
1696. Children: i. Ada May. 2. Lillian 
Susan. 3. William Henry. 4. Orvis Arthur. 
5. Orville Ervin ; mentioned below. 

(II) Orville Ervin Coon, son of Orlando 
Washington Coon ( i ) , was born in Concord, 
New Hampshire, September 8, 1876. He was 
educated in t^ie public schools of his native 
town. He was apprenticed to learn the jew- 
elry trade, when he was seventeen years old, to 
J. C. Derby, of Concord. He came to Lowell 
in 1896, and was employed as a clerk in the 
jewelry business until 1901, when he started 
in business on his own account. He has suc- 
ceeded in establishing already a handsome 
business in the jewelry and watch trade, and is 
counted as one of the most active and promis- 
ing young merchants of the city. He is an 
active member of the First Congregational 
Church and of the Young People's Society of 
Christian Endeavor, and greatly interested in 
the charitable work of the church. In politics 
he is a Republican, and takes a lively interest 
in city atifairs. 

He married, October 12, 1897, Helen Au- 
gusta Fuller, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. 
Mirs. Coon also is a member of the First Con- 
gregational Church of Lowell. Children : i. 
Edna Grace, born November i, 1902. 2. 
Arthur Edgar, born May 13, 1904. 



Henry Saunders came to 
SAUNDERS New England from Scotland, 
1710-12, and settled at 
Mitchell's Eddy, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 
which place became known as Hutnters. He 
married a daughter of one of the Mitchells, 
from which family the place takes its early 
name, and they made their home in Salem, 
Rockingham county. New Hampshire. 
Henry Saunders, the immigrant, and his 
wife, had five sons, named in the order of their 
birth : Timothy, Samuel. William, Alvin and 
Joseph Saunders. 

(II) William Saunders, son of Henry and 

(Mitchell) Saunders, married and had 

two sons, Benjamin and James; and two 
daughters, Esther and Polly. Benjamin 
Saunders died young. 

(III) James Saunders, son of William 
Saunders, was born in Salem, New Hamp- 
shire, July 12, 1 75 1. He married. November 
14, 1774. Elizabeth Little, of Newbury, Mas- 
sachusetts. Elizabeth Little was born March 
I. 1755, and by her marriage with James 
Saunders had thirteen children, named in the 



.MIDDLESEX COl'NTY. 



345 



order of their birth : WiUiam, born October 
^9. 1/75. died June lo, 1857 ; Nathaniel, born 
August 7, 1777. died December 11, 1809; Ben- 
jamin, born September 4, 1778, died June 10, 
1802; an infant unnamed, born and died July, 
1780; Henry, born Autjust i, 1782, died Aug- 
ust 12, 1869; Thomas, born September 8, 
1784, died October, 1818; Elizabeth, born 
October 22, 1786, died February, 1873; 
James, bom November 20, 1789, died Janu- 
ary, 1806; Samuel, born August 18, 1791, 
died April 8, 1846; David, November 17. 1793, 
died July 28, 1839; Daniel, born June 20, 
1796, died October 8. 1872: Caleb, born No- 
vember 18, 1798, and Benjamin, born March 
16, 1803. (The last two appear on the record 
from which this is taken, with no date of their 
deaths.) James Saunders died at Salem, New 
Hampshire, December 14, 1830. 

(IV) Daniel Saunders, ninth son and 
eleventh child of James and Elizabeth (Little) 
Saunders, was born in Salem, New Hamp- 
shire. June 20, 1796, and engaged in manu- 
facturing at Lawrence. ]\Iassachirsetts. He 
was married to Phoebe Abbott. Phoebe Ab- 
bott was born in Andover, Massachusetts, 
February 8, 1797, and died at Lawrence, Mas- 
sachusetts, February 23, 1888. They had five 
children : Daniel, born November 6, 1822 ; 
Charles W., born Jiuie i. 1824; Martha L., 
born December 30, 1828, died December 29, 
1832; Martha, born July 18. 1835, died De- 
cember 5, 1838 : Caleb, born September 4. 
1838, became a lawyer in Lawrence, Massa- 
chusetts, of which city his father was one of 
the founders. 

(V) Charles W. Saunders, son of Daniel 
and Phoebe F. (Abbott) Saunders, was born 
in Salem, Rockingham county. New Hamp- 
shire, June I, 1824. He was prepared for 
entrance in Phillips Academy. Andover, Mas- 
sachusetts, at the public schools of Salem, and 
after he was graduated at Phillips Academy 
he engaged in manufacturing and selling 
woolen goods, hardware and lumber. He be- 
came an extensive dealer in lumber, and had 
saw mills at various parts in the lumber dis- 
tricts of New Hampshire and at Ix)well, Mas- 
sachusetts, in which city he had other large 
business interests and became prominently 
identified with the manufacturing and banking 
business of the place. He was married, Octo- 
ber 3, 1850, to Caroline O. D., daughter of 
Nicholas G. and Sophronia (Pratt) Norcross. 
of Lowell. Massachusetts, and a descendant 
in the eighth generation from Jeremiah 
Norcross. a freeman and early proprietor 



of \\ atertown, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 
who came from England in i<')38, was 
a landed proprietor of Cambridge before 1642, 
and was admitted a freeman of that town in 
1()52. lie became possessed of twenty-six 
acres of land on the north bank of the Charles 
river, in the town of Watertown, which prop- 
erty remained in possession of the Norcross 
family for more than one hundred and sixty 
years, and part of the proptrty then passed to 
the United States government as the site of 
the Watertown .Arsenal. His eldest son Rich- 
ard received the bulk of his jjropertv. by will 
executed before his departure for England, 
when the immigrant ancestors of all the Nor- 
crosses of New England died in 1657. The 
children of Charles W. and Caroline O. D. 
(Norcross) Saunders were: Charles G. 
-Saunders, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. 
November 4, 185 1 ; Charles N. Saunders, born 
in Lowell, Massachusetts, September 3, 1853; 
Carrie Saunders, born in Lawrence. Massa- 
chusetts, June 4, 1859; Alice Saunders, born 
in Lowell. Massachusetts, November 20, 1863: 
Carrie Norcross. born in Lowell, Massachu- 
setts, June 14, 1869; M. Pansy Saunders, born 
in Lowell, Massachusetts, September 10, 1870. 
Of these children only one, .Alice Saunders, 
was living in 1907. Mr. Saunders was a 
Democrat in political faith, and served in the 
city government of Lowell as a member of the 
common council in 1863. He -was affiliated 
with tlie Masonic fraternity, and held member- 
ship in Kilwinning Lodge of Lowell. He was 
a trustee of the Central Savings Bank of 
Lowell, and a member of the parish of St. 
Anne's Protestant Episcopal Church, and 
prominent in the affairs of the parish in con- 
nection with church work. He clied in Lowell, 
May 22, 189 1, leaving a widow and one 
daughter. 



Benjamin Moulton and Han- 
QITIMBY nah (Parkman) Quimby. of 
Meredith. New Hampshire, 
had eight children, all lx)rn in their home in 
Meredith, and named in the order of their 
birth as follows : Caroline, Noah. James, 
Thomas, Alonzo Prescott, .Albert. Augusta 
and Richmond Quimby. 

Alonzo Prescott Quimby, the fifth child 
of Benjamin Moulton and Hannah 1 Park- 
man) Quimby, was born in Meredith, 
P.elknap county. New Hampshire. February 
23. 1827. where he received his public school 
eflucation and worked on his father's farm. 



34fi 



^fTDDLESEX COUNTY. 



He removed to Lowell, Massachusetts, in 
1840, when fourteen years of age. and found 
work in the mills of that city. He subse- 
quently learned the business of house paint- 
ing, which occupation he followed for several 
years. He gave this up to engage in the livery 
stable business, in which he prospered and 
accumulated a handsome competence, retiring 
when forced to do so by ill health in 1890. He 
was a firm believer" in the future of Lowell and 
in the profits to be gained by carrying well 
situated city real estate, and he acquired con- 
siderable real estate and profitable paying 
property, and made few mistakes in his invest- 
ments. In the purusit of his strenuous business 
duties he did not neglect the privilege of home 
and church life, and he kept up his connection 
with and interest in the Baptist denomination, 
with which he had been affiliated from early 
life. His political choice was the Republican 
party, with which he acted and voted, but al- 
ways refused to enter the field as a political 
candidate for office. He was married Decem- 
ber iq, 1847, to Roxanna Williams, and by 
this marriage they had two daughters : Clara 
and Lillian. Clara Quimby married Charles 
Lewis, of Providence, Rhode Island, and they 
made their home in that city, where twd 
daughters were born to them : Lottie, de- 
ceased; and Minnie I^ewis. Mrs. Charles 
Lewis died in Providence, Rhode Island, 
about 1888. Lillian Quimby married Joseph 
Blood, of Lowell, Massachusetts, and they had 
two children, both born in Lowell : Edjth 
Blood and Joseph Blood, Jr. Mrs. Joseph 
Blood died in Lowell, ^Massachusetts, 1904. 
Roxanna (Williams ) Quimby died in Lowell, 
1 86 1, and Mr. Quimby. married. December 
4. 1862. as his second wife, Susan Jane Ben- 
ton, third daughter and sixth child of Ira and 
Eleanor (Smith) Coburn. Ira Coburn was 
a contractor and builder in Boston and New 
York, and had thirteen children born of his 
marriage with Eleanor Smith. They were, in 
the order of their birth: Ira W.. Eleanor. 
Eliza. Myra S., Forest, Anna, Joseph, Susan 
Jane Benton, Henn- Hudson, Martin Van 
Buren, Augusta Clark, James Knox Polk, 
Charles Horace. 

Alonzo Prescott and Susan Jane Benton 
(Coburn) Quimby had two children: Lola C, 
deceased ; and Grace G. Quimby, who married 
Henry H. Harvey, of Lowell, and they had 
born to them three children : Ethel, Guy Pres- 
cott and Earl \Mlliam Harvey, all born in 
Lowell, [Massachusetts. The grandchildren of 
Alonzo Prescott Quimby in 1907 were si.x in 
number. 



Charles Wesley Mevis was born 
ME\T.S in Tompkins county, New York, 
August 3, 1822, in the town of 
Caroline, and was educated there in the public 
schools. He also worked at farming during 
his youth when not attending school, and after 
he was fifteen was engaged constantly in the 
work of the farm. After he came of age he 
devoted much of his time to cutting timber 
from wood lots that he bought in various parts 
of the county. He left his native county in 
1879 and located in Lowell, Massachusetts,, 
where he had a fruit store until his health 
failed, and he was obliged to give up active 
business. He has been a member of the Cen- 
tral Methodist Episcopal Church for the past 
twenty years, and always greatly interested in 
the welfare of the society. LTntil a few years 
ago. when a fall on the ice kept him indoors 
one winter, he was a regular attendant at all 
the church services and active in every depart- 
ment of the church. He is a member of no 
secret orders. In politics he has always been 
a sterling Democrat, and a strong influence 
in his party wherever he has lived. He mar- 
ried November i, 1848, Harriet Spencer, of 
Gienango county. New York. Children: i. 
Edgar Lewis, born in 1849. 2. Charles Wes- 
ley, born February 2fi. 1852: mentioned below. 

3. Nancy I.xiuise. born Decen^ber 29. 1853. 

4. Sarah Jane, born April 29, 1856. 5. iMar- 
tin Fayette, born February 15, 1858; graduate 
of the Theological Seiuinary at Madison, New 
lersev ; pastor of the Congregational Church 
at North Hampton, New Hampshire. 6. Ly- 
man, born September 8. 1861 ; graduate of the 
Theological Seminary at Hallowell, [Maine ; 
located first at Cotuit, Cape Cod, Massachu- 
setts. 7. George Bright, born April 10, 1864. 
8. John Wesley, born July 4, 1868. 9. Ger- 
trude, born December 30, 1859. 10. Fred 
William, born March 13, 1866. 

(II) Charles Wesley Mevis, son of Charles 
Wesley Mevis (i), was born February 26, 
1852. at Sherburne. New York. He attended 
the common schools of that town imtil he was 
fourteen years old. when he began his career 
as a railroad man on the Susquehaima Valley 
railroad. After four years he went to Effing- 
ham. Illinois, where he was in the railroad 
business for three years. Then he located on 
a farm at Milford, New York, as manager for 
David Wilber. and for a number of years filled 
this responsible position with credit and suc- 
cess. He followed his father to Lowell in 
1888. and entered the employ of Major 
Emery, in charge of a large market gardening 
business. The farm consisted of about two 



MIDDLICSEX COL'X'I'V. 



.U7 



luinilrcd acres. He had cliarg^e of tlic prop- 
erty, which was cut up into house lots and 
sold. He was for seventeen years in the em- 
ploy of the Enierys. Since then he has been 
engfaged in the employ of W. T. S. Bartlett, 
of Lowell. Massachusetts. In jwlitics Mr. 
Mevis is a Republican, but has never snusafht 
public oftice. He attends the I'awtucketville 
Congregational Church with his family. He 
is a member of no secret organizations. He 
is highly esteemed by his townsmen, genial, 
sympathetic and generous in his nature, and is 
greatly interested in the charitable work of 
the community in which he lives. 

He married 1877. VVelthy Harvey, of 
Cooperstown, Xew York. Children : Edgar 
L. and .Mathew J, 



William Menchin, Ixirn about 
MENCHIX 1770, settled in Leominster. 

whence about 1800 he remov- 
ed to Pepperell, Massachusetts, where he died. 
He married, and had children : 1 . William. 
b<irn at Leominster, October i, 1794: married, 
October 10, 1821, at .\shby, Lucy Worcester, 
who was born at (iroton, September 29, 1794: 
children : i. William Henry, born September 
23, 1822; died 1872, at Eitchburg, where he 
resided: married first, June 3, 1846, Mary 
Elizabeth Shattuck, bom December 5, 1827, 
daughter of Abel Shattuck ; children : Mary 
Elizabeth, born October 3, 1849; Henry 
Ethan, born i860, died June, 1890. married 
Emma E. W'inn, leaving one son. Earl, born 
September 7, 1890; William Henry married 
second, Phebe Lovejoy, and had one daughter, 
Ida .Amy, born in 1867 ; ii. Lucy Elizabeth, 
born .at Pepperell, May 5, 1824, died August 
20, 1843: iii. Mary W'hite, born October 15, 
1826: died January 7, 1898: married, De- 
cember 10, 1846, .Andrew Willnughby and had 
otie son, George Almon Willoughby, Ixirn 
November 19, 1852, married July 26, 1881, 
Carrie M.Wood, and had tiiree children: (Car- 
rie Isabel Willoughby, born February 9, 1882: 
Marion Emeline Willoughby, born July 16, 
1884 : Ralph Willoughby, born November 28, 
1886). 2. Sarah, died at Greenfield, New- 
Hampshire. 3. Betsey, born July 5, 1800: 
died June 6, 1880: married, March 8. 1827, 
John Giddeons, of Temple, New Hampshire : 
children : i. Sarah Elizabeth Giddeons. lxirn 
Jume 28, 1828, died February 18, 1875: mar- 
ried Henry S. Howe; ii. John Henry Gid- 
deons, born September i, 183 1, died .August 6, 
1868: married .Amanda M. Russell: iii. .Mary 
"Adelaide, born July 18, 1833, died June 6, 



i8fx); married Seth \'.. Wheeler: iv. Caroline 
Louise, born .August 2y. 1835; married. Janu- 
ary f\ 1872, Tarbell : v. Hannah Maria. 

born .November 16, 1840: married Charles 
Lowe, of (jreenficld. New Hampshire. 4. 
.Mary, married Edward Willoughby (Willa- 
by?) of Hollis, New Hampshire: no children. 
5. lileanor. 6. Robert, nientioneil behnv. 

(II) Robert Menchin, .son of William Men- 
chin (1), was born at Pepperell, Massachu- 
setts, .April 28. 1805, and died at Woburn, 
.Massachusetts. February 22. 1887, aged 
eighty-one years nine months and twenty-four 
days. He was editcated in the common schools 
during the winter terms, working in the other 
seasons on his father's farm. When he left 
home he worked for a time for John Shedd. of 
Pepperell. When he was twenty-one he re- 
moved to Woburn. and entered the employ of 
Abijah Thompson, on his farm. .After two 
years there, he was employed for six years 
on the farm of David Parker, and after Mr. 
Parker's death he conducted the farm, finally 
marrying his late employer's widow. She died 
in November. 1870, and he sold the farm to 
his son. Charles S. Menchin. and worked for 
two years for Chester Tufts. In 1885. owing 
to failing health, he came to live with his .son, 
William (^tis Menchin, at .Arlington, Massa- 
chusetts. He died there February 22, 1887. 
He was a Cniversalist in religion, and a Dem- 
ocrat in politics. He served when a young 
man in the old Prescott Guards, of F^epperell. 
and the Lexington .Artillery at Lexington. 

He married Rebecca (Carter) Parker, 
widow, the daughter of Ebenezer and Lydia 
(Putters) Carter. .She was torn at Wilming- 
ton, in 1796. and died at Woburn. November 
19. 1870, aged .seventy-three years six months. 
Her father was a farmer. Children, born at 
Woburn: i. John, born May 12. 1831 : died 
January 28. 1878: married. May 26, 1875, 
Mary Ella Webster, of Lynn, Massachusetts, 
and had .Arthur W^ebster, torn March 18, 
1876. 2. Charles Shaw, torn October 17, 
1833: mentioned below. 3. Eliza Jane, born 
Decemtor 23, 1835; died .Augiiist I. 1867. 4. 
William Otis, born February 5, 1840: men- 
tioned below. 

(III) Charles .Shaw Menchin. son of Robert 
Menchin (2), was torn at W'oburn. Massa- 
chusetts, October 17, 1833. He received his 
early education in the public schools and at 
W'arren .\cadomy. FTe worked at home on 
his father's farm until the age of eighteen, 
when he began an apprenticeshij) under John 
Cummings, at Cummingsville, in Woburn. to 
learn the trade of currier. He remained as a 



348 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



journeyman in the employ of Mr. Cummings 
for a time, and was for three years in the em- 
ploy of Dow & Parker, and for a short time in 
the Downing factory at Brookline. He re- 
turned to work for Mr. Parker, of the old firm 
of Dow & Parker, and worked later for Tidd 
& Blakes. In 1859 he entered the employ of 
Abijah Thompson & Company, with whom he 
remained until 1873, when he bought the in- 
terests of the other heirs to the homestead, 
and for two years conducted the farm. After- 
ward he went to Saco, Maine, and worked in 
the currier shop of Webster & Company, re- 
turned to Woburn to work for Otis Cum- 
mings : thence to Malone, New York, where 
he followed his trade, and to Salem, Massa- 
chusetts, where he worked for a year in the 
employ of Priest Albry. Since then Mr. Men- 
chin has been associated with his sons in mar- 
ket gardening. Mr. Menchin is a man of do- 
mestic tastes, quiet and unassuming in his 
ways, whose friendship is valued by all who 
know him. He is a Unitarian in religion ; an 
independent Democrat in politics. 

He married, May 28, 1863, Mary Wyman 
Bryant, who was born in Woburn, October 
12, T855, and died August 12, 1896, daughter 
of F'rancis Lewis and Lydia Muzzy (Nelson) 
Bryant, of Woburn. Her father was a shoe- 
stock worker, and served in the LTnion army 
in the civil war. Children: i. George Robert, 
born November 23, 1865 ; mentioned below. 
2. Frank, born February 23, 1867 ; married 
Helen Louisa Smith, of Woburn ; children : i. 
Evelyn Helen; ii. Ethel Mary, born December 
8, 1896: iii. Otis Frank. 3. Fannie, born Feb- 
ruary 23, 1868 ; married Charles F. Reming- 
ton ; children : i. Lester, ii. Hattie, born July 
5, 1869, died April 7, 1886. 5. Charles Shaw, 
Jr., born October 2, 1871. 6. Warren, born 
May 7, 1875 : married, June 30, 1897, Alice 
Haynes, of Woburn ; children : i. Edith 
Haynes, born April 17, 1898; ii. Charles 
Alonzo. born January 8, 1903 ; iii. Eleanor 
Louise, born September 15, 1905. 7. Lewis, 
born January 24, 1879. 8. Carrie Belle, born 
September 2"], 1883, 

(III) William Otis Menchin, son of Robert 
-Menchin (2), was born at Woburn, Massa- 
chusetts, February 5, 1840. He was educated 
there in the public schools and at Warren 
Academy. At the age of eighteen be began a 
three-year apprenticeship with H. A. Parker, 
of W^oburn, learning the trade of wheelwright. 
After his time was out he worked two years 
for Abel Barrett, and then, on April 3, 1867, 
engaged in the wheelwright business on his 
own account at the location where he has been 



ever since — 939 Massachusetts avenue, Arling- 
ton, Massachusetts. He has built up a flour- 
ishing business, making and repairing wagons 
and carriages, and painting carriages. He 
built his residence at 9 Walnut street in 1886. 
He is a member of the L'niversalist church of 
Arlington. In politics he is a Democrat. He 
married, September 7, 1871, Elizabeth C. 
Annis, of Londonderry, New Hampshire. She 
was born January 19, 1847, and died at Ar- 
lington, December 9, 1894, the daughter of 
Joseph and Sarah Annis, of Londonderry. 
Their only child, Nettie Elvena, was born June 
ID, 1874, died September 14, 1895. 

(IV) George Robert Menchin, son of 
Charles Shaw Menchin (3), was born at 
Woburn, November 23, 1865. From an early 
age be helped his father in the gardens, and 
remained in his father's employ until 1898. 
He was educated in the public schools of his 
native town. He entered partnership with his 
brother, Frank Menchin, under the firm name 
of Menchin Brothers, in 1898, to conduct the 
farm and market gardening business estab- 
lished by their father. They have been very 
prosperous. Their specialties are early mar- 
ket produce. They have teams plying be- 
tween Boston and Woburn daily. Mr. Men- 
chin is a LTnitarian in religion, and a Republi- 
can in politics. He was made a member of 
Mount Horeb Lodge of Free Masons, at 
Woburn, December 4, 1895 ; of Woburn 
Royal Arch Chapter, June 24, 1896; of Med- 
for'd Council, Royal and Select Masters, at 
Medford : of Hugh de Payens Commandery, 
Knights Templar, at Melrose : of Aleppo 
Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine, Boston. 
He was formerly a member of the Independent 
Order of Red Men. He is a member of the 
Boston Market Gardeners' Association.' He 
is unmarried. 



The name of Busteed is 
BUSTEED found in England and Ireland 

under such spellings, in 
works of heraldry, as Bustard, in Devonshire ; 
Busteed, in English ; and Busterd, in Ireland. 
All three of these families bore crests. The 
Devonshire family bore the following shield : 
Ar. on a fesse au between three ogresses, as 
many bustards or. The Bustards of other 
families have similar crests and shields in 
which the bird called the bustard figures in a 
more or less dififerent manner. The name 
therefore must be derived from the bird. Bus- 
teed proper has had for a shield : Lozengy ar. 
and qu. a chev. az. Crest — An eagle raising 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



349 



ppr. It is therefore apparent that the t'amily 
had some estabhshed marks of honor, gentiUty 
and family distinction in the older country. 

(I) .-Vdam Busteed of English, Scotch, and 
Irish ancestry, was born at Longhast, county 
Donegal, province of Ulster, Ireland, and died 
at Culley, in the same county, in April, 1857. 
His wife, Mary McGee, was a daughter of 
Robert and Jane (Line) McGee. He was ed- 
ucated in the schools of his native place. He 
staid at home on his father's farm until he was 
of age, when he married, and purchasing a 
farm of twenty-five acres at Culley, in the 
same county, removed there and established a 
pleasant home. He carried on general farm- 
ing, raising lla.x and oats, and raised also 
hor.ses, cattle, and sheep. He also dealt largely 
in grain, and was successful in all his under- 
takings. He was a member of the Episcopal 
church at Culley, and served as a vestryman. 
Children: i. Katherine, married William Geer, 
and had one son, William (Geer). 2. Mary, 
married John Lytle, and had : Mary, Esther 
and James (Lytle). 3. Robert, married .Mar- 
garet Gervis, and had: .Vdam; Anna Bell, who 
married James Johnson, of Carpenny ; Mary 
Jane, married John Stuart, of Drim Corner; 
William James, Robert, Andrew : .\lexander 
and Arthur, twins, born August 10, 1888; 
Lillian, John George, Margaret and Walter. 
4. James, born July 18, 1844, see forward. 5. 
Alexander, born February 10, 1846 ; married, 
April 16, 1879, Isabella Lynn, daughter of 
John and Isabella (Virtue) Lynn, of Turkey- 
earl, county Donegal, Ireland, and had : Mary 
.A.lice, born January 30, 1880, died April 12, 
1900: Ellen Jane, born March 7, 1882, died 
September 12, 1882; Mabel, born August 22, 
1884, (lied February 20, 1903; Isabella, txjrn 
February 7, 1886, died May 14, irjof) ; Cather- 
ine Charlotte, born January 26, 1890, died 
April 26, 1901. 6. .Adam, born September 16, 
1848; married (first) at Woburn, .Massachu- 
setts, December 21, 1875, Mary A. Graham, 
daughter of James and Margaret (Freeborn) 
Graham, of Culley, coimty Donegal, Ireland, 
and had : Lillie May, born at Woburn, .\pril 
19, 1877; married, July 8, 1902, Edward Hart 
of Woburn, and have : Edward Dexter 
(Hart), born September 16, 1903, and Giarles 
Ward (Hart), born .\pril 27, 1907; married 
(second), January i, 1903, Sarah Murdock 
Sweetin, daughter of Jesse and Josie (.Mur- 
dock) Sweetin. 

(II) James Busteed, son of .Adam liusteed 
(i), was born at Culley, county Donegal, Ire- 
land, July 18. 1844: married at Woburn, Mas- 
sachusetts, January 4, 1866, Mrs. Marion 



Elizabeth (Ray) .Ablwtt, born in county Done- 
gal, Ireland, July, 1846, daughter of Johnson 
and Sarah (Ray) Ray. She died at Burling- 
ton, Massachusetts, June 25, 1891, and he 
married (second), November 29, 1893, Mary 
Jane Brooks, of Boston, who was born at Car- 
penny, county Donegal, Ireland, daughter of 
Francis and Mary Jane (Ingraham) Brooks. 
He received his education in his native place. 
His father became an invalid, and it was 
therefore necessary for him to assume a part 
of the duties on the farm. At the age of eigh- 
teen he came to the United States, 'landing at 
Portland, Maine. In .April, 1862, he came to 
\yoburn. and entered the employ of John 
Cummings, tanner and currier, and learned 
the trade of a currier, remaining in the employ 
of Mr. Cummings for about three years. He 
subsequently removed to Charles'town, and 
worked at his trade at the Guild tannery, and 
later returning to Woburn he obtained work 
at the Colgate shop and Wiim & Kelly's cur- 
rying shoj). Some three years later he again 
entered the employ of John Cummings, work- 
ing for him in his shops and on his farm, 
where he remained for eleven years. He then 
entered business for himself as a teamster, 
which occupation he followed several years. 
In May, 1883, he bought the Oaks Tirrell 
farm of forty acres, in the southerly part of 
Burlington, of William McKenney,' and en- 
gaged in market gardening and milk raising, 
and also had an extensive milk route in 
Woburn and vicinity. He finds a market for 
his produce at Boston. He is a member of the 
Episcopal church at Woburn, being at one 
time a vestryman. He also attends" worship 
at the Burlington Congregational church. .Mr. 
Busteed is a man of quiet tastes, and is de- 
voted to his home and business. He is a Re- 
publican in politics, and is a member of the 
Ancient Order of United Workmen. He for- 
merly served in a company of Woburn militia. 
Children: i. Adam, born at Woburn, Oc- 
tober 23, 1867; married, November 24, 1892, 
Margaret Snelling, born July. 1871, daughter 
of George H. and Ann Snelling. 2. Marv /,., 
born January i, 1869, died .Aiigust 27. 1899. 
3. Elizabeth Ann, bom November 30, 1870. 
died November 10, 1893. 4. Ida Maud, born 
October 9. 1872; married, February 3. 1897. 
Harry E. .Moulton, of Bedford. Massachusetts, 
and have: William Harris (Moulton), b<irn 
November 17. 1897: Frank Ray (Moulton). 
Marcli 3, 1899; Mary Elizabeth (Moulton), 
born February 17, 1907. 5. Kate Frances, 
born July 12, 1874; married, November 23. 
1893, Peter J. Tracey. of Walthani. Mnssa- 



350 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



chusetts, and have: Edward James (Tracey), 
born August 3, 1895 ; Leonard Francis 
(Tracey), born December 10, 1896; Elizabeth 
(Tracey), born February 5, 1899; Joseph 
(Tracey), born July 5, 1901 ; Walter Clinton 
(Tracey), born May 11, 1905. 6. Emily Ag- 
nes, born June t2, 1876; married, November 
28, 1894, Charles Kendrick, and has ; Eunice 
Holbrook (Kendrick), born January 31, 1896; 
Earle Willey (Kendrick). born (October 16, 
1897; Charles Fay (Kendrick), born March 
II, 1901. 7. James Alfred, born March 9, 
1878: married, September 6, 1900, Susan 
Abbie Taylor, daughter of Charles and Susan 
(Parker) Taylor, of Woburn, and have: Ethel 
Florence, born January 14, 1901 : Gladys 
Hazel, born September 24, 1903; Dorothy 
Edna, born October 11, 1905, died May 17, 
1906. 8. Esther Amanda, born June 7, 1880. 
9. Annie Mabel, born September 19, 1881. 10. 
George Washington, born February 22, 1883. 
II. William Andrew, born May 2, 1884. 12. 
Robert Alexander. September 11. 1886. 



The surname Bement is a 
BEMENT shortened spelling of Beau- 
mont, a French place name and 
surname, though the family has been in Eng- 
land for many centuries. In the early records 
wc find the name spelled Beman, Bemont, Be- 
mond, Bemen, and Beaman, and the variations 
have continued to some extent to the present 
time. There were three pioneers of this name 
among the early settlers in New England, be- 
sides a family at Lancaster, Massachusetts. 
Symon Bement settled at Springfield, Massa- 
chusetts ; John and William Bement came in 
the same ship, and were doubtless brothers. 

( I ) William Bement, immigrant ancestor 
of this family, was born in England in 1612, 
and came in the ship "Elizabeth," in 1635, 
giving his age as twenty-three. His brother 
John came in the same ship. William settled 
first at Salem, where he was located in 1640. 
In 1643 lis was at Scituate, but settled finally 
in .Saybrook, Connecticut, and in the adjacent 
town of Lyme, where he sold land in 1673 to 
John Tillotson. He was admitted a freeman 
of Connecticut in 1652. His wife was the 
only female among the eight grantees of the 
town of Saybrook in the will of Joshua, son of 
Uncas, the Indian sachem. He died February 
4, 1698-9. He married December 9, 1643, 
Lydia Danforth, daughter of Nicholas Dan- 
forth. His wife died August. 1686. Chil- 
dren: I. Lydia, born March 9, 1644: married, 
February 3. 1668, Samuel Boys : second, Wil- 



liam Pygan. 2. Mary, born November 12, 
1647; married, January 3, 1672, John Tuly. 3. 
John, mentioned below. 4. Elizabeth, born 
March, 1649-50 ; married, March 26, 1677, 
Captain John Chapman. 5. Deborah, born 
November 2, 1652 ; married, September 27, 
1681, Thomas Gilbert. 6. Abigail, born Feb-, 
ruary 20, 1655 ; died September 29, 1683. 7. 
.Samuel, born February 28, 1657. 8. Rebecca, 
born September 7, 1659. 

(II) John Bement, son of William, accord- 
ing to all evidence at hand was born about 
1640. and died December 27, 1684. He set- 
tled on the homestead at Enfield, Connecticut, 
in 1682, and died there two years later, De- 
cember 2"]. 1684. The original homestead has 
remained in the possession and occupation of 
a lineal descendant to the present day. His 
inventory, dated January 25, 1684, Was filed 
by his widow Martha. Children: i. John, 
born about 1670; mentioned below. 2. Will- 
iam, born about 1685 ; married Hannah Terry, 
daughter of Captain Samuel Terry, 1707; re- 
sided in the east part of Enfield and had four 
sons. 3. Edmund, married, 1700, Prudence 
Morgan, born 1675; second, Priscilla Warner. 

(III) John Bement, son of John Bement 
(2), was born about 1670, and removed in 
1682 with his father to Enfield, Connecticut. 
He was a farmer in Enfield, where he died 
September i, 1703, in the prime of life. His 
widow Abigail was appointed administratrix 
September 4, 1704. Qiildren : i. Mindwell, 
born February 22, 1696-97 ; died March 3, 
1697-98. 2. IBenjamin, born September 14, 
1698; married, 1723, Elizabeth Abbe, and set- 
tled in Simsbury, Connecticut. 3. Abigail, 
born May 13, 1700. 4. John, born March 23, 
1701-02; mentioned below. 

(IV) John Bement, son of John Bement 
(3), was born in Enfield, Connecticut, March 
23, 1701-02. He settled in Northfield, Massa- 
chusetts. He was a soldier from Northfield 
in Ralle's war in 1725, and in the French and 
Indian wars later. He was captured by the 
Indians at Cold Spring, a little below Fort 
Bridgman, June 24, 1746, in the French war, 
by a party of Indians, and carried to Canada. 
He was with a party of men at work in a 
meadow. The Indians at that time killed 
William Robbins and James Barker of Spring- 
field ; wounded Michael Gilson and Patrick 
Ray, and beside Bement took into captivity 
Daniel How, Jr. The Northfield history tells 
i!'S that Bement killed one Indian before he 
was taken (page 245). He married Rachel 
Wright, who died January 19, 1731-32, aged 
twenty-four years ; married second, Mary 



-MIDDLESEX COlXi^' 



.^5' 



. His first wife was a daughter of 

Benjamin Wright, Jr., of Northfichl, Massa- 
chusetts. Children: i. Abigail, b<jrn October 
31, 1726. 2. Mary, born September 7, 1728; 
died September 17, 1728. 3. Mary, born 
October 24, 1729. 4. John, born May 3, 
1734; mentioned below. 5. Jerusha, born 
September 10, 1735; died November 23, 1735. 
6. I'hineas, born March 6, 1737. 7. Jona- 
than, born April 26, 1739. 8. Jesse. 

(V) John Dement, son of John Benient 
(4). was born .May 3, 1734, at Northfield, 
Massachusetts. He was a soldier in Captain 
John Burke's company, in Lord Loudon's 
campaign of 1777, according to the Northfield 
history, then of Hatfield, iNlassachusetts. lie 
removed to Ashfield in 1777, however, and his 
son John served from that town in (Captain 
Benjamin Phillips's company. Colonel F.lisha 
Porter's regiment, from Hampshire county, 
.Massachusetts : he was also a soldier in the 
northern department of the Continental army ; 
was according to the roll five feet seven inches 
in height, of light complexion, residing in 
Aslifield, and in 1780 was nineteen years old, 
under Captain Isaac Pope. The "History of 
Northfield" is autiiority for the statement that 
when young, according to tradition, he was 
cajrtured by the Indians and taken towards 
Canada, but one night while staked down on 
his back in a ditch, he managed to free him- 
self, and at length to reach home in safety. 
He was perhaps taken at the same time as his 
father. He died March 22, 1806. He married 
Mary, daughter of Nathan Wait, of Whately, 
bfjrn June 5, 1740, died March 8, 1822. The 
children were i)orn at Korthfield or Hatfield, 
except the three youngest, who were born in 
Ashfield. Children: i. Phineas, born July 
17- 1739; died October 31, 1833. 2. John, 
born March i, 1761 ; deacon and prominent 
citizen of Ashfield; died November 12, 1836. 

3. Mary, born .\pril i, 1763; died May, 1845. 

4. Reuben, born January 4, 1762: died Sep- 
tember 27, 1845. 5. Samuel, born May, 1769: 
mentioned below. 6. Hannah, Ixirn August 
31, 1771; died May 6, 1836. 7. Daniel, born 
September 4, 1773; died December 7, 1774. 
8. Sarah, bom May 22, 1775; died March 22, 
1806. 9. Lucinda, born June 9, 1777; died 
1855. 10. Prinda, born September ii, 1779; 
died April 8. 1844. 11. Daniel, born Novem- 
ber 22. 1784: died September 11, 1872. 

(\T) Samuel Benient. son of John Bcment 
(5), was born in Hatfield or Northfield. Mas- 
sachusetts, May 17. 1769, and died in 1859 ''■^ 
Ashfield. whither he went to live with his 



father in childhood. lie married and had 
children: 1. Jasper, born about 1790: men- 
tioned Ix'kjw ; and others i)rohably. 

(\TI) Jasper Benient. son of Samuel 
Bcment (0). was born in .\shfield. Massachu- 
setts, about 1790. He settled in .Ashfield, his 
native town, and was a farmer and merchant, 
and deputy to general court. He married 
Electa Chamberlain. Children : Samuel, 
mentioned below: Joseiili. Lewis. Marietta, 
Benjamin, and child died in infancy. 

(\'III) .'^amuel Benient. son of Jasper 
Bement (7), was lx>rn at Ashfield. Massachu- 
setts, March 17, 1820. He attended the public 
sch(X)ls of his native town and was an apt 
pupil, entering W'ilbraham .\cadcniy at the 
age of thirteen, later gradutUed from Middle- 
town I'niversity (Connecticut), in 1840. .\fter 
leaving college he began a long and distin- 
guished career as a teacher in the public 
schc»ls. .\11 but four years of the remainder 
of his life he spent in Lowell. He taught in 
Ohio two years, and in Dracut, Massachusetts, 
two years. He also taught for a time in a 
private school in Lowell. The school board 
of Lowell, at the time of Mr. Bemcnt's death, 
placed on its records the following : 

".Mr. Samuel Bemenl. with a single excep- 
tion the oldest teacher in the city in the point 
of service, died January 3d, after an illness of 
about a week, and an absence from school of 
only five days. Mr. Bement was born in 1820, 
graduated at Middletown (Connecticut) Col- 
lege in 1840. and came to Lowell in 1842 to 
teach in the Dracut .\cademy, and afterwards 
for a short time in the Ix)well high school. In 
185 1 he was elected teacher of the .\dams 
school, one of the two schools then held in 
what is now the Bartlett school building, and 
when in 1856 the two were united to form the 
Bartlett school, he was promoted to the 
mastership of the new school, and continued 
in service at the same place until the time of 
his death. He was an able and successful 
teacher, and a true and loyal friend, and very 
few men in our city would have been missed 
more or more regretted. 

"The best test of the work and life of any 
teacher is the mirrored judgment of those who 
have been his pupils, and the loyalty of the 
graduates of his school is his highest glory. 
Judging from this supreme test, Lowell has 
iiad few teachers who have stood higher than 
Mr. Bement. His pupils respected and loved 
him well under his care, and there are hun- 
dreds of men and women in our city to-day 
who cannot think of Mr. Bement without a 



352 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



thrill of gratitude and affection. May similar 
benedictions follow those of us who remain 
when we too are mustered out." 

Mr. Bement taught many of Lowell's well- 
known citizens, and also taught three genera- 
tions in some families. To the many thou- 
sands who passed years under his care the 
knowledge of his death brought great regret. 
He was universally beloved. He inarried, in 
1846, Sarah Kent, of Lowell. Children: i. 
Son, died in infancy. 2. May Maria. 3. 
Charles Jasper, deceased. 4. Gerard ; edu- 
cated in Lowell grammar and high schools ; 
graduated from Harvard College in 1880 ; and 
from Harvard Law School in 1882 ; resides 
in Boston ; married Katherine Paf¥ ; no issue. 



Henry J. Cunningham, 
CUNNINGH.-\M who may be justly 
numbered among the 
most public-spirited citizens of Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, prominent in any direction 
which may tend to the advancement of the 
city, is a member of the well known firm of 
real estate and insurance brokers, doing busi- 
ness under the firm name of Cunningham 
Brothers, at No. 671 Massachusetts avenue. 
The genealogy of his family is one of histori- 
cal interest. 

The family of Cunningham is of Scotch ori- 
gin, the home of the clan bearing this name 
being in Ayrshire, where they were estab- 
lished and prominent as early as 1200. They 
possess the earldom of Carrick and Glencairn 
and the lordship of Cuninghame. From Ayr- 
shire are descended all known branches of the 
family in England, Scotland and Ireland. Ac- 
cording to family tradition the first settlers in 
Irelancl were two of six brothers who won dis- 
tinction under King James of Scotland, who 
later became James I of England. The rec- 
ords show that among the first grantees of 
King James, in Ireland, were several of this 
name. In the precinct of Portlough, county 
of Donegal, John Cunningham of Crawfield, 
Ayrshire, Scotland, received a grant of one 
thousand acres in 1610. At the same time 
James Cunningham. Laird of Glangarnocke, 
Ayrshire, received two grants, one of one 
thousand acres and the other of two thousand 
acres, in the same precinct, and Cuthbert Cun- 
ningham, of Glangarnocke, received one thou- 
sand acres. Alexander Coningham, of Pow- 
ton. Gentleman, of Sorbie, Wigtonshire, Scot- 
land, had a grant of one thousand acres in 
the precinct of Boylagh, county of Donegal. 
There is reason to believe that Glangarnocke, 



Ayrshire, was the original home of the family, 
and that one of these settlers was the progeni- 
tor of the branch whose line is here traced. 
History relates that Sir James Cunningham 
took possession of his grant of two thousand 
acres but returned to Scotland. His agent, 
Robert Young built one Irish barn of copies ; 
"he hath forty-four head of cattle, one plow 
of garrons, and some tillage at last harvest. 
Three famihes of British resident on his 
proportion, preparing to build ; as yet no es- 
tate passed to them." "John Cunningham of 
Crawfield," the Carew Manuscript just quoted 
says, "one thousand acres ; resident with one 
family of British ; is building a bawn, and 
preparing materials ; hath a plow of garrons, 
and thirty head of cattle. Cuthbert Cunning- 
ham, one thousand acres ; resident with two 
families of British ; built an Irish house of 
Copies, and prepared materials to re-edify the 
castle of Coole McEctrean ; hath a plow of 
garrons, and eighty head of cattle in stock." 
This document is dated July 29, 161 1, and 
refers to the land granted above. As Sir 
James returned to Scotland we may assume 
that these two other Cunninghams, whose 
grants were evidently together, as all three 
are mentioned together in the records, were 
the two brothers traced in the tradition as the 
settlers from Scotland. Another Cunning- 
ham, Alexander, of Ponton Elder, had not 
appeared, and perhaps never did ; and another, 
James Cunningham, of Horomilne, returned to 
Scotland in the fall of 161 1, leaving his herd 
of six cows and six servants, but had made no 
preparations for a permanent stay. The next 
official report of the settlement, under the date 
of 16 19, shows progress in the settlements of 
Sir James Cunningham, John Cunningham 
and Cuthbert Cunningham. 

(I) John Cunningham, a descendant of one 
of these three brothers, was a resident of Dub- 
lin. His branch of the family had been Roman 
Catholic in their religious affiliations ; after 
leaving the county of Donegal where the old 
Covenanters lived, he came to America and 
settled in Boston, Massachusetts. He married 
Catherine Tumilty, a descendant of an old 
Irish family, and among their children was a 
son, John. 

(II) John Cunningham, son of John and 
Catherine (Tumilty) Cunningham, was born 
in Dublin, Ireland. July 4, 1814, and died in 
Prince Edward Island, 1898. He was very 
}'oung when he came to this country with his 
parents, who settled in Boston. Massachusetts, 
and always considered himself as a Bostonian, 
in which city he acquired his education in the 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



353 



public schools. The family home was in the 
famous old North End of the city. He went on 
a visit to Prince Edward Island in 1848, in- 
tending to return to Boston in the course of a 
few weeks, but unforseen circumstances caused 
him to prolong his stay in that place, where he 
ultimately engaged in business and resi<led for 
a number of years. He was a blacksmith by 
occupation, and expert as a carriage builder. 
in addition to which he cultivated a farm and 
was extensively engaged in the lumber traile. 
His beautiful residence in .Miscouche, Prince 
Edward Island, was for many years admired 
by the public, and was a haven of hospitality 
for all classes of travelers. Soon after his 
settlement in this place he married .Mary 
Murphy, a native of the town, and they were 
the parents of thirteen children, eleven of 
whom attained maturity: i. Thomas E.. who 
is one of the prominent physicians of Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts. He was graduated 
from St. Dunstan's College, and from Har- 
vard Medical School in the class of 1876. He 
was one of the founders of the Hospital Aid 
Society of the Holy Ghost Hospital, and for 
a period of five years was the sole bouse phy- 
sician of this institution, all his services being 
gratuitous. He is now one of a staff of six 
engaged in this admirable work. 2. Mary 
J., chose nursing as her life work, for which 
she was eminently qualified, and became one 
of the most distinguished obstetrical nui"5*« in 
the profession, her services being f*^" I into 
play in Europe as well as this country. She 
died of pneumonia. .Vpril 21. 1900. .^. 
Agatha, was also a nurse of distinguished 
reputation, but was obliged by impaired health 
to abandon her arduous lab(3rs. 4. Elizabeth, 
resides with her brother. Dr. Joseph H. Cun- 
ningham. 5. Oara, married W. J. O'Donnell. 
of Cambridge. 6. John, came to Cambridge 
in 1892, to engage in the real estate business 
with his brother Henry J. He is an energetic 
business man. and in addition to his regular 
business occupation spends his evenings as 
assistant manager of the A. Cunningham 
Drug Company, of which concern he is part 
owner. 7. Henry J., see forward. 8. .Augus- 
tus, began the study of pharmacy in 1882 in 
Somen-ille, and was .so ambitious and apt a 
pupil that he secured his diploma and started 
a drug business of his own before he had at- 
tained the age of twenty-one vears. He has 
been established at Inman S(|uare since i88g, 
and is doing a large business under the name 
of the A. Cunningham Drug Compan\- (Inc.) 
with branch stores in Somerville and Maiden. 
9. Joseph Henry, was graduated from St. 
ii-3 



Dunstan's College in 1887, and fmm Harvard 
.Medical School in 1892, later taking a jxjst- 
graduate course in Vienna, as did also his 
brother. Dr. Thomas E. Dr. Joseph H. estab- 
lisjied himself in the practice of his profession 
in Cambridge, and has a large and lucrative 
practice. 10. Wilfred Bernard, left St. Dun- 
stan's College in 1896 and entered Boston 
College, where he spent two years. He was 
graduated from the Harvard Medical School 
in 1903, and is now (1907) a practicing physi- 
cian in Somerville. 

(Ill) Henrj' J. Cunningham, third son of 
John and Mary (Murphy) Cunningham, was 
born in Prince Edward Island. Canada. July 
29, 1862, and was educated in Miscouche, his 
native village. He left his home to enter the 
Prince of Wales College at Charlottetown, 
where he prepared himself for the profession 
of teaching. This he followed in a country 
school for a period of four years, and then en- 
tered St. Dunstan's College, in Charlottetown, 
in order to take up the study of law. His ex- 
ceptional ability as an instructor and disci- 
plinarian attracted immediate attention, and 
the rector of the college offered him the posi- 
tion of instructor in English and Ercnch and 
prefect in charge of the discipline. This ap- 
pointment was accepted, and so acceptable was 
the performance of the duties which fell to his 
charge that he w'as encouraged to study for 
the church. He took the course in philosophy 
while attending to his other duties, and was 
graduated with honors in 1887. In the fol- 
lowing autumn he went to Rome and matricu- 
lated at the famous L'rban University, more 
generally known as the Propaganda College. 
Before the expiration of one year he was 
selected to render services in maintaining 
order and discipline among the students. He 
won a medal in a public competition in which 
students from twenty colleges took part, but 
owing to failing health he was comi)elled to 
internipt his studies for a time. He spent this 
interval in making a tour of the Continent and 
Great Britain, adding materially to his knowl- 
edge of the world and cultivating his natural 
aptitude for character study and military dis- 
cipline, and keeping in close touch with the 
police and military systems of the countries 
through which he traveled, but finally aban- 
doned his studies and returned to his home. 
He had. however, acquired the mastcrv over 
several languages, anrl has alwavs retained his 
love for the classics and the church. Upon the 
advice of his brother. Dr. Thomas E.. who 
had been devoted to him during the period of 
liis ill health, he turned his attention to busi- 



354 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ness life, as being the most fitting occupation 
for him, and engaged in a business partner- 
ship with his brother John, under the firm 
name of Cunningham Brothers. From small 
beginnings this firm has built up one of the 
largest real estate and brokerage agencies in 
the city of Cambridge, and have extended 
their field of activity in the line of insurance 
brokerage. They are also greatly in demand 
as trustees, adininistrators and executors of 
estates, and loaners of money on real property. 
It is a matter of public comment that those 
persons who have had extensive dealings with 
this firm invariably select them, to take charge 
of their estates in the event of death. 

Mr. Cunningham is a man of remarkable 
versatility, and has taken a prominent part in 
the political affairs of the community in which 
he resides, greatly to its advantage. He is 
chairman of the Democratic ward committee 
in the ward in which he lives, chairman of the 
Democratic city committee and was for some 
years chief of police, an office he filled with 
signal ability. He is a public speaker of 
talent, and particularly graceful and witty as 
a toastmaster at public banquets. His views 
are liberal, his sympathies broad, and he has 
been closely identified with various charitable 
and social organizations in Cambridge. He 
was one of the founders and leading spirits 
of the Hospital -Aid Society, and an officer of 
the Holy Ghost Hospital, to which be has 
contributed liberally of his time and money 
since its foundation in 1894. He is one of the 
original members of the Catholic Union of 
Cambridge, served several years as a member 
of its board of directors and was its president 
for one year, relinquishing the office by reason 
of the pressure of business duties. When 
the Cambridge Lodge of Elks was organized 
in 1902, he became a charter member, and 
from the first has been chairman of the board 
of trustees. He is also a member of Cam- 
bridge Covmcil, No. 74, Knights of Columbus ; 
Division No. 21, Ancient Order of Hiber- 
nians; Cambridge Canadian Club; and one of 
the directors of the Intercolonial Club. 



^^"alter Burke, born in 1825, 
BURKE came with his wife Catherine 
(Reilley) Burke (born in 1824), 
and their son, John C. Burke, who was born 
in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, .August 5, 1854, 
to America in 1855, landing in New York 
City, where Walter Burke became a book- 
keeper and timekeeper for Henry P. Bonnell 
& Company, importers and manufacturers of 
tropical woods. The civil war of 1861 re- 



sulted in the destruction of the ships laden 
with mahogany and other valuable woods 
loaded in South America and destined for the 
port of New York for the house of Henry P. 
Bonnell & Company, and this loss resulted in 
the failure of the firm and the consequent dis- 
charge of Walter Burke. 

Mr. Burke, with his wife and three children, 
thereupon migrated to Vermont and settled in 
Albany, Orleans county, where he purchased 
and cultivated a fann, and where John C. at- 
tended school until he was thirteen years of 
age, when he taught school one winter term. 
It was the plan of Walter Burke to educate 
his son to be a civil engineer, a friend of his 
in New York City promising him a position in 
his office as soon as he left school. The con- 
struction of the Portland & Ogdensburg rail- 
road was in operation near his farm in 1868, 
and the young lad, now fourteen years of age, 
prevailed upon his father to allow him to enter 
the employ of the contractor working on that 
section. He first was employed driving his 
father's team, carting the earth to level the 
road-bed. From this he became \bookkeeper, 
and finally overseer of a section. He returned 
to school for one winter, and resumed work 
on the railroad in 1869, being in charge of the 
construction of a section at the Vermont end 
of the line at two hundred and fifty dollars per 
month and his expenses, and he continued this 
work for two years. He then returned to his 
studies at school for six months, and in 1872, 
when only eighteen years old, he was given 
full charge of three thousand men and the 
salary of a full grown and experienced rail- 
road man. He found time, however, to con- 
tinue his studies at the Craftsbury Academy 
and at the University of Vermont, fully deter- 
mined to take up the practice of law. On 
graduating from Craftsbury Academy he en- 
tered the law office of W. W. Mills, of Crafts- 
bury, Vermont, and was admitted to the bar 
in 1879. He practiced in Albany, Vermont, 
the home of his parents, up to September, 
1885, when he removed to Newport, Vermont. 

He was married December 22. 1882, to 
Gertrude, daughter of John C. and Azubah 
(Hayden) Dow, of Albany, \'ermont, and 
granddaughter of William H. and Azubah 
Hayden. Her ancestors on both paternal and 
maternal sides were soldiers in the American 
revolution, coming to New England from 
Wales and Scotland early in the eighteenth 
century. Their children were : George W. 
Burke, born August 25, 1889, at Newport, 
V'ermont. and Julia Lillian Burke, born at 
Lowell, Massachusetts, August 25, 1893. 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



355 



}klr. Burke practiced at Newport, Vermont, 
as a trial lawyer, which required his presence 
to attend court in all the counties of the state, 
and he thus became acquainted with the 
people. lie was an effective stump speaker 
in political canipaig^is, and in 1884 he made a 
canvass of the state of Vermont for Cleveland, 
and during the campaigfn made one hundred 
and ten speeches in as many cities, towns and 
hamlets, and he did this at no expense to the 
state committee. He was a representative 
from his town in the Vermont legislature of 
1882 to 1884, and was chairman of the Ver- 
mont delegation to the Democratic national 
convention that met in Chicago in 1884, that 
nominated Grover Cleveland for president. 

He removed in 1889 to Lowell. Massachu- 
setts, and formed a law partnership with Hon. 
J. N. Marshall and M. L. Hamblet as ^Lar- 
shall, Hamblet & Burke. Upon the with- 
drawal of Mr. Hamblet. Mr. Marshall's son 
was admitted to the firm, which took the name 
of Marshall. Burke & Marshall, and upon the 
death of the Hon. J. N. Marshall, James F. 
Corbett was admitted as a partner, and the 
firm became Burke, Marshall & Corbett. Mr. 
Burke was a director in the Erie Telephone 
Company, and general counsel for same, and 
in the Traders' National Bank, and is now 
president, having been elected to that position 
in 1896. He was a member and served as 
president of the Boston Club of Boston, also 
a member of the Vesper Country Club of 
Lowell. With his family he attends the Con- 
gregational church. 



Richard Dana, the first .American 
DANA ancestor of Judge William Frank- 
lin Dana, and from whom he is a 
descendant in the ninth generation, was a 
descendant of a French Huguenot family that 
took refuge in England after the Edict of 
Nantes had proved inoperative in 1629. The 
first of the name on record is William Dana, 
Esquire, sheriff of Middlesex, the metropoli- 
tan county of England, to whom was given a 
coat-of-arms. now on record in the Herald's 
College, London, England. 

(I) Richard Dana appears to be the only 
immigrant of the seventeenth century bearing 
ihe name of Dana, and from him the Ameri- 
can branch of the family trace their descent. 
The year of his arrival in New England is not 
definitely fixed, but it was traditionally handed 
down as being 1640, and the place Cambridge, 
or that part of the town located on the south 
side of the Charles river, and variously known 



as "The Town on the South Side of the 
Charles River;" "Little Cambridge;" "Little 
Cambridge, a part of Cambridge founded in 
1630;" "South Cambridge:'' "South Side;" 
"The Third Parish ;" "The Third Precinct of 
Cambridge;" "Southerly Part of -First Par- 
ish ;" "Inhabitants of the South Side of the 
River;" "Third Church of Christ in Cam- 
bridge;" "Town next to Cambridge Village." 
His first recorded act on the town records of 
Cambridge is the transfer by deed to Edward 
Jackson, .April 20, 1656, of a tract of fifty- 
eight acres of land on the south side of the 
Charles river, on the road leading from New- 
towne Corner through Cambridge \'illage to 
Boston, and subsequently forming a part of 
the Flunnewell farm in Brighton. He was a 
member of the church at Cambridge, of which 
town he was a freeman, his place of residence 
on the south side of the Charles being part of 
the original town of Newtowne, afterward 
Cambridge. He married after his arrival in 
Massachusetts Colony, and probably about 
1648, Ann Eullard, of Cambridge, and both 
their names appear on the church records as 
members in 1660. He died suddenly as the 
result of a fall April 2, 1690, leaving no will, 
and his estate was settled by mutual consent 
between the heirs at law, the agreement being 
signed April 15, 1695, by his widow, Ann 
Dana, and his sons : Jacob, Joseph, Benjamin 
and Daniel, and his sons-in-law .Sanuiel Old- 
ham, Daniel Woodard and Samuel Hyde, as 
recorded in the Middlesex probate records, 
vol. VIII, p. 331. 

(II) Daniel Dana, son of Richard and .Ann 
(Bullard) Dana, married Naomi Crosswell. 
He was one of the subscribers to the fund to 
pay for a minister to conduct the services in 
the Third Parish of Cambridge, his contribu- 
tion being £10 annually, and his son Richard 
(1700-1702). named for his grandfather, was 
a graduate of Harvard, 1718, and a lawyer in 
the stirring days leading to the Revolution, 
and a compatriot of Samuel .\dams, Otis, 
Quincy, Hancock and W^arren. He married 
Lydia, a daughter of Thomas Trowbridge, 
sister of Judge Edward Trowbridge, and 
mother of Francis Dana (1743-1811), the 
eminent jurist. 

(III) Thomas Dana (1695-1752). son of 
Daniel, married Mary Parker. They had : 

(IV) Thomas Dana (1723-1817), who 
married Martha Williams. He liveil in Rox- 
bury. Massachusetts. They had : 

(V) Thomas Dana (1753-1787), who mar- 
ried Hannah Williams. He was a resident of 
Roxbury, Massachusetts. They had : 



356 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(^\ I) Thomas Dana (1779-1852J, who 
married Betsey Davis. He became a citizen 
of Springfield, Vermont. They had : 

(\IIj WilHam Dana (1807-1869). He 
was a resident of Springfield and of Windsor, 
Vermont, and of Cliarlestown, New Hamp- 
shire. He was a selectman of Springfield, 
Vermont, in 1846, 1847 ^I'ld 1848, and repre- 
sentative from Charlestown in the New 
Hampshire Legislature in 1866, 1867 and 
1868. He married Lucinda Weston. They 
had : 

(Vni) Thomas Dana, who was born in 
Springfield. Vermont, December 8, 1833. He 
was a pupil in the public schools of his native 
town, and was graduated at Wesleyan 
Academy in 1848. He removed to Boston, 
Massachusetts, in 1850, to take a position as 
clerk in tlie wholesale grocery house of Tar- 
bell & Dana, and on reaching his majority in 
J854 he was made a partner in the firm, the 
partnership taking effect January i, 1855, the 
name of the firm becoming Tarbell, Dana & 
Company. In 1863 he purchased Mr. Tar- 
bell's interest in the business, and the firm of 
Thomas Dana & Company, wholesale grocers, 
came into existence. He served in the man- 
agement of trusts and as director of large 
financial corporations and monetary institu- 
tions. He was president of the Union Glass 
Company, and director of the Maverick Na- 
tional Bank. He was married (first) to Helen 
P. Williams, and (second), to Mary Cath- 
erine, daughter of Sewall and Rebecca Hyde 
Baldwin, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and 
removed in 1863 to Boston, and in 1891 to 
Newton, Massachusetts. Thomas and Mary 
Catherine (Baldwin) Dana had three chil- 
dren: William Franklin, Helen and Ada Dana. 
Air. Dana died at his home, 488 Centre street, 
Newton, Massachusetts, April 16, 1904. leav- 
ing a widow and three children. 

(IX) William Franklin Dana, only son of 
Thomas and Mary Catherine (Baldwin) 
Dana, was born in Somerville, Middlesex 
county, Massachusetts, June 26, 1863. He 
was a pupil in the public schools of Boston, 
and was prepared for college in Hopkinson's 
Classical School. He was graduated from 
Harvard, A. B., 1884; LL.B., 1887. He 
studied law in the office of Hyde, Dickinson 
& Howe, of Boston, 1887-88. On June 17, 
1888, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and 
became a partner in the law firm of Dana & 
Bates, subscc|uently in that of Choate & Dana, 
and finally practiced law independently from 
1897 until accepting the position of justice of 
the superior court of Massachusetts, to which 



position he was nominated by Governor Guild 
in 1906, to fill the vacancy caused by the death 
of Justice Elisha Burr Alaynard. His service 
to the city of Newton and the commonwealth 
of Massachusetts up to the time that he took 
his seat on the bench of the superior court 
included : membership in the common council 
from the seventh ward of Newton, 1897 ; 
member-at-large in the board of aldermen for 
three years, under the revised charter of the 
city, 1898, 1899 and 1900, serving as vice- 
president of the board of aldermen in 1900; 
as representative from Newton in the general 
court of Massachusetts, 1901, 1902 and 1903, 
serving as chairman of the committee on in- 
surance, 1902, and of the committee on re- 
vision of the corporation laws and of the re- 
cess committee on salaries of county and state 
ofiicials, 1903. He was a state senator from 
the First Middlesex District, 1904, 1905 and 
1906. In the senate he was chairman of the 
committee on the judiciary and of the com- 
mittee on street railways, in 1904, and chair- 
man of the recess committee on railroads and 
street railways, in 1905. He was president 
of the senate, and chairman of the committee 
on rules, 1905 and 1906. He was a member oi 
the United States circuit court bar, and is a 
member of the Boston and Middlesex Bar 
.\ssociation, and of the Abstract Club of 
Boston, Newton and Hunnewell Clubs of 
Newton, the Republican Qub of Massachu^ 
setts, and the Middlesex Club of Middlesex 
County, and is a proprietor of the Social Law 
Library. He is the author of "The Optimism 
of Ralph Waldo Emerson" (Bowdoin Prize 
Essay, 1886) ; "The Bering Sea Controversy" 
(Nevj England Magazine, January, 1890) ; 
"Monopoly under the National Anti-Trust 
.Act" {Harvard Law Review, February, 
1894) ; "Federal Restraints Upon State Regu- 
lations of Railroad Rates of Fare and Freight" 
(Harvard Law Revie^v, January, 1896) ; "The 
Declaration of Independence" {Harzmrd Law 
Reznew, January, 1900) ; "The Supreme Court 
and the Sherman .\nti-Trust Act" (Harvard 
Law Review, December, 1902). He is not 
married, and makes his home with his mother 
and sisters on Centre street, Newton. The 
story of Judge Dana's political life between 
1897, when he became a member of the com- 
mon council of Newton, to the time of his 
elevation to the position of justice of the su- 
perior court in 1906, is nine years of rapid and 
well earned promotion. He served the muni- 
cipality of his adopted city in both branches 
of the government, receiving the highest posi- 
tion in the gift of his fellow citizens, save that 



Minnr.RSRX county. 



357 



of mayor, attaining the highest position in the 
gift of the legislative body of the conunon- 
vveahh, and from presiding officer of the Mas- 
sachusetts senate passed to the bench of the 
superior court to take the place so ably filled 
by Justice Maynard for fifteen years, attaining 
this prominence Ix'fore he was forty-three 
years of age. 



The Lyons family has been 
LYONS prominent in several Irish coun- 
ties for many centuries. The 
origin of the name is doubtless the same as 
that of the English family Lyon, meaning lion. 
The coat-of-arms of the Lyons family indi- 
cates an ancient belief in this origin of the 
surname. With minor variations the Lyons 
families who bear arms in Ireland hive had 
this coat-of-arms: .\rgont a linn rampant 
azure. The crests differ more. The .Antrim 
family has this crest : Upon a wreath of colors 
a demi-lion rampant holding in the dexter 
paw Heur-de-lis argent. The motto of this 
branch of the family is: "In te Domine 
Speravi." Liesides .Antrim, the family is still 
prominent in Oueens, W'estmeath and Lime- 
rick counties, and is well represented in Cork. 
Dr. Francis Lyons, born in 1797 in Cork, was 
the eldest son of Thomas Lyons, of Cork, and 
his wife, Mary Hackett, daughter of William 
Hackett. Dr. Francis was a graduate in medi- 
cine of the University of Paris in 1822, was 
justice of the peace and magistrate for the city 
of Cork, and represented his district in par- 
liament from 1859 to 1865. Dr. Francis had 
a son Francis, born 1834, living at last ac- 
counts. 

Rear Admiral Sir Algernon McLennon 
Lyons, son of Lieutenant-(jeneral Humphrey 
Lyons, was a Knight of the IJath. Me was 
also of this Irish family. His coat-of-arms is 
somewhat different, iiaving sea-lions instead 
of the king of the forest on the shield. Arms: 
Sable a chevron ermine between three sea- 
lions sejant guardant argent. Crest : Chapeau 
gules turned up ermine a sea-lion's head 
erased argent gorged with a naval crown 
azure. 

(T) Daniel Lyons was born in county Cork, 
Ireland. His father, John Lyons, was a 
farmer there and he was brnught up on tjie 
farm and educated there in the parish schools. 
After his marripge to Ellen Long, he came to 
America to make his home, in 1863 settling 
finally at I'elmont. Massachusetts. There he 
resided with his family until 1872. when he 
removed to the neighboring town of Arlington 



and began farming on his own account nn tlio 
place where his son John is now located. 
.After a number of years he bought a farm on 
Winter street. He engaged in market garden- 
ing, and his skill and industry brought am])lc 
rewards. He acquired a reputation for being 
among the first in the market with his pr«)- 
duce. He retired from active work some 
years ago, and his business is in charge of 
his son who lives at home. Mr. Lyons is a 
Roman Catholic in religion, and is a liberal 
supporter of the Church of St. Agnes in his 
parish at Arlington. Children: i. John, boril 
.August 15, 1859, nientioned below. 2. Jane 
Ellen, married, August 28, 1890, John J, 
Lyons, of Arlington ; children : i. Helen 
.Vnna, born November 15. 181)3: ii. Louise 
iM-ances, December 17. 181)5; iii. Mary I-"., 
.March 5, 1898; iv. John J., Jr., March 31, 
1900. 3. Jeremiah, born July 26, 1871, died 
August 8, 1872. 4. Nellie M., bom in 1873, 
married, October 24, 1894, George S. Gorm- 
ley. of Boston, and their children are : .Arthur, 
William, Mary, Helen. Edith, Gladys Gormly. 
5. Bridget, born September 2, 1877. 6. Daniel, 
born September 26, 1879. 7. Kate Agnes, 
lx>rn .April 14. 1881, died February 15, 1882. 
8. Annie, born February 15, 1883. 

(II) John Lyons, son of Daniel Lyons (i), 
was born at Kanncrwee parish, county Cork, 
Ireland, .August 15, 1859. Here he lived and 
was educated in the schools of that parish. 
He went to live with his grandfather. John 
Lyons, for whom he was named, at the time 
that his parents went to America. He was 
then only four years old. At the age of ten 
he joined his parents in America, then living 
at Belmont, Massachusetts, and attended the 
Brigliton street school in that town. In 1872 
he removed witli his parents to .\rlington and 
attended for a time the Russell school in that 
town. This schoolliouse was destro\ed bv 
fire and he then attended the temporary school 
established in the town hall. He worked for 
his father at market gardening while acquir- 
ing his education. When he left school at the 
age of seventeen he entered the enii)loy of Dr. 
Hodgkins as market gardener for a season, 
then returned to his father's ])lace on Barnes 
lane and remained in his father's emplov uiuil 
he was twenty-two years of age. He was then 
in partnership with his father for two years, 
and in 1884 entered into the market garden- 
ing business on his own account, leasing the 
John P. Wyman fariu on Massachusetts ave- 
nue near his present place. In 1889 he bought 
his present farm known as the Captain George 
Peirce place, situated on Barnes lane, contain- 



358 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ing ten acres. He also retiined tlie Wyman 
place until 1906. Most of his market garden- 
ing has been done on the Peirce farm, on 
which he has eight greenhouses of the latest 
pattern covering a cultivated area of sixty- 
five thousand square feet. His principal crops 
are lettuce and cucumbers, radishes, parsley 
and water cress. His produce is sold in the 
Boston wholesale markets, his salesman being 
his son, Daniel A. Lyons. In addition to 
market gardening Mr. Lyons conducts a large 
livery stable at Arlington Centre near the rail- 
road, opposite Mystic street, formerly known 
as the Chase livery stable. Mr. Lyons bought 
the business in September, 1904. He has also 
a large carriage and hack business. He re- 
sides on his farm in a handsome residence and 
gives his personal attention to his gardens. 
Upright and honest in all his dealings, Mr. 
Lyons is highly esteemed by his townsmen. 
He is a member of St. Agnes Roman Catholic 
Church. In politics he is independent, but 
votes the Republican national ticket. He is 
a member of Arlington Council, No. 109, 
Knights of Columbus, and has been its treas- 
urer for a number of years. He is a member 
of the Watertown Driving Club, and of the 
Boston Market Gardeners' Association. 

He married, January 25. 1883, Katherine 
Theresa Purcell, who was born August 24, 
1857, at Boston, the daughter of James and 
Juiia Theresa (Hines) Purcell. Her father 
was a prosperous market gardener. Children : 

1. Daniel Ambrose, born November 9, 1883. 

2. Mary Gertrude, April 15. 1885. 3. Ellen 
Elizabeth. February 19, 1887, died August 

28, 1887. 4. Lillian Mary, May 22, 1888. 5. 
Julia Marion, July 29, 1890, died November 

29, 1890. 6. Katherine Mary, October 4, 
1891. 7. James Edward. April 23. 1893. 8. 
Eleanor M., January 18, 1895, died March 29, 
1896. 9. Ruth, October 31, 1897. 10. John, 
Jr., April 4, 1899, died January 22, 1900. 11. 
Marion, November 25, 1900. 



George Flood, father of John 
FLOOD Flood, was born in Dublin, Ire- 
land, and in June, 1838, came to 
America, settling on Nantucket Island, where 
he was employed; he founil plenty of work 
among the islanders, and being industrious 
and frugal, prospered. He had no school 
training except in music, but was possessed of 
a fund of general information which he freely 
communicated, and he was esteemed by his 
neighbors and business acquaintances as a 
Sfood citizen. He was a member of the Roman 



Catholic church, and was a devout and regu- 
lar attendant of the services of the church. 
He was for two years a police officer and 
watchman in New Bedford. His wife, Bridget 
Kiernan, was the daughter of James and Isa- 
bella (Short) Kiernan, natives of county Lei- 
tram in the north of Ireland. James Kiernan 
died before the family came to America, but 
his widow with the children, Feli.x, James, 
Margaret, i\lary, Ann, Bridget and Rose, 
came to Nantucket, where they all married, 
and where Margaret died, the others remov- 
ing to Providence. Ann Kiernan married 
Morris Roach, and they had two sons. John 
R. and James F. Roach. 

James F. Roach was born in Nantucket, 
February 25, 1852. He studied for the priest- 
hood and was ordained December 20, 1878, 
by the bishop of Providence. He was the or- 
g-anizer and first rector of The Church of the 
Immaculate Conception at Whittenton, Sta- 
tion No. I, Taunton, Bristol county, Massa- 
chusetts, in the Diocese of Providence, Janu- 
ary, 1883, and he established in connection 
with the church a large parochial school which 
was eminently successful in training the chil- 
dren of the parish and ministering to the 
offices of good neighborhood and good citizen- 
ship. Father Roach died at the residence 
connected with the church of the Immaculate 
Conception, Tau.nton. Massachusetts, January 
7, 1906, greatly lamented by all the citizens 
of that city, without respect to creed. 

Jf)hn Flood, son of George and Bridget 
(Kiernan) Flood, was born in Nantucket, 
Massachusetts, July 19, 1845. He followed the 
sea as a sailor, and in 1864, during the prog- 
ress of the Civil war, enlisted for one hundred 
days' service in the Fifteenth Unattached 
Company, he at the time being only nineteen 
years of age. He re-enlisted in December, 
1864, for one year in the Twenty-sixth Un- 
attached Company, and was honorably mus- 
tered out at the close of the war, not yet hav- 
ing attained his majority. He made his home 
in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1870, and en- 
gaged in the undertaking business in that city, 
being the regular undertaker for the Church 
of Our Lady, of which he was oue of the 
founders, and of which his father-in-law, Pat- 
rick Doherty, was the sexton for fifteen years. 
Mr. Flood became one of the most useful citi- 
zens of Newton, and was regarded as an ex- 
ample of the proper direction of unlimited 
energy and determination. He affiliated with 
the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Knights of 
Cok:;mbus. Ancient Order of LTnited Work- 
men, in which he was past master, Massachu- 



.Mil )ULESEX CO U NT Y. 



359 



setts Catliolic ( )rcler of Foresters, in which he 
was past chief of rangers. Royal Arcanum, in 
which he was past regent, and the Grand 
Army of the Republic, in which he served as 
commander of Charles Ward Post of Xewtoii. 
John Flood married, November 26, 1876, 
at W'atertown, Massachusetts, Kate E., torn 
December 20, 1852, at Newton, Massachu- 
setts, daughter of Patrick and Mary (Dolan) 
Doherty. The ceremony was performed by 
the Rev. Michael M. Green. The children of 
Jolin and Kate E. (Doherty) Flood, all born 
in Newton, and living in 1907, were: Kath- 
erine Rose Ann, born February 10, 1879. 
(leorge Patrick, March 9. 1882. John Frank- 
lin. October 31. 1883. Henrv Field. .April 27, 
1888, died July 28. 1907. The children born 
who died j'oung were: Mary Bridget, Octo- 
ber 27, 1877, died March 9, 1881. Sarah 
Agnes, July 13, 1880, died .April 23, 1881. 
Isabella Margaret. November 19, 1886, died 
.'^e])teniber 5. 1887. Basil Rodney, November, 
1890. died September, 1891. Of these children, 
Katherine Rose Ann became a teacher in the 
eighth grade Hosmer grammar school. Water- 
town, Massachusetts. George Patrick be- 
came an undertaker at Newton I'pper Falls, 
Massachusetts. John Franklin engaged in the 
electrical engineering business and automobile 
to]) manufacturing business. 



George Henry Morgan, post- 
al ORG. \N master of the city of Newton, 
is probably descended from 
.Myles Morgan, who was one of three brothers 
who came from Wales to England, and to 
New England in 1637, and made a liome in 
Roxbury. Massachusetts Bay Colony. Myles 
.Morgan was the founder of the town of 
.S]>ringfield. Massachusetts Bay Colony, from 
common land called .Agawam, June 2, 1641. 
His brother, James Alorgan, was one of the 
founders of Groton, established as a town 
from the plantation of Petapawag, May 23. 
1655, and the third brother John, not favoring 
the austere manners of the Puritans deserted 
the Massachusetts Bay Colony and made a 
home in New Jersey, and his descendants are 
scattered through the south and southwest. 

Solomon Morgan, son of Henry .Morgan, 
was lx)rn in Concord, Massachusetts, and 
died in Plymouth, Vermont. He married 
lietsy Sawyer, of Lancaster and Plymouth. 
Massachusetts. 

John Alorgan, son of Solomon and Pietsy 
(Sawyer) Morgan, was born in Plymouth, 
Vermont, January, 1806. He received a com- 



mon school education, was a farmer ami mem- 
ber of the state militia, a Unitarian in religiou.s 
faith, and old line Whig, and after that ])arty 
was dis.solved, a Democrat. He married Caro- 
line Ai:gusta Dean, and lived in Dedham, 
-Massachusetts, where their son, George Henrv 
.Morgan, was born. 

George Henry Morgan, son of John and 
Caroline .Augusta (Dean) Morgan, was born 
in Dedham, .Massachusetts, May 14, 1850. He 
attended the public schools in Dedham, and 
was graduated at Lock's Academy, West Ded-- 
ham, in the "Claijlward Tree" district. He 
worked on his father's farm and lived at home 
until he was twenty years of age, when he 
was made freight agent and assistant station 
master at Newton Station, on the Boston and 
Albany railroad, remaining in the service of 
the road 1870-76. He was reporter for the 
Boston Herald, 1876-87. On F'ebruary 22, 
1887, he was appointed postmaster of Newton 
by President Cleveland, and he was re-ap- 
pointed by Presidents Harrison and Cleveland, 
and on July 1, i89('), when the officers of the 
city of Newton were consolidated under the 
Newton Center office, he was made superin- 
tendent of the Newton office, where he had 
been ])ostmaster, and he was superintendent 
of the Newton office up to February, 1901, 
when he was appointed by President McKin- 
ley postmaster at Newton Center, with sub- 
stations in the respective villages of Newton, 
Newtonville, West Newton. Auburndale, 
Nonantum, Newton Highlands, Waban, New- 
ton Upper Falls, and Newton Lower Falls, 
and he still holds that office. He is an inde- 
jiendent in part\ politics, a Unitarian in re- 
ligious faith ; and a member of the Channing 
Unitarian Club, of the .Massachusetts Societv 
Sons of the .American Revolution, and of the 
New England Postmasters' As.sociation. He 
was married February 15, 1879, to S. .Annie, 
daughter of James and F;iizab:th (Parry) 
Cartwright. James Cartwright belonged to 
the Coldstream Guards of London, immi- 
grated to .America in 1855. and was a horti- 
culturist in Wellesley, .Massachusetts, and a 
member in perpetuity of the Massnclnisclt- 
Horticulturist .Society. The children of 
George Henry and .S. .Amiie (Cartwright) 
Morgan, are: i. May Frances. Inrn in Wel- 
lesley, Massachusetts, March 31. 1881 : gradu- 
ated at Framingham Normal S'-liooI, was 
teacher in the public schools in Greenville, 
New Hampshire; Northami)ton. Massachu- 
setts: and Everett. Massachusetts, .'^he mar- 
ried Edwin Reynolds, of Brockton. 2. Eliza- 
beth Calla, Ixirn in Newton, Massachusetts, 



36o 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



March lo, 1889. 3. Aliriam, born in Newton, 
Massachusetts, August 15, 1894. 



Richard Nason, immigrant an- 
NASON cestor of all the Nason family of 
Maine, was born in England at 
Stratford-on-Avon, where Shakespeare was 
born, if well-founded, family tradition is cor- 
rect. Many of the Nason family are found 
there to-day, and the history of this family in 
England extends back to the earliest historical 
timics. A Richard Nason was baptized at 
Stratford-on-Avon, August 3, i6ofi, son of 
John Nason, and married Elizabeth Rogers, 
and there is every reason to believe this child 
to be the American immigrant, Richard, who 
was in Kittery, Maine, as early as 1639, when 
he was living in the locality known as Pipe 
Stave Landing. He was a planter and often 
assisted at surveying. The court records show 
that in 1645 he had John Baker arrested 
and fined five shllings on the charge of "beat- 
ing Richard Nason, that he was black and 
blue and for throwing a fire shovel at his 
wife." Nason was a juryman in 1649, and 
was accused by the bigots of his day of "blas- 
phemy" in 1665, but the general court, before 
which the case was tried did "not adjudge him 
so guilty of the fact as that by our laws he 
ought to die," but, instead, put him under 
bonds of forty pounds for good behavior. 
Philip Chesley, of Oyster River (Dover) was 
witness against him. The inhabitants of Kit- 
tery took occasion the following year to show 
their good opinion of him by electing him as 
deputy to the general court along with 
Thomas Withers. The court, however, re- 
fused Nason his seat and the electors of Kit- 
tery were called to account for choosing him. 
The fact is, Nason was turning Quaker, and in 
1655 was presented at York for not attending 
meeting, and in 1659 was fined five povmds 
and disfranchised for entertaining Quakers. 
He was ensign of the militia company in 
1653 ; was selectman and held other town 
offices before he changed his religious views. 
His lot of two hundred acres of land was con- 
firmed to him by the town. 

The name of his first wife was Sarah, and 
the fact that she had children named John 
and Raker, as well as the incident above men- 
tioned, suggests that she was of the Baker 
family. Lieutenant John Baker was in Dover 
as early as 1643; was deputy in 1650-51, and 
a man of prominence. 

Richard Nason married (second) Abigail 
Follet, widow of Nicholas Follet. In his old 



age he lived with his son Benjamin. His will 
dated July 14, 1694, was probated March 15, 
1696-97. Children of Richard and Sarah 

Nason: i. Richard, married Shuah ; 

was killed by the Indians in 1675 ; widow mar- 
ried John Douglass. 2. Jonathan, mentioned 
below. 3. John, married Hannah Heard ; 
(seconil) Bridget Weymouth. 4. Joseph, 
taxed at Cnchcco in 1671. 5. Benjamin, mar- 
ried Alartha Kenney ; (second) Sarah . 

6. Baker, married Elizabeth and lived 

in Berwick, Maine. 7. Charles (?), died 
about 1698. 8. Sarah, married Henry Child ; 
(second) John Hoyt. 

(II) Jonathan Nason, son of Richard 
Nason (i), was born about 1650. Married 
Sarah Jenkins, daughter of Reynolds Jenkins. 
He had a grant of land of a hundred acres in 
1670: was constable in 1682; was killed proba- 
bly by accident in 1691. His widow Sarah 
married John Kay, Sr., of Berwick. Children 
of Jonathan and Sarah Nason: i. Mary, born 
about 1675, niarried, October 6, 1693, James 
Grant. 2. Sarah, married Henry Snow. 3. 
Jonathan, mentioned below. 4. Alice, mar- 
ried Joseph Abbot. 5. Abigail, married, Janu- 
ary 3, 1694, John Abbot. 6. Charity, married, 
April 6, 1696, Job Emery. 

(III) Jonathan Nason, son of Jonathan 
Nason (2), was born about 1680 in Kittery, 
Maine. He married, April 27, 1702, Adah 
Morrell, daughter of John and Sarah (Hods- 
den) Morrell. Both were baptized and owned 
the convenant at Berwick, April 13, 1712. His 
will dated November 4, 1745, was probated 
April 7, 1746. His wife Adah survived him. 
Children : i. Richard, bom February 14, 
1703, mentioned below. 2. John, born Octo- 
ber 24. 1704, married Margaret Lord. 3. 
Mary, born November 30, 1706, married, Sep- 
tember 3, 1730, Matthew Libby. 4. Sarah, 
born November 25, 1708 (?), married James 
r>ost, Jr., of Berwick, December 25, 1729. 
5. Jonathan born November 7, 1710. 6. 
Uriah, born January 31, 1712-13, married 
Sarah Stone, of Wells, and had a son Jere- 
miah. 1x)rn September 23, 1741. 7. Adah, born 
January 6, 17 14- 15, married, December 3, 
1747, Benjamin Wormwood, of Wells. 8. 
Azariah, born July 25, 1716, married Abigail 
Staples. 9. Philadelphia, born December 28, 
1719, married, January 12, 1742, James Ran- 
kin, of Wells; (second), August 12, 1756, 
John Harvey ; she died aged one hundred and 
two vears. 10. Rachel, born May i. 1724.. 
II. Elizabeth, born May 27, 1727, married, 
February 7, 1750, James Goold. 

(IV) Richard Nason, son of Jonathan (3), 



^IIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



361 



was born February 14, 1703, Married, No- 
vember 5, 1725, Abigail Libb} . daugliter of 
David and Eleanor I.ibb\-. This whole family 
removed to Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Most of 
them seemed to have removed to the vicinity 
of what is now Minot, Maine, after the Revo- 
lutionary war. We find Uriah, Nathan. John, 
Richard and Isaac Nason there from 1786 to 
1800. owning land. Children of Richard and 
Abigail Nason: 1. Ephraim. bom December 
10, 1727, settled in Gorham, Maine. 2. 
Eleanor, born September 20, 1729, married 
Jonathan Berry. 3. Abigail, born April 9, 
1731, married, Januar}- 31, 1748, James Cobb. 
4. Sarah, born January 25, 1734, married 
Daniel .Small. 5. Richard, born March 27, 
1736, married Eunice Wilson. 6. Isaac, born 
December 14, 1738, mentioned below. 7. 
Jonathan, born August i, 1741, married Sarah 
Chick, resided in Eliot, Elaine. 8. Uriah, 
born January 14, 1743, married Bathsheba 
Partridge. 9. .\dah ( ?)', married John 
Young, October 19. 1769. in. Elizabeth, 
married May 14, 1772, Francis Jackson, of 
Cape Elizabeth. 

(V) Isaac Nason, son of Richard Nason 
(4), was born in Kittcry, Maine, December 
14, 1738. Married, 2^1ay 13. 1760. Sarah 
Small. The best evidence shows that he and 
his brothers settled in the vicinity of .Auburn, 
Maine. Isaac Nason was a taxpayer in .Au- 
burn (now Minot) before 1800, owning lot 
No. 68. Child, William, mentioned below. 

(VI) \^'illiam Nason, grandfather of Sid- 
ney Nason, of Natick, was horn about 1775, 
and went with his parents to what is now 
Minot, Maine. He married Relief Hatch. He 
was a farmer and blacksmith, skilful at his 
trade, and besides did much teaming of lum- 
ber, etc. He enlisted in the War of 1812. 
Children: i. Moses, was a police officer in 
Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1850. 2. Isaac, 
mentioned below. 3. William, married Aurelia 
Leach. 4. Nathaniel, married .Sarah .Ann Ver- 
rill. 5. Charles, married Betsey Winslow. 6. 
Henry, never married. 7. Asenath, married 
Lemuel Pinkham. 8. Mary, married David 
Nevins. 9. Jane. 10. Sarah, married twice. 
And three others died young. 

(VH) Isaac Nason, son of William Nason 
(6), was Ixirn in Minot. Maine, about 1808, 
and died May 30, 1844, in the prime of life. 
He was a farmer at .^von, Franklin county. 
Maine, and also did considerable teaming. He 
was an energetic, active man. He married 
Mary Leach, born May 23. 1813. daughter of 
Joseph and Betsey (Young) Leach, died Sep- 
tember 8, 1877. Children: i. Sumner, born 



July 17. 1834. 2. Sidney, born April 27, 1836, 
mentioned below. 3. Mary Sibyl, born July 
13, 1838. 4. Horace, born June 18. 1843. 5- 
Asenath, died March 17, 1844. 6. Susan, born 
May 28, 1844, died December 21. 1862. 

(VHi) Sidney Nason, son of Isaac Nason 
(7), was born in Avon, Franklin county, 
Maine, .\pril 27, 1836. He attended the com- 
mon schools for a while, but at an early age 
was apprenticed to a farmer living near now 
West Gardiner, Maine, after his father's death. 
At the age of thirteen he ran away and be- 
came self-supjxjrting, working first as a bob- 
bin boy in the Lancaster Gingham Mill, town 
of Clinton, but in a year was promoted to be 
third hand in a division, repairing looms, con- 
tinuing in this position until he left the mill. 
He was the youngest boy to hold this position. 
In 1853, at the age of seventeen, he came to 
Natick, Massachusetts, and learned the shoe- 
maker's trade. He worked in various shoe 
factories and for various shoe manufacturers 
in Natick and until 1865, when he engaged in 
the ice business, in the town of Ashland. He 
was elected constable of Natick in 1857 when 
he was only twenty-one years of age, and re- 
elected each year until 1862, when he left the 
town. For a period of thirty years he was a 
police officer in .Ashland, South Borough, 
Brookfield, and Natick, where in 1886-89 'i^ 
was the chief of police. He has always been 
a Republican. 

When he left the police force of Natick he 
purchased the building moving business of 
the late Benjamin Hartford, of Natick, from 
the estate, and for eighteen years has carried 
on the largest business in this line in that sec- 
tion of the state. He has carried out success- 
fully many large and difficult contracts for 
moving buildings, and has an extensive plant. 
He is an attendant of the First Congregational 
Church at Natick. He became a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 
.'\shland in 1867, still a member. 

Mr. Nason was an exceptionally efficient 
head of the Natick police force at a time when 
the enforcement of the liquor law presented 
almost insuperable difficulties. He was a ter- 
ror to all evil-doers : an honest, upright and 
fearless officer, whom all classes respected. In 
a town presenting great difficulties in preserv- 
ing good order and enforcing the law. Chief 
Nason made a record that has been sei up as a 
standard ever since. He has ]")Tospered in 
business, and has always been counted among 
the substantial citizens of the community in 
which he has lived. 

He married, September 14, 1858, at Natick, 



362 



IMIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



Mary Eliza Travis, born March 28, 1839, 
daughter of Deacon John and Mary (Sawin) 
Travis, of Natick. They have no children. 

Deacon John Travis was a leading citizen 
of Natick for many years ; was deacon of the 
First Congregational Church forty-five years. 
He married (first) Hannah Mann; (second) 
Abigail Mann, and (third) Mary Sawin. 
Children: i. Hannah M. Travis, born 1815 ; ii. 
John Travis, born 1818; iii. Munroe Travis, 
born 1821, died 1827; iv. Eliza Anne Travis, 
born 1823, died 1824; v. AJonzo F. Travis, 
born 1825 ; vi. Eliza Ann Travis, born 1829, 
died 1835; vii. Claudius B. Travis, born 1831. 
a well-known shoe manufacturer of Natick ; 
viii. Edward P. Travis, Ixirn 1833 ; ix. Daniel 
C. Travis, born 1835, died 1836; x. Mary 
Eliza Travis, born 1839, married Sidney Na- 
son. mentioned above. 

Daniel Travis, father of Deacon John 
Tra^'is, was the son of Daniel Travis. Mar- 
ried, May 29. 1793, Abigail Sanger, born 1772, 
daughter of John and Anna (Leland) Sanger. 
Qiildren of Daniel and Abigail (Sanger) 
Travis : i. John, born .April 8, 1794, mentioned 
above: ii. Curtis, born February 8, 1796, mar- 
ried Betsey Childs, died 1836: iii. Randall, 
born 1798, married Abigail Perry; was a 
farmer and currier. Holliston ; iv. Otis S. 
Travis, born 1801, married Eliza Perry, was a 
farmer in Natick; v. Clark Travis, born 1803. 
a victualler at Holliston. married Ede Bacon ; 
vi. Louisa Travis, born 1806, died 1843. mar- 
ried James Hawkes ; vii. Hiram S. Travis, 
born t8o8. farmer at Townsend. Massachu- 
setts ; married Betsey Trow : viii. Relief, born 
1810. lived in New York City, married Lo- 
renzo Mann: ix. Daniel B. Travis, born 1814, 
lived in Holliston. died 1835. 

Anna Leland was the daughter of Caleb, 
granddaughter of Ebenezer Leland. She was 
born in 1746 and died in Natick in 1844. 
Caleb Leland, her father, married Judith 
Morse and Mary Harding. Ebenezer Leland. 
father of Caleb, married Martha Death, of 
Sherborn. Ebenezer Leland, father of Eben- 
ezer last-named, married Deborah and 

Mary Hunt ; lived and died in Sherborn ; was 
son of the immigrant ancestor and founder of 
the Leland family in America, Henry Leland. 
Henry was born in England about 1630 ; mar- 
ried Margaret Babcock and came to America 
in 1652, settling in Sherborn. where he died 
April 4, 1680. 

John Sanger, who married July 23, 1768, 
Anna Leland. mentioned above, was born in 
Sherborn, July 24, 1746, seventh child of 



Richard Sanger, a blacksmith, of Sherborn. 
Richard Sanger was a remarkable man. In 
1737 he opened a general store in Sherborn, 
and in 1747 another in Boston, but after a year 
returned to Sherborn ; traded extensively in 
merchandise and real estate. He accumulated 
a fortune ; was selectman ten years ; often 
moderator ; was on the committee of safety in 
1776. He married Deborah Rider, daughter 
of Hon. William and Deborah (Morse) Rider. 
Richard Sanger, born February 22, 1666-67, 
father of Richard just mentioned, came to 
Sherborn, Massachusetts, with his brother 
Nathaniel, and set up a blacksmith shop and 
after a year's residence was granted twenty 
acres of land, July i, 1689, and he built his 
house on the north side of the common and it 
was the nearest to the meeting house. 

Richard Sanger, father of Richard just 
mentioned, was of German origin, but came 
from England, embarking April, 1638, at 
Southampton. He was a blacksmith at 
Sudbury and Watertown. (For the Travis an- 
cestry of Mrs. Nason, see Travis family 
sketch). 



Edward Case, the immigrant an- 
CASE cestor of James Brown Case and 
of the Case family of New Eng- 
land, came to \\'atertown, Massachusetts Bay 
Colony, before 1638, and appears in Cohasset, 
Plymouth Colony, where he was one of the 
forty-six original purchasers of that place 
from the Indians, and took the oath as a free- 
man in 1638, and was an incorporator of the 
newly organized town of Taunton, Alarch 3, 
I ("139. He is regarded as being a man of ex- 
cellent repute, and he served the Plymouth 
Colony as a deputy to the general court of the 
province for four years. His home lot was 
on what is now Dean street, Taunton, near the 
junction of Spring and Main streets. 

The next of the family of which we have 
record is Wanton Case, who was one of the 
proprietors of Westport at the time it was set 
off from the town of Dartmouth, July 2, 1787, 
and at the first town meeting held at the house 
of William Gififord, August 20, 1787, he was 
chosen as one of the surveyors of highways of 
the new town. He was a member of the So- 
cietv of Friends, which sect constituted the 
majority of the persons making up the town 
and controlling its government. James and 
Alice Case were among the early settlers of 
Westport. and they were farmers and Quakers 
of retiring disposition, and their estate has re- 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



363 



mained in the possession of tlie Case family 
up to a recent date. 

James Brown Case, son of .Mien Green and 
Robv (Allen) Case, was born in Providence. 
Rhode Island, September 27, 1826. His father 
was a contractor and builder in Providence, 
and when the Providence railroad was first 
laid out and constructed he had the contract 
for erecting the freight and passenger stations 
along the route. lie was brought up on his 
father's farm in \\'estport, and his wife was 
the daughter of Wesson .\llen. who owned a 
farm adjacent to that of Wanton Case, and 
originally owned by James Case and his wife 
Alice, probably descendants of Edward Case, 
the immigrant, who was a proprietor of the 
town of Taunton, organized with church and 
civil government March 3, 1629. 

James Brown Case was educated in the 
schools of Providence. Rhode Island, and 
when nineteen years old went to Boston, Mas- 
sachusetts, to find employment in the dry 
goods house of Smith & Sumner, who then 
had a store on the comer of Milk and Hawley 
streets. He was so useful and imp<jrtant as a 
clerk and salesman that on reaching his major- 
ity in 1847, he was made a partner, the firm 
becoming Smith. Sumner & Company. He 
later became a partner in an importing dry 
goods house with Theodore Von .Xrrim. Sub- 
sequently (1875-76) the wholesale millinery 
firm of Wentworth, Case and Company was 
formed, which was from 1878 to 1886. Case. 
Leland & Company, with Mr. Case as senior 
partner. He continued as senior member of 
the succeeding firm — Case, Dudley & Bartell 
— from January i, 1886, to January i, 1898, 
when he retired and the firm became Dudley, 
Bartell & Hurd. He was president of the 
Bank of Redemption of Boston for thirteen 
years, and a director of the First National 
Bank in Boston up to the time of his death. 
He was an upright and straightforward mer- 
chant, and an honorable and esteemed banker. 
He was a Democrat in political faith, and his 
religious belief was in accord with the Uni- 
tarian Society. His clubs included the .Algon- 
quin and St. Botolph of Boston, and the Coun- 
try Club of Brookline. He was a traveler of 
more than ordinary experience, having made 
over forty voyages across the Atlantic and 
several journeys across the continent of Amer- 
ica, and he extended one of his trips so as to 
circumnavigate the world, visiting all the 
prominent places of interest en route. In many 
of his journeyings he was accompanied by his 
familv. His recreation, besides travel and club 



attendance, he found in life on his extensive 
farm at Weston, where he owned one of the 
finest estates in .Middlesex county, and his 
j)rincipal delight was his splendid herd of 
(jucrnsey cattle and his stable of fine road and 
coach horses. 

Mr. Case married, at Jamaica Plain, Massa- 
chusetts, October 26, 1854, I.aura Lucretia, 
daughter of Moses and ^Iary (Blake) Wil- 
liams, and granddaughter of Thomas Blake. 
a paymaster in the Continental army in the 
revolutionary war, and a participant in the 
battle of Ticonderoga. ( )n October 26. 1904, 
James Brown and Laura Lucretia (Williams) 
Case observed the fiftieth amiiversary of their 
wedding at their home in Weston, where they 
were surrounded by a goodly number of 
friends and relatives. The children of the hon- 
ored bride and gjoom of fifty years gathered 
at the Golden .Anniversary were : Caroline 
Sumner, born May 28. 1856, married, June 5. 
1888, James G. Freeman, real estate dealer in 
Boston and resident of Weston : Louisa Wil- 
liams Case and Marion Roby Case, unmarried, 
and residing with their mother on the Case 
estate in Weston, and in the city home of the 
family on Beacon street, Boston. Mr. Case 
died at his home in Boston, .\pril 11, 1907. 



Francis Plumer. the first 
PLUMMER .American ancestor of Dr. 

Frank J. Plummer. of Mai- 
den. Massachusetts, was born in the west of 
England. He came to Massachusetts Bay 
Colony with the earl\- settlers sent out by the 
Massachusetts Company including his wife 
and two sons, landing at Naumkeag (Salem), 
becoming a freeman of Salem, May 14, 1634, 
and settling on the plantation called Wessacu- 
con. which on May 6. 1635, was established as 
the town of Newbury. Massachusetts Bay Col- 
ony. Francis Plumer was by trade a linen 
weaver. With his wife Ruth and two sons 
Samuel (1619-1702) and Joseph (1630-1683) 
he made the journey from .Salem to the new 
plantation on the Merrimac river by boat, and 
he established a tavern at Newbury and held 
various town offices. 

Samuel Plumer (1619-1702), eldest son of 
Francis and Ruth Plumer. was admitted as a 
freeman by joining the church at Newbury 
and taking the freeman's oath June 2, 1641, 
shortly after attaining his majority : he was 
deputy to the general court of the colony. He 
was the owner of a ferry privilege at New- 
bury, across the Merrimac river Tie married 
Marv Bidfield and had children : ."-^anniel, born 



364 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



.■\pril 20, 1646, married, December 5, 1670. 
Mary, born February 3, 1650, married, De- 
cember 6, 1676, John Swett. John, born May 
II, 1652, killed while a member of Captain 
Lathrop's company at the battle of Bloody 
Creek, September 18, 1675. Ephraim, born 
September 16, 1655, married, January 15, 
1680, Hannah Jaynes, and died August 13, 
1716. Hannah, born February 16, 1657, mar- 
ried David Batchelder. Sylvanus, born Feb- 
ruary 22, 1658, married. January 18, 1682, 
Sarah Moody. Ruth, born August 27, 1660, 
married, January 18, 1682, Richard Jacques. 
Elizabeth, born October 10, 1662, married, 
June 26, 1682, Richard Jackman. Deborah, 
Tx)rn March 13, 166 — , married, November 6, 
1699, Elizabeth Dale. Lydia, born July 2, 
1668, married Joseph Marsh ; Batchelder, born 
July 31, 1679, died young. 

Joseph Plumer, the second son of Francis 
and Ruth Plumer, was born in England in 
1630, and accompanied his father, mother and 
■elder brother Samuel to Massachusetts Bay 
Colony. He was married December 23, 1652, 
to Sarah Cheney. He died in Newbury, De- 
cember II, 1683. The other children of 
Francis and Ruth Plumer were : Hannah, born 
1632, married, May 3, 1653, Samuel Moore. 
Mary, born 1634, married. May 26, 1660, John 
Cheney. 

Francis Plumer married his second wife, 
Widow Ann Palmer, March 31, 1648, and she 
died October 18. 1665. He married as his 
third wife, November 29, 1665, Beatrice, 
widow of William Castleberry, of Salcni, and 
he died at Newbury, January 17, 1672. Among 
his descendants were William Plumer (1759- 
1850), of Epping, New Hampshire, and his 
son William Plumer (1789-1854), the elder 
being distinguished as a state legislator. 
United States senator, governor of New 
Hampshire, presidential elector and author, 
over the pen name of "Cincinnatus," and the 
younger, William, was representative of the 
United States congress, 1819-25, United 
States loam commissioner, state legislator and 
member of the New Hampshire constitutional 
convention of 1850. These noted publicists 
of Epping, New Hampshire, were direct de- 
scendants from Francis Plumer (I) through 
Samuel and Mary (Bidfield) Plumer (H) ; 
Sylvanus and Sarah (Moody) Plumer (IH) ; 
Samuel and Hannah (Woodman; Plumer 
(IV) ; Samuel and Mary" (Dale) Plumer (V), 
whose son William married Sallie, daughter 
of Philip Fowler, of Newmarket, New Hamp- 
shire, (VI), and their son William and his 
wife Margaret F. (Mead) Plumer (VII). 



James Plumer, grandfather of Dr. Frank J. 
Plummer, was born in Charlestown, New 
Hampshire, in the early part of the nineteenth 
century. The first date we find recorded was 
February 20, 1822, when his son, William G. 
Plummer, was born. His wife was Priscilla 
Upton. 

William ii. Plummer, son of James and 
Priscilla (Upton) Plummer, married Jose- 
phine Kennedy. They made their home in 
Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was a rope- 
maker and was employed in the navy 
yard at that place. In 1874 he was appointed 
on the police force of Boston, and served 
for many years. He was a Democrat in 
politics until 1862, and after that time was 
a Republican. He was a member of Indepen- 
dent Order Odd Fellows from 1847, affiliated 
with Howard Lodge, of Charlestown, Massa- 
chusetts, and was also a member of the Grand 
Lodge. He died January 30, 1907, at the 
home of his son, Dr. Frank J. Plummer ; his 
wife on Thanksgiving Day, 1901. Their chil- 
dren were: i. William Henry, born November 
I, 1844, married Fannie M. Piatt, of St. Louis, 
Missouri, issue, John Piatt Plummer ; they re- 
side in Chicago. 2. Augustus, died young. 3. 
Edmund, died young. 4. Edmund Augustus, 
born 1851, married Catherine O'Donnell, of 
Lewiston, Maine; issue, Edmund L. 5. M'ary 
Josephine, born 1853, married Abraham T. 
Rogers, issue : William, a dentist ; George, 
lawyer and secretary to Boston police commis- 
sioner ; Edward, physician ; May, Elizabeth, 
Louisa, John and Abraham. 6. Frank J., of 
whom further. 

Frank J. Plummer, M. D., youngest child 
of W^illiam G. and Josephine (Kennedy) 
Plummer, was born in Charlestown, Massa- 
chusetts, February 4, 1856. He was educated 
in the public schools of the city of Boston, 
graduating from the high school. He studied 
for his profession in the Baltimore (Mary- 
land) Medical College, and was graduated 
therefrom in 1896 with the degree of Doctor 
of Medicine. He has resided in Maiden since 
1883. He has acquired a wide reputation as a 
medical practitioner, and stands high in the 
profession of Middlesex county and of the 
.state. He is a member of the ^lassachusetts 
Medical Society, Maiden Medical Society, 
American Medical ,\ssociation. He married, 
1883, Mary Louise Hickey, who died at the 
family home in Maiden, April 23, 1906, leav- 
ing three children : Mary Josephine, born 
September 7, 1884. Ruth \'irginia, July 15, 
1886. Helen, July 8, 1892. 



/^r^ ^««-* 




4JOt- 



Oc-f^^ K-t-e/^ I) QL4y>^(i-la--<-^ 



.MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



365 



Samuel Sanders, father of Harriette 
RICE A. (Sanders) Rice, was born in 
Plymouth, England, September 17, 
1801. lie left his native country when a mere 
lad, after receiving a fair English education, 
and landed in Boston, and drifted thence to 
Cambridge to find a congenial home within 
his means. He learned the carpenter's trade 
in Boston, and walked the distance from his 
home to his work, carrying his tools in a bag 
tiung over his shoulder. He became an expert 
workman at his trade, and in 1824 was able to 
take upon himself the resj:K)nsibility of married 
life. He married .Susan, daughter of John 
and Mary (Whitney) Dudley, of Weston, 
Massachusetts. From 1848 to 1857 he served 
as chief engineer of the fire department of 
Cambridge, having previous to that time act- 
ed as a member of a volunteer fire company, 
proved his qualities as a fire-fighter, always 
ready to respond to the call of the fire bell, be 
it day or night, and performing his duty in 
an earnest and heroic way. ( )n leaving the 
position of chief engineer, he was elected a 
member of the city council of Cambridge and 
served during the administration of Mayor 
John Sargent. He then took up the business 
of fire insurance, and was also an assistant 
assessor of the city when Dr. Brown was as- 
sessor. His wife lx)re to him two children, 
and died at their home, 11 Market street, Cam- 
bridge. .Massachusetts, January 31, 1883. One 
of his children died in infancy, and the other, 
Harriette .\., became the wife of Homer Rice, 
of Cambridge. Mr. Sanders died at his home, 
a house which he built about 1826 at No. 11 
Market street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
December 19, 1897, aged ninety-six years, 
leaving his only daughter a widow with a 
child, Samuel .S. 

(II) Harriette A. (Sanders) Rice, daughter 
and only living child of Samuel and Susan 
(Dudley) Sanders, and granddaugiiter of 
John and Mary (Whitney) Dudley, of Wes- 
ton, Massachusetts, was born in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, March 19, 1825. She was 
married May 29. 1845, to Homer, son of 
Barnabas and Betsey (Lawrence) Rice, and a 
descendant from Edmund Rice (1594- 1663), 
of Sudbury. Massachusetts. He was born in 
Southboro, Worcester county, Massachusetts, 
February 8, 1821. and was a broker in Boston. 
They had one son. Samuel S. Rice, also a 
broker, who died March 9, T904. Homer Rice 
died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, .\ugust 21, 
1893. Her mother's brother, Samuel Whitney 
Dudlev, was born February 17. 1812, in Wes- 
ton, Massachusetts, and was a carpenter by 



trade. lie married and niade his home ill 
Cambridge, where he was highly esteemed, 
and at the time of his death was suix;rinten- 
dent of the Cambridge Water Works. Of his 
three children a son died young; a daughter, 
Lucy Jane Dudley, married Frank E. Russell, 
and was in 1907 a resident of Keene, New 
Hampshire; and another daughter, .-Xuna 
Maria Dudley, married William H. Wood, a 
InmlxT merchant in Cambridge, who died 
.\pril 14, 1877. Mrs. Rice is the owner and 
occupant of the hou.se her father, Samuel 
Sanders, built about 1826, and in which her 
mother and father lived and died, and in which 
she has lived since she was three years old. 



The immigrant ancestor of 
LEAVENS William Leavens, of .Med- 

ford, was John Leavens, who 
came to Boston, Massachusetts, in the ship 
"William and Frances,'' leaving London, 
England, March 9, and arriving in Boston, 
June 5, 1632. He settled at Roxbury, Massa- 
chusetts, and became a freeman in 1634. His 
wife, who had been an invalid for some time, 
died in 1638. He was then fifty-seven years 
old. He married (second), July 5, 1639, 
Rachel Wright, by whom he had five children. 
He lived in Roxbury and on the road to Dor- 
chester. 

(II) John Leavens, the eldest son of John 
Leavens, was born in Roxbury, .\pril 27, 1640, 
died in 1696, in Woodstock, where he settled. 
Woodstock was at that time a part of Massa- 
chusetts, but is now a Connecticut town. He 
married (first), Jujie 17, 1665, Hannah Wood, 
who died in 1666. He married (second), No- 
vember 23, 1674, Elizabeth Preston, daughter 
of Edward Preston, of New Haven, Coimecti- 
cut. 

(III) Benjamin Leavens, son of John 
Leavens, Jr., was born in Woodstock, .Xpril 
10, 1692, died in 1724. He married, Decem- 
ber 21, 1715, Elizabeth Church. She married 
(second) Criah Horsmer. 

(I\') Benjamin Leavens, son of Benjamin 
Leavens, was born May 29, 1716. died in 1798. 
He married (first). December 4, 1742, Eliza- 
beth Cady, who died in 1752. He married 
(second), July 18, 1754. Dorothy I'errin. 

(V) Benjamin Leavens, .son of lienj.imin 
Leavens. Jr., born July 2. I7''i3, died in 1851. 
He married, September 25, 1788, Sybil 
Learned. 

(NT) (icorge Learned Leavens, son of Ben- 
jamin Leavens, was born .\pril 30. 1796. died 
Tulv 21. 1869. He married, October 8, 1820, 
Fli/.ihi-ih Learned. 



366 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



( \ II j George Merrill Leavens, son ot 
George L. Leavens, was born in Dudley, Mas- 
sachusetts, June 22, 1825, died in Medford, 
February 3, 1897. He attended the schools 
of Dudley and Boston and completed his 
studies at Dudley Academy. His first employ- 
ment was as clerk in a grocery store at the 
corner of Eaton and North Russell streets. 
Boston, and later was employed in a furniture 
store on North Market street. In 1874 he pur- 
chased the interest of his employer and formed 
a partnership with Thomas Trefry, vmder the 
firm name of Leavens & Trefry, and this con- 
nection continued until 1885, when he started 
as one of the pioneers in the chair trade on 
Canal street, Boston, with his son \\'illiam, un- 
der the firm name of G. M. Leavens & Son. 
He retired from active business in 1897. He 
married, September 29, 1850, Caroline A. 
Copps, who is supposed to have been a de- 
scendant of William Copps, of Boston, for 
whom the Copps Hill cemetery of Boston was 
named. They were the parents of six sons : 
Harry, Frank, William, George Adams, Ed- 
ward and Henry. 

(VIII) William Leavens, son of George 
Merrill Leavens, was born in Charlestown, 
January 9, 1855. In 1865, when ten years of 
age, he came to Medford and attended the 
public schools. At the age of fifteen he en- 
tered the employ of Lewis Coleman & Com- 
pany of Boston. Ill 1875 he entered the furni- 
ture business on F'ulton street, and ten years 
later started the store at No. 32 Canal street. 
Until 1898 the firm name was G. M. Leavens 
& Son, and since then it has been William 
Leavens & Company. Mr. Leavens is a mem- 
ber of Mount Hermon Lodge, Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons ; a past noble grand of Har- 
mony Lodge : past chief patriarch of Mystic 
Encampment, and member of Purity Rebekah 
Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; 
Medford Council, Royal Arcanum; Warren 
Lodge, Ancient Order United Workmen ; con- 
tributive member of S. L. Lawrence Post, No. 
66. Grand Army of the Republic ; an associate 
member of the Lawrence Light Guards, and a 
member of the Veteran Association of the 
same ; past president of the Medford Club ; 
member of the Medford Historical Society ; 
member of the Unitarian Club; director of the 
Royall House Association, and director of the 
Medford Co-op<;rative Bank. Though active 
in town and city affairs, he has never held an 
elective office. He served the city as a mem- 
ber of the board of water commissioners for 
six years, and was chairman of the board dur- 
ing a portion of this time. 



Mr. Leavens was married in i88o to Emma 
D. White, daughter of John White, of Med- 
ford. They have one child, Edith Elizabeth, 
who married, June, 1904, Walter Whitehead, 
and they have one child, Barbara, born August 
12, 1905. 



Alfred Elmer Cox, director and gen- 
COX eral manager of The Atlantic Works 
of Boston, Massachusetts, who has 
been prominently identified with the public af- 
fairs of the city of Maiden, Massachusetts, to 
the great advantage of that place, is a de- 
scendant of one of the old Colonial families. 

(I) William Cox, the immigrant ancestor, 
was a native of England. He settled in that 
part of Maine called Pemaquid, and almost all 
the families in Maine who bear the name of 
Cox trace their descent to him. 

(II) John Cox was either a son or grandson 
of William Cox (i). He made an important 
deposition at Boston, September 18, 1736, in 
which he gave his age as seventy-eight years, 
making the date of his birth 1658. He stated 
that he lived on the east side of the Kennebec, 
then called Pemaquid, from whence they were 
driven by the Indians in 1676. Early in life 
he adopted the calling of fisherman. He finally 
settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and died 
there November 23, 1742. He was assigned 
seat No. seven in the first meeting house in 
Dorchester, May 10, 1698. He bought land 
in Dorchester, of the selectmen, April 4, 1721, 
on Squantum Neck, bounded on the south and 
east by the sea, and on the north by the land of 
the Widow Pope, and was called a fisherman 
in this deed. He was called "shoreman and 
Fisherman" May 5, 1736, in the deed convey- 
ing this property. He married Susanna Pope, 
daughter of John and Margaret Pope ; she 
owned the Covenant and was baptized May 
29, 1692. Their first five children were bap- 
tized March 5, 1692-93, and the other children 
later in the First Church of Dorchester. Their 
names were as follows: i. Margaret. 2. Mary. 
3. Sarah. 4. Captain John, who was killed by 
the Indians May 22, 1747. 5. Thankful. 6. 
William, see forward. 7. James, baptized 
April 18, 1696. 8. Ebenezer, baptized May 
10, 1696. 9. Elizabeth, bom August 27, 1697, 
baptized September 26, 1697. 10. Tliomas, 
baptized May 9, 1698. 11. Susanna, born No- 
vember 29, 1698, baptized April 9, 1699 ; mar- 
ried, November 30, 1722, Enoch Wiswall. 12. 
Joseph, baptized August 4, 1700. 13. Submit, 
baptized March 28, 1703 ; married, June 12, 
1725, Thomas Maudsley, Jr. 14. Benjamin, 
baptized April i, 1705-06. 




/i^^/toAJUd ^ ^^^yL. 



MIDDLESEX COLXTV. 



l(>7 



(illj Captain William Cox, sccoiul son and 
sixth child of John (2j and Susanna (l^ope) 
Cox, was born in Dorcliester, Aiassachusctts, 
Way 22, 1694, and baptized in the First 
Church of that town, June 24, 1O94. He was 
a weaver by trade and his later years were 
spent in Lynn, lie held the rank of captain 
at the taking of Louisburg, and received a 
grant of land at Mount Desert, Maine, from 
the Massachusetts general court for his gallant 
services. He married Thankful .Maudsley, 
daughter of Thomas and Susannah Maudsley, 
and they were the parents of children : 1. Sam- 
uel, born November 4, 171O. 2. Susannah, 
February 21, 1718-19. 3. William, June 29, 
1721. 4. Unite, September 0, 1723, see for- 
ward. 5. Rebecca, January 17, i725-2(). 6. 
James. 7. Lemuel, born 1736, was a bridge 
builder ; he also built tiie *.1rst powder mills in 
Massachusetts. He was granted one thousantl 
acres of land in .\laine by the .Massachusetts 
general court. 8. Khoda, February 2O, 1731- 
},2. 9. Jesse, November 2, 1734. 10. I'hebe, 
died December 30, 1790, at Maiden. 

(iV) Unite Cox, third son and fourth child 
of Captain William (3) and Thankful (Mauid- 
sley) Cox, was born in Dorchester, Massachu- 
setts, September 6, 1723, and died there at an 
advanced age. When a young man he settled 
in Maiden and resided in the .South Parish. 
He was on the tax roll in 1759 ; in the I'"rench 
and Indian war under Captain John Dexter; 
and was on the list of those to whom bayonets 
were distributed in 1758. He was married in 
Maiden, intentions dated July i, 1745, to Lydia 
Faulkner, also of that town. Their children, 
all born in Maiden, were: Lydia, born October 
23, 1746. Samuel, July 5, 1748, died Decem- 
ber 26, 1753. Rebecca, October 26, 1750. 
Unite, see forward. Rhoda, January 12, 1755. 
Samuel, August 20, 1757-58. Elizabeth (or 
Betsey), April 20, 1760-63. 

(V) Captain Unite Cox, second son and 
fourth child of Unite (4) and Lydia (Faulk- 
ner) Cox, was born in Maiden, Massachusetts, 
November 14, 1752, and died November — , 
1816. He was a soldier during the war of the 
Revolution. Was a minute man in 1775- '" 
Captain Benjamin Blaney's company, which 
marched to Watertown, April 19, 1775, "u the 
Lexington alarm. He was sergeant in Captain 
Nailer Hatch's company, Lieutenant-Colonel 
William Bond's regiment (Late Gardiner's, 
the Thirty-seventh), in 1775. He was also in 
Captain Peres Cushing's company, Colonel 
Thomas Craft's regiment (artillery) from 
July 2'') to September 11. 1777. at Rhode Isl- 
and. The town records call him captain about 



1777, hut his commission docs not appear on 
the state rolls. His farm was near what is 
now the road to Melrose Highlands, formerly 
Stoneham, near the line of .Xialden. He was 
tithingman in 1811 and at later dates. He 
married, at .Maiden, April 6, 1776, Hannah 
Sprague, daughter of Phineas Sprague. Their 
children, all born in Maiden, were: 1. Samuel, 
born February 21, 1777, died young. 2. Han- 
nah, November 30, 1779, inarried, September 
15, 1801, Edward Newhall. 3. Rebecca, Oc- 
tober I, 1781, nwrried, August 3, 1802, James 
Green, of Reading. 4. Betsey, April 2, 1785, 
married Richard Mansfield. 5. Sanuiel. June 
12, 1787, married. May 22, i8(X), I'Tizahelh 
Stanton. 6. Unite, twin of Samuel, married, 
December 31, 1811, Sally Waitt. 7. Lemuel, 
July 12, 1789, married. May 28, 1815, Lydia 
Harnden. 8. Polly (.Mary), .Vugust 31, 1792. 
married, September 16, 1819, James Howard. 
9. James, May 18, 1794, married, March 3, 
1816, Sally Dexter Sargent. 10. John, see 
forward. 11. Harriet, born July 9, 1799, mar- 
ried John Vinton. 12. Sally, in 1801, tiied 
February 21, 1802. 

(VI) John Cox, sixth son and tenth child 
of Captain Unite (5) and Flannah (Sprague) 
Cox, was born in Maiden, Massachusetts, 
.\pril 10, 1797, and died December 12, 1835. 
He married in that town, July 5, 1818, Lydia 
Andrew, of Weare, New Hampshire, and had 
children: I. John Andrew, born .\pril 13. iSig; 
he went to the gold fields of California in 1849, 
and died there. He married, June 24, 1841, 
Susan R. Steele, and had four children. Three 
of his sons are still living. 2. Charles Cole, see 
forward. 3. Lydia, October 25, 1822, married, 
November 12, 1843. Joseph Mills. 4. Levi. 
April 27, 1824; during the Civil war he enlist- 
ed in Company K, Seventeenth Regiment, 
Mas.sachusetts Volunteer Infantr)'. and was a 
sergeant at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred November 7, 1864. while he was at his 
home on a furlough. He married, July 8, 1849, 
Mary .\nn Galucliia, daughter of Peter Ga- 
luchia, of Maiden, and left six children. 5. 
Rebecca Green, March 6, 1826, married Wil- 
liam Davis. 6. Hannah Sprague, January 6, 
1S28, died .Vugust 29, 1829. 7. .\sa, Novem- 
ber 8, 1830. 8. Mary .\ndrews, April 11. 1835. 
died July — , 1853. 

(VH) Charles Cole Cox, second son and 
child of John (6) and Lydia (.•\ndrew) Cox, 
was born in Maiden, December 26, 1820. He 
was educated in the public schools of his native 
town, and then learned the trade of dyeing. 
For many years he was employed by the old 
Barrett Dve House in Maiden. Later he en- 



368 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



tered the employ of George P. Cox, last man- 
ufacturer, in the same town. For a time he 
was a member of the Maiden Methodist Epis- 
copal church, but after his marriage became a 
Congregationalist. He was opposed to slavery, 
and joined the Free Soil party when it was or- 
ganized, and was always a stanch supporter of 
its principles. He took a prominent part m 
the public affairs of the township, particularly 
in those of the fire department, and for thir- 
teen years was captain of one of the com- 
panies of the Maiden Fire Department. With 
one exception he is the oldest resident of Mai- 
den, and still takes a lively interest in all mat- 
ters concerning the welfare of the town. He 
married, October 22, 1843, Lucy Faulkner, 
born in Maiden, July 30, 1824, daughter ot 
David and Lucy (Perkins) Faulkner. Both 
the Faulkner and Perkins families were among 
the pioneer settlers of Essex county, and the 
Faulkner family early settled in Maiden. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cox have had children: i. Charles 
Frederick, Ixirn April 25, 1845, for many 
years he was a bookkeeper in Boston, and now 
resides in ]Malden. He married (first) Susan 
Watts, and had two sons : Frederick Charles 
and Arthur Watson. He married (second) 
Mary L. McNutt. 2. George Everett, born 
August 16, 1846, married, June — , 1879, Jen- 
. nie Lehman ; died February 24, 1900. 3. Al- 
fred Elmer, see forward. 4. Eugene Herbert, 
bom June 12, 1852, resides in Maiden. He 
married. October i, 1873. ^fary Mills, and had 
children : Herbert Cleveland, deceased ; 
Charles Manson, who married Christine Mc- 
Donald, and has one son, Eugene Robert ; 
Mamie Mills ; Beulah Faulkner and Lucy 
Faulkner. 

(VTH) Alfred Elmer Cox, third son and 
child of Charles Cole (7) and Lucy (Faulk- 
ner) Cox, was born in Maiden, Massachusetts, 
August 31, 1848. He attended the public 
schools of his native town, and at the early 
age of fifteen years commenced to earn his 
own living. His first position was that of clerk 
in the store of Williams & Page, dealers in rail- 
road supplies in Water street, Boston. At the 
expiration of five years in the employ of this 
firm he accepted a position in the business of 
his uncle, Benjamin Faulkner, who was the 
owner of a leather finishing factory in Maiden. 
He remained in this position two years and 
then became a clerk in the ofiice of The Atlan- 
tic Works of Boston. January i, 1871, and 
about two years later, Februarv i, 1873, was 
advanced to the position of head bookkeeper. 
He was elected treasurer of the corporation 
July I, 1876, and has very capably filled that 
responsible position since that time. For the 



past fifteen years he has also been a director 
and general manager of the company. He has 
been a director and treasurer of the East Bos- 
ton Dry Dock Company, an allied concern, 
since 1901, and is a director of the First Ward 
National Bank of East Boston. 

While Mr. Cox is well known and highly 
respected in business and financial circles, he 
is better known to his townsmen and the gen- 
eral public for his long and honorable career 
in public life. He is a loyal and earnest Re- 
publican, and has given freely of his time and 
money in support of his political principles. He 
was a member of the board of selectmen of his 
native town in 1875-76, was town auditor in 
1877, a member of town committees on ceme- 
tery, fire-alarm and by-laws from 1875 to 1881, 
on the school committee in 1880, on the com- 
mittee on city charter, which he assisted in 
drafting and getting through the legislature. 
He is, indeed, one of the fathers of the city of 
Maiden, which was incorporated largely 
through his efforts in 188 1. He was a street 
commissioner in 1883, alderman at large in 
1884-85-86, a member of the common council 
in 1887-88, being president of the board in the 
latter year, and again a member of the board 
of aldermen in 1889. When he declined 
further service in the city government in 1890 
he was tendered a banquet by prominent citi- 
zens of Maiden, in appreciation of the years 
of faithful and self-sacrificing labor he had 
given to the municipality. This banquet was 
held at the Parker House, Boston. The 
speeches on this occasion gave evidence of the 
high esteem in which Mr. Cox was held, both 
as a citizen and as a public servant. He was 
again impressed into public service in 1891, as 
a member of the newly organized board of 
street commissioners, and served until 1896. 
He was chosen a delegate, in 1900, to the Na- 
tional Republican Convention, which nomi- 
nated Theodore Roosevelt to the office of vice- 
president. He was elected to the governor's 
council in 1905, from the sixth councilor dis- 
trict, and re-elected from the Fourth district, 
after the lines were changed in 1906. He 
served from his senatorial district as a mem- 
ber of the Republican state committee from 
1897 to 1904. and was chairman of the finan- 
cial committee from 1898 to 1904. 

Mr. Cox is a member of the First Congre- 
gational Church of Maiden, and is connected 
with the following organizations : Member of 
Mount Vernon Lodge, Ancient Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons : Ancient Order of United 
Workmen : Knights of Pythias ; The Delibera- 
tive .'\ssembly : The Republican Qub of Mas- 
sachusetts ; Middlesex Qub; Maiden Club: 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



3^9 



Metropolilan Club of Washington, District of 
Columbia ; director of the Associated Charities 
of xMalden, and chairman of its finance com- 
mittee : trustee of the Maiden Hospital ; and 
member of the Midden Chapter of the Sons of 
the American Revolution. 

He married in Maiden, November 23, i80y, 
Amiie J. iSell, daughter of Joseph H. and 
Georgina (McLeod) Bell; the former was 
born in Wilmington, Massachusetts, August 

9, 1824, died February y, 1884; he was a 
school teacher by profession but later engaged 
in market gardening ; the latter was born in 
Inverness, Scotland, November 10, 1826, died 
January 29, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have 
had children: i. Mabel Annie, born October 
12, 1870, married Stephen B. Boyd and has 
had children: Stuart M., born June 10, 1895; 
Robert F., February 5, 1897; Katherine, July 
17, 1898; Marjorie, November 7, 1900; John 
A., March 10, 19 — , died June 8, lyofj. 2. 
Agnes Evelyn, born December 17, 1871, died 
August ID, 1872. 3. Alice B., born June 25, 
1873, married George A. Ricker, of Maiden, 
has no children. 4. Marion G., born I'"ebruary 
15, 1876, married Arthur W. Wright, of Marl- 
borough, has had children : Jessie L., born 
September 19, 1900; Janet M., November 21, 
1903. 5. Jessie Lawrence, born June 28. 1877, 
died April" i, 1899. 6. Charles Cole, born April 

10, 1880. married Harriet Maud Clifford; no 
children. 7. Philip W. L., born July 25, 1883, 
educated at Harvard College and the New 
Hampshire Agricultural College, and is now- 
engaged in farming along scientific lines. 8. 
Annie Bell, born September 29, 1885, is a 
graduate of the Alalden high school, and re- 
sides w-ith her parents. 9. Alfred Elmer, Jr.. 
born April 5, 1887, studied three years in the 
IMalden high school, one year in the Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural College in Amherst and 
is at present in business in Boston. 10. Ab- 
bott R., bom .April 29, 1888, is a student in the 
Maiden high school. 11. Dora A., bom No- 
vember 6, 1889, is a student in public and pri- 
vate schools. 

(VH) Samuel Cox. son of Captain Unite 
Cox (6). was a twin of Unite, Jr., born June 
12, 1787, at .Maiden. He was the founder of 
the business of manufacturing lasts with which 
his name was associated for many years, be- 



ciated for many years, beginning in a humble 
way in 1812 with a pattern whittled out with 
his jack knife. He married. May 22, 1809, 
Elizabeth Stanton. Children, born in Maiden : 

I. -Sanuiel .\lbert, born December ^J, 1811, set- 
tled in Maiden. 2. Cieorge Parker, .March 5, 
1814. 3. Eliza, February 8, i8i(), died Oc- 
tober 4, 181 7. 4. David Parker. .August 17, 
1818, mentioned below. 5. Elizabeth. .March 

4, 1821. 6. Joseph Warren, November 12, 
1823. 7. Henry .Augustus, .March 24, 1834. 

5. .Arthur W., died October 23, 1839. 
(\'III) David Parker Cox. son of Samuel 

Cox (7), was born at .Maiden, .\ngiist 17, 
1818, married. May 14, 1842, Rebecca .Ann 
Wailt. He continued the manufacture of lasts 
established by his father at Maiden. His 
children, born at Maiden, were: i. Frances 
Elizabeth, July 25, 1844. 2. Lewis Herbert. 
Jidy 3, 1850, died young. 3. .Annie R.. .March 

II, i860, died March 2, Kjcx): married, Oc- 
tober 25. 1882. Lauren Francis Colby. (See 
sketch of the Colbv familv). 



.For early generntions see preceiling pketch.) 

iWY) Samuel Cox, son of Captain 
COX Unite Cox (6), was a twin of Unite, 
Jr., born June 12, 1787, at Maiden. 
He was the founder of the business of manu- 
facturing lasts with which his name was asso- 
ii— 4 



(I) Joseph Peaslee, the iniini- 
PFASLEE grant ancestor of this family 

in .America, was born in Eng- 
land and came to this country in 1638 with his 
w'ife. settling first at Newbury. .Massachusetts. 
Thence he went to Colchester, which was later 
called .'-Salisbury, Massachusetts, in i')4i. and 
he was one of the thirty-two landholders in 
Haverhill in 1645. then part of Colchester. 
He was admitted a freeman June 22, 1642. 
He bought land of .Mr. Stratton and after- 
wards resigned it to the town. He was a pro- 
I^rietor of Haverhill in 1646. He refused to 
conform to the laws of the Puritan church 
and affiliated with the Friends (Quakers). 
The general court ordered that a fine of five 
shillings be imposed on him every time he ex- 
horted the people in the absence of the minister 
and also five shillings every time he absentetl 
himself from the Puritan (.Inirch. FTe per- 
sistently refused to oljey and removed from 
the immediate jurisdiction of the church, first 
to the west of the Powow river, now .Ames- 
bury Mills, and set up a church at East .Salis- 
bury and finally he retired to that part of 
Haverhill now Newton, New Hampshire, 
where he had a homestead of two iH^ndrcd 
acres. He continued to preach the doctrines 
of George Fox and other Quaker preachers, 
resulting in the foundation of the Society of 
Friends in 1653. He was a self-educated phy- 
sician of much repute. He died in what is 
now Newton, New Hampshire. December 3, 



370 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY, 



1660. He married Alary 



His will 



was proved November 11, 1661, bequeathing 
to his wife Mary; son Joseph; daughters 
Elizabeth, Jane and Mary; grandchild Sarah 
Sawyer. Administration on her estate was 
granted to her son Joseph, September 27. 1694. 
Children: I. Elizabeth. 2. Jane, married, De- 
cember 10, 1646, John Davis (2). 3. Mary, 
married Joseph Whittier; living in 1660. 4. 
Sarah, born September 20, 1642, married 
Thomas Barnard, Jr. (2). 5. Joseph, Jr., bom 
at Haverhill, September 9, 1646, mentioned 
below. 

(H) Dr. Joseph Pcaslee, son of Joseph 
Peaslee (i), was born in Haverhill, September 
9, 1646, and died there March 21, 1734-35- 
He learned the profession of medicine as then 
practiced by his father. He was also a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends. He received 
children's land in Amesbury in 1659 and "a 
township" in Amesbury in 1660, but lived in 
Haverhill after coming of age. He t(X)k the 
oath of fidelity at Haverhill in 1677. He held 
many town offices. He married, January 21, 
1671-72, Ruth Barnard, who died November 
5, 1723. Children, all born in Haverhill: 1. 
Mary, baptized July 14, 1672, married Joseph 
Wheeler. 2. Joseph, born July 19. i<')74, mar- 
ried, September 18, 1694, Elizabeth Hastings. 
3. Robert, born February 3, 1677-78, married, 
December 16, 1701, Alice Currier; (second) 

Anne . 4. John, born February 25, 

1679-80, mentioned below. 5. Colonel Na- 
thaniel, bom June 25, 1682, married Judith 
Kimball; (second) .^,biah Swan; (third) 

; was a merchant and land owner of 

Haverhill. 6. Ruth, born February 25, 1684- 
85, at Haverhill, married, July 11, 1705, Sam- 
uel Clement. 7. Ebenezer, born JNlarch 29, 
1688. 8. Sarah, born August 15, 1690, mar- 
ried, March 4, 1710, Ebenezer Eastman. 

(in) John Peaslee, son of Dr. Joseph 
Peaslee (2), was born February 25, 1679-80, 
in Haverhill. Married, May I, 1705, Mary 
Martin (3), according to the records of the 
Friends' Society; married, August 18, 1745. 
Mary .Xewbegin. He was a wheelwright by 
trade and lived in Haverhill. He was living in 
1722. Children, born in Haverhill: I. Joseph, 
born March, 1706. married, 1729, Martha 
Hoag. 2. John, December 9, 1707, mentioned 
below. 3. Mary. 4. Jacob, 1710. married, 
1735. Huldah Brown. 5. Nathan. 171 1, mar- 
ried, 1741, Lydia Grove. 6. Ruth. 7. Moses, 
1714. 8. Ebenezer, married, 1744. Lydia 
M^'eed. g. Sarah, married, October 2-/, 1731. 
Peter Morrill (3), son of John and granclson 
of John of Kittery, Maine. 



(IV) John Peaslee, son of John Peaslee 
(3), was born in Haverhill, December 9, 1707. 

Married Lydia . Children, born in 

Haverhill: i. Sarah, i\Iay 11, 1734. 2. Tim- 
othy, August 20, 1735. 3. Jolin, February 18, 
1736, mentioned below. 4. Ruth, September 
13, 173S. 5. Philip, January 8, 1740. 6. Silas, 
October 15, 1742, removed to Canada. 7. 
Mary, October 2, 1744. 8. Paul, January 15, 
1746. 9. Simeon, August 9, 1750. 10. Jede 
diah, March 26, 1757. 

(\') John Peaslee, son of John Peaslee (4), 
was born February 18, 1736, in Haverhill. 
Married, 1768, Susanna Huntington, who died 
in 1823. He died in 1797. Children: i. Abi- 
gail, married Robert Johnson, 1788. 2. Lydia, 
married Johnson Paige. 3. Polly, married 
Simon Ayers. 4. Elijah, married Esther Bean. 
5. Micajah. married Judith Choate. 6. John, 
born 1774, mentioned below. (See history of 
Weare, New Hampshire). 

(VT) John Peaslee, son of John Peaslee 
(5), was born in 1774, probably in Weare, 
New Hampshire, whither the family moved 
from Haverhill, Massachusetts. He died at 
Weare, October 24, 183 1. He married Lucy 
Dow, who died July 16, 1843. Children, born 
at Weare: i. Hannah, October 7, 1799, mar- 
ried, 1817, Oliver liarnard. 2. John, Novem- 
ber 30, 1801. 3. Lucy Dow, October 31. 1805, 
died 1879; married, 1829, Hazen Colby. (See 
sketch of the Colby family herewith). 4. Mary 
E., August 6, 1807, married Rodney Presby. 
5. Susan C, May 14, 181 1, married Thomas 
Davis. 



(I) Anthony Colby, the imnii- 
COLBY grant ancestor, was born in Eng- 
land. This surname has an an- 
cient and honorable history in England. He 
probably came to this country with Governor 
\\'inthrop's fleet. He was a member of the 
church in Boston in 1630, and in 1633 was in 
Cambridge where two years later he was the 
owner of two houses. He was admitted a 
freeman May 15, 1634. Selling his property 
in Cambridge, he remoived to Salisbury, Mas- 
sachusetts, where he received shares in the 
first division of land in 1640 and again in 1643. 
He was also one of the first commoners of the 
town of Amesbury, Massachusetts, adjoining, 
receiving land in 1654 and 1658 while his 
widow received grants in 1662 and 1664 upon 
liis rights. He sold his house and two acres of 
land in Salisbury in 1647 to William Sargent, 
seaman, and removed west of the Powow river 
between Salisbury and Amesbury. He had a 



.AUDULESEX COUNTY. 



3/1 



grant of land for his son John in 1660 and a 
town lot west of the pond. He married Su- 
sanna Iladdon (?) or Sargent, daughter of 
A\'i!liani Sargent. He died February 11, iGfxD. 
His widow Susannah married (second), m 
1663, William W'hitridge ; was again a widow- 
in 1669 and she died July 8, 1689. Her estate 
was administered by her son Samuel (Essex 
Files 38, 89). Children: 1. John, baptized 
September 8. 1633, mentioneil below. 2. 
Sarah, baptized March 6, 1634-35, married 
Orlando Bagley. 3. Child died young. 4. 
Samuel, born 1639, dejXJSed in 1692 that his 
age was about fifty-three years. 5. Isaac, born 
July 6, 1640. 6. Rebecca, born March 11, 
1643, married, September 9, 1661, John W il- 
lianis. 7. Mary, born September 19, 1647, 
married, September 23, 1668, William Sar- 
gent. 8. Thomas, born March 8, 1650-51, 
married, September 16, 1674, Hannah Row- 
ell. 9. .\mos, born in 1654. 

(II) John Colby, son of Anthony Colby 
(i), was born in 1633 and baptized at Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, September 8, 1633; 
died February it, 1673-74. He was one of 
the commoners of Amesbury in 1654 and re- 
ceived land also in 1658-59-62-68. His will 
is dated January 22 and was proved April 24, 

1674. He married, January 14, 1655-56, 
Frances Hoyt, and she married (second), De- 
cember 27, 1676, John I'.amard. Her father 
was John Ho\t or Haight, the immigrant. 
Children: i. John, born November 19, 1656, 
mentioned below. 2. Sarah, Ijorn July 17, 
1658, married F^benezer Blaisdell. 3. Eliza- 
beth, married, 1690, Ephraim Weed. 4. 
Frances, horn December 10, 1662, married 
Joseph Pritchett. 5. Anthony (twin), born 
May 10, 1665. 6. Susanna (twin), born May 
10, 1665. 7. Thomas, born 1667, married, 
November 21, 1688, Mary Rowell. 8. Mary, 
married Thomas Challis. 9. Hannah, mar- 
ried, Jinie 8. 1693, William Osgood. 

(III) John Co'lby, son of John Colby (2), 
was born November 19, 1656, and died .\pril 
6, 1719. His father received for him a grant 
of children's land in 1659 and township land 
in 1660. He was a soldier in King Philip's 
war and at the Falls Fight, May 18, 1676, 
under Captain Turner. He took the oath of 
allegiance and fidelity December. 1677, and 
was in the train band in 1680. His only sur- 
viving son, Joseph, was appointed adminis- 
trator April 21, 1719. His son John died be- 
fore him. He married f first), December 27. 

1675, Sarah Eldredge: (second) Sarah Os- 
good; and (third), February 8. i7i4-'5' Ruth 
. Robert King, son of Ruth Colby, ad- 



ministered her estate in 1748. Children: I. 
John, mentioned below. 2. Joseph. Ixirn 1700, 
married (first) Anne Bartlet and (second) 
Alary Johnson. 3. Sarah, married Daniel 
Manders. 4. Son, born February 12, 1687. 
5. Son born F'ebruary 29, 1687-88, died 
March i, 1687-88. 6. Son born February 
29, 1687-88 (twin), still-lx)rn. 7. Juditli, 
born April 23, 1690, died March 2, 1702-03. 
8. Flamiah, born July 3, 1692, died .March 7, 
1702-03. 

(1\') John Colby, son of John Colby (3), 
was Ixirn in .\mesbury about 1680. .Married, 
December 2, 1702, Mary Frame, of .\mesbury. 
He died February 3, 1717-18, and his widow 
.Mary was appointed administratrix June 2, 
1718. She married (second), December 9, 
1725, William Huntington (3). Me was liv- 
ing in 1740. Children: i. Jonathan, burn 
September 26, 1703, mentiiMied below. 2. 
Daniel, May 15, 1705. married, September 2, 
1730, Hannah Gray. 3. John, June 19, 1707, 
married, January 13, 1737-38, .Mice Davis. 
4. Peter, Alarch 18, 1709, married. .August 20, 
1730, Alary Straw. 5. David, Alarch 31, 
1711. 6. William, Alarch 6. 1713. 7. Alary, 
Alay 28. 1714. 8. Sarah (twin), Alay 28, 
1714. 9. Ebenezer, January 25. 1717, mar- 
ried. Alarch 15, 1742, Alary Chase; (second), 
February 5, 1786, Elizabeth Quimby. 

(V) Jotiathan Colby, .son of John Colby 
(4), was born in Amesbury, September 26, 
1703. Alarried, March 19, 1722-23, l^orothy 
Tewksbury. She was received in full com- 
munion in the Second Church of .Amesbury, 
NovcmlDer 26, 1727, and he November 10, 
1728, and they were dismissed to the church 
at Chester, April 22, 1742 ; were members at 
Sandown in 1759. Sandown adjoined the 
town of Chester, was incorporated in 1758 as 
Sandown. Colby was of Sandown in 1776 
when he signed the association test. He died 
July 18, 1793, according to the history of 
Hampstead, aged eighty (should he ninety, 
unless date of death is given wrong). He re- 
sided at one time in Kingston. Fie was the 
first settler of this family in Sandown and as 
Levi came to Weare from Sandown he should 
doubtless be nuinbered among his children as 
given below. Children: i. John. Ijorn 1727, 
baptized .April 23, 1727, died yoimg. 2. Ben- 
jamin, born September 7, 1729, baptized Octo- 
ber 12, 1729. 3. Elizabeth, born Alay 31, 
1732. 4. John, born February j(\ 1734-35. 
baptized .\pril 6, 1735. 5. Dorothy, Ixirn 
Alarch 14. 1739. 6. Levi. meinione<l below. 
Salisbury history indicates that there were 
other children. 



372 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(\"lj Levi Colby, son of Jonathan Colby 
(5), was born in Sandown about 1745. He 
resided in Sandown and Weare, New Hamp- 
shire. He married (published May 26 and 28. 
1775) Mirs. Sarah Sargent ( ?). According 
to the history of Weare, however, he removed 
thither in 1773 and settled lot 14, range 6, pur- 
chased of Dr. Benjamin Page, and bought 
fifty acres on the north end of the lot of 
Ebenezer Collins, of Weare, and built his 
house by the old road that was cut to the mill 
privilege in 1753. His home was on Barnard 
hill, Weare. Children: i. Samuel, born about 
1780, mentioned below. 2. Marden, resided 
at Francestown. 3. Thomas, born about 181 1, 
married Nancy Cilky. 4. Obadiah, married 
Nancy Melvin. 5. Levi, married Sally 
Archilas. 

(VH) Samuel Colby, son of Levi Colby 
(6), was born in Weare or Sandown, New 
Hampshire, about 1790. He married Hannah 
Marshall. They lived in Weare. Children : 
I. Eben, had a son Hazen born .April 4. 1833 > 
Eben married Man,' J. Stone and she died 
February 2, 1884, aged seventy-two. 2. Eliza, 
married Phineas Robie. 3. Ruth. 4. Hazen, 
mentioned below. 

(Vni) Hazen Colby, son of Samuel Colby 
(7), was born in Weare, New Hampshire, and 
married, 1829, Lucy Dow Peaslee, who was 
born in Weare, October 31, 1805. (See sketch 
of Peaslee family.) Children: i. .Son died 
young. 2. Lauren. 3. George Hazen, men- 
tioned below. 

(IX) George Hazen Colby, son of Hazen 
Colby (8), was born in Weare, New Hamp- 
shire, July 31, 1833, and died September 13, 
i88fS. He married Georgianna Yorke, of 
Maine, daughter of Yorke, grand- 
daughter of Ezekiel Yorke. Ezekiel was the 
son of Richard and grandson either of Rich- 
ard or James Yorke. Richard Yorke was a 
sea captain and died in Brentwood, New 
Hampsliire. George Hazen Colby was edu- 
cated in the public schools of New Hampshire 
at Weare, and at an early age came to Fitch- 
burg, Massachusetts, where he learned the 
machinist's trade. Thence he came to Boston 
to work for the Boston & Albany Railroad 
Company and rose to the position of assistant 
superintendent of motive power in full charge 
of the rolling stock between W^orcester and 
Boston. He was a prominent Free Mason, 
having taken the thirty-second degree. He 
was a member of and had been master of a 
lodge of ATasons, and was a member of Royal 
Arch Masons, Royal and Select Masters and 
of St. Omar Commandery, Knights Templar, 



South Boston ; member of Dahlgren Post, No. 
2, Grand Army. He enlisted in Company D, 
Forty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, for 
nine months in the Civil war. Mr. Colby was 
one of the pioneer Odd Fellows of his section 
and held successively all the offices in the or- 
ganization. He was at the time of his death 
one of the best known and most popular and 
influential men in railroad circles. He had 
great executive ability and displayed great 
energy and skill in conducting the affairs in 
his charge. Under his management the 
Boston & Albany rolling stock was kept in 
admirable condition and in fact that road was 
a model in many ways. Child of George 
Hazen and Georgianna (Yorke) Colby: i. 
Lauren Francis, born July 30, 1858, mentioned 
below. Child of George Hazen and his second 
wife, Philena Hurlburt, of the Vermont 
branch of this family : 2. Helen Louise, re- 
sides at South Boston, Massachusetts. 

(X) Lauren Francis Colby, son of George 
Hazen Colby (9), was born in Boston, July 
30, 1858, and was educated in the public 
schools of his native city, Boston, and at the 
English high school. He began to work for 
George E. Kimball & Co., on High street^ 
dealers in shoe findings. He was then nine- 
teen and two years later he entered the employ 
of the Pacific National Bank and remained 
with that bank until it failed. In the early 
eighties he came to Maiden, beginning to- 
work for the George P. Cox Last Company, 
February I, 1880. In January, 1900, he pur- 
chased control of the business and has since 
been at the head of the company in the posi- 
tion of general manager. This concern was 
established by Samuel Co.x, grandfather of 
Mr. Colby's wife, in 1812, in Maiden, and the 
founder manufactured the first lasts by hand, 
whittling them out with his knife spoke- 
shaves. He showed his last to the trade in 
Boston and secured enough orders, however,, 
to establish his business in a small way. At 
first the product was carried to Boston on the 
back of its manufacturer, but step by step the 
business grew and flourished. Mr. Colby is a 
Republican in politics and a Methodist in re- 
ligion. He is a member of Mount Vernoa 
Lodge of Free Masons, of Royal .A.rch Chap- 
ter of the Tabernacle, of Beauseant Com- 
mandery, Knights Templar, of the .\leppo 
Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine, Boston. 
He resides in Maiden. 

He married, October, 1882, .Annie R. Cox, 
born March 11, i860, died March 2, 1900, 
daughter of David R. Cox, who was one of 
the most prominent men of Maiden, a staunch 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



373 



supporter and faithful member of the Centre 
Metho(Hst Episcopal Qiurch to which he con- 
tributed at various times large sums : a man 
of vast public spirit and wide influence. Chil- 
dren of Lauren Francis and Annie R. Colbv : 
1. Frances Parker, born Augfust lo, 1883, 
died .\ugust 30, 1884. 2. George Wilbur, 
born July 29, 1886, attends the Walker School 
of Design in Boston. 3. ]\Iarjorie Rebecca, 
born December 31, 1888. 



David B. Elms, a native of New 
El.AlS York state, born in 1801, removed 
to Middleborough, Plymouth 
county, Massachusetts, and thence to South 
Boston, where he engaged in mercantile busi- 
ness. He married Priscilla Damon, born in 
Weymouth. Norfolk county. Massachusetts, 
in 1801, and they had a family of nine chil- 
dren, six of whom w-ere still living in 1907. 
David B. Elms was incapacitated from attend- 
ing to active business during his later life. 
The Elms originally came to .\merica from 
Stamford, England. 

James Cornelius Elms, son of David B. and 
Priscilla (Damon) Elms, was born on Fourth 
street. South Boston. Massachusetts. January 
7, 1828. He was educated in the pulilic pri- 
mary school on Broadway, South Boston, 
taught by Mrs. Qark. and in the celebrated 
Hawes school under masters : Joseph Har- 
rington, John A. Harris and Frederick Crafts, 
and upon being graduated in 1842 a medal 
scholar he entered the English high school 
where he had as classmates Benjamin Pope, 
Isaac W. Howe and Qiarles W. Dexter. He 
left school, graduating late in 1844 at the age 
of sixteen, and early in 1845 engaged as a 
clerk in the wholesale dry goods house of 
Augustus Brown & Company on Kilby street, 
Boston, in which house he became a partner 
under the firm name of Brown, Dix & Com- 
pany. He retired from this firm in r856 and 
organized the firm of Faxon & Elms, imjxirt- 
ers of and dealers in boot and shoe matnifact- 
nrer's goods, with stores and warehouses at 
No. 5 Pearl street, and No. 115 High street. 
The firm of Faxon, Elms & Company dis- 
solved in 1886. Mt. Ehns became vice-presi- 
dent of the Shoe and Leather Bank in 1886, 
and president in 1896, and efficiently filled that 
office for nine years and was connected with 
the hank during the remainder of his life. As 
a merchant and financier he was widely 
known, and he exerted a marked influence in 
commercial and financial circles. He was 
brought up in the orthodox Congregational 
church, but during the greater portion of his 



life was a communicant of the Protestant 
Episcopal church, and as a resident of Newton 
was successively vestryman and warden of 
Grace Church, and was actively seconded by 
Mrs. Elms, who was a generous and helpful 
worker in the various societies and guilds of 
the church. Mr. Elms was a Republican in 
his political views, was affiliated with Lewis 
Winslow Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, 
of Boston, and was a member of the Art Club. 
He died at his home in Arlington street, New- 
ton, October 9, 1901. He was married, in 
North Weymouth, Massachusetts, June 5, 
1852, to Martha jane, born in St. Johns, New- 
foundland, January 17, 1831, daughter of 
John and Mary (Goss) Hamlin, of Havre de 
Grace. Newfoundland. Mr. and Mrs. Elms 
were the parents of ten children, five of wdiom 
are living, all named as follows : 

1. Emma J. Elms, born in North Wey- 
mouth, January 12, 1854, died in Boston, June 
9, 1870." 

2. Martha Hamlin Elms, bcirn in Boston, 
.\ugust 17, 1857. She was married, January 
16. 1879, to James .\lfred Tucker, who was 
born in Dorchester, May 2, 1848, son of James 
and Rebecca (Chamberlin) Tucker. James 
Tucker was born in Stoughton, Massachu- 
setts, October 4, 1815, and died .\ugust, 1889; 
his wife was tiorn in Boston, June 26, 182 1, 
and died January 15, 1859. They had one 
child, Helen Tucker, born March 2, 1881, and 
died March 9, 1893. 

3. .\nnie Priscilla Elms, born in Boston, 
July 17, 1859, died in South Boston, Tune 22, 
"i860. 

4. James Cornelius Elms, Jr., born in Rox- 
bury, Massachusetts, September 13, i860.. He 
is engaged in mercantile business in New York 
City, and his family residence is in Orange, 
New Jersey. He was married to Grace 
Whiting Brooks, who was born in Boston, 
September 28, 1863, daughter of Leonard 
Whiting and Janet Buchanan (Barr) Brooks; 
her father was lx)rn in Woodstock. \'ermont, 
in 1833, and died in Brtwklyn. New York, 
September 27, 1877 ; her mother was born in 
Cambridge, Massachusetts. The children of 
Mr. and Mrs. James Cornelius Elms are: 
Leonard Brooks Elms, born in Newtt)n. De- 
cember 12, 1885; James Cornelius Elms (3d), 
born in Boston, October 24, 1888: Grace 
Louise Elms, born in Newton, December 30, 
1893 : Dorothy Elms, torn in East Orange, 
New Jersey, March 22. 1906. 

5. George Elms, born in Roxbury, Septem- 
ber 30, 1861, died in Roxburv, October i, 
i86k 



374 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



6. William Elms, twin brother of above 
named ; both died same daw 

7. Mary Elizabeth Elms, born in Boston, 
May 10, 1864, died in Boston, May 18, 1864. 

8. Edward Everett Elms, born in Boston, 
June 15, 1866. He was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Xewton, including the high 
school. He engaged in the leather businessin 
Boston as a clerk, and in 1893 entered upon 
business on his own account. Since 1901 he 
has been an officer in the Hamilton Leather 
Company, wholesale dealers in leather, at No. 
12 South street, Boston. He is an active' 
member of Grace Church (Protestant Episco- 
pal), Newton, and is a Republican in political 
faith. He is a member of the Hunnewell Club 
of Newton, but liis home ties have far stronger 
claims upon him than club life. Mr. Elms 
was married May 10, 1893. to .Anna Balch, 
daughter of George Richards and Hannah 
(Stone) Coffin, of .\uburndale. Massachu- 
setts, her father being a Boston grain mer- 
chant, residing at Xo. 15 Humiewell avenue, 
Newton. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ed- 
ward E. Elms are: Helen Tucker Elms, born 
in Xewton, April 29, 1894: Laura Coffin 
Elms, born in Xewton, April 24, 1895 ; and 
Anna Everett Elms, born in Newton. Novem- 
ber 29, 1896. 

9. Franklin Merritt Elms, born in Boston. 
December 14, 1868. He was educated in the 
public schools of Newton, including the high 
school. He is engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness in New York City. He was married, 
December 28. 1898, to Isabel Fenno Upton, 
who was born in Boston, July 28, 1869, 
daughter of .Albert Felton and Martha .Ann 
(Fenno) Upton; her father was born in Dan- 
vers, Massachusetts, .August 18, 1844, and 
died June 8, 1888: her mother was horn in 
Boston. July 28, 1845, and died May 8, 1884. 
Mr. and Mrs. Franklin M. Elms have one 
child, Myra Upton Elms, born in Mbntclair, 
New Jersey. April 25, 1904. 

10. Florence Gertrude Elms, born in 
Boston, January 3, 1873. She is now living 
with her widowed niother. Mrs. Martha J. 
Elms, at Xo. 88 .Arlington street, Newton. 



The late Dr. Luther B. Morse, 
MORSE for many years one of the lead- 
ing and representative citizens 
of \\'atertown, also an active and honored 
member of the medical profession, was born 
m Rochester, A'ermont, August 14, 1820, son 
of Joseph and Abigail Morse. 

He attended the district school, acquiring 
therefrom a practical education. He taught 



school in his native state for six years, and in 
the meantime attended seminaries in Castle- 
ton, Brandon and Montpelier. Owing to im- 
paired health in early manhood he did not 
pursue a college course, but attended medical 
lectures at Dartmouth College, Vermont 
;\ledical College at Woodstock, and the Xew 
York University. In 1845 he graduated from 
the A'ermont Medical College, and during the 
same \ear established himself in his profession 
at Lowell, Massachusetts. During his resi- 
dence there he was city physician for two or 
three years, a director of the l-'ree Public Li- 
brary, a member of the school committee, and 
also represented the city in the legislature in 
the years 1853-54. He removed to Water- 
town in 1862 and built up an extensive prac- 
tice, gaining the confidence and esteem of all 
with whom he was brought in contact. He 
also acted as town physician for a number of 
)'ears. was a member of the board of health for 
one year, and from 1864 to 1867 and again in 
1878 was a member of the school committee. 
In 1863, after the second disaster of Bull Run, 
Dr. Morse, with thirty-three other Massachu- 
setts surgeons and physicians, responded with- 
in thirty-six hours and reported themselves 
ready for duty at Washington, D. C, for that 
special purpose. Dr. Morse was an active 
member of the Congregational church, hold- 
ing membership in the churches of that de- 
nomination both in Lowell and Watertown, 
and serving in the capacity of deacon for more 
than forty years. He was a staunch Republi- 
can in politics, and kept well informed upon 
the great questions of the day, whether in pro- 
fessional or political life, by diligent and care- 
ful reading and research. 

Dr. Morse married, in Lowell. September 
17, 1856, Julia M. Fletcher, daughter of Hora- 
tio and Nancy (Edwards) Fletcher. Chil- 
dren: I. Edward Luther, born October 18, 
1857, married, December 20, 1888, Elsie 
Insley. 2. Harry F., born July 17, i860, mar- 
ried September 15, 1881, Emma E. Bean. 3. 
Clara Belle, born October 5, 1867. Dr. Alorse 
died Alay 26, 1900, from a stroke of paralysis. 
The funeral services were conducted by the 
Rev. E. C. Porter, pastor of the Phillips 
Church, assisted by the Rev. James M. Bell. 
The remains were taken to Lowell for inter- 
ment. 



Peter Clarke, father of the late 
CLARKE Patrick Clarke, of Ayer, Mas- 
sachusetts, was born in Ulster 
province, Ireland, about 1800. He married 
Margaret Keenan, of the same parish. He 



.Ml 1)1)1. 1-:SEX COl'XTY. 



375 



was a miller and farmer ami lived in his native 
place until his emigration to America aboiu 
1850. He was a Roman Catholic in religion. 
Among his children was Patrick, mentioned 
below. 

(11) Patrick Clarke, son of Peter Clarke 
(!)• was born in Lister province, north of 
Ireland, March 14, 1834, and was educated in 
his native parish by a tutor, after wliich he 
came to .America, with his parents. He 
found employment first in a blacksmith shop 
in St. .Albans, Vermont, but subsequently 
learned the trade of machinist there. In 1851) 
he came to .Ayer, ]\Iassachusetts, to work at 
his trade in the factory of the .\mes Plow 
Companv, and when that concern removed to 
Worcester, .Massachusetts, he also moved 
there and contimied his connection with the 
company. He left the I'low Company for a 
better position as machinist for the Boston & 
]\Iaine Railroad, the Worcester & Nashua 
Railroad. In 1883 he engaged in business on 
his own acount in the manufacture of machin- 
ery at .Ayer, Massachusetts. He lost his shop 
and equipment by fire in i88f) and returned to 
his former position on the railroad, continuing 
to reside at Concord, New Hampshire, during 
the remainder of his life. Mr. Clarke died 
January 16, 1907. 

In politics he was a DemtKrat, but never 
sought public office, though always interested 
in public (|uestions. 

He married, at .Vyer, .Massachusetts. Aug- 
u.st 5, i8()i, Elizabeth Manning, daughter of 
Michael Manning, a native of the south of 
Ireland. He was a farmer. Her mother was 
Ann (Mullen) Manning, a native of the same 
pari-sh. 

Children of Patrick and IHizabeth (.Man- 
ning) Clarke: 1. Jennie .M'argaruit, Ijorn at 
St. .Albans, \ crmont, Jime 21. 1862, wife of 
Charles MacUuffie, of Rochester. Xew Hamp- 
shire. 2. .Annie Elizalx-th. horn in .Ayer. Sep- 
tember 19. 1863. 3. -Maria E.. born Septem- 
ber 20, 1865, the wife of Dr. .A. J. Hal]>in, of 
Lowell. 4. William Walter, iK)rn in .Ayer. 
March 10, 1869, a lawyer of Roston, he served 
in the house of representatives and senate from 
the Tenth district. 5. Charles P.. Ixirn in 
Ayer, .August 13. 1871, a dentist of I'.oston. 

6. George Harrison, born .April 11, 1876. as- 
sistant superintendent in a leather factory. 

7. Harry Gardner (twin), lj<jrn January 14. 
1881. a student of Harvard College. 8. John 
Warren (twin), born January 14, 1881, died 
in infancy. 9. .Arthur Melnott. born I'^eb- 
ruary 20, 1885. Airs. Clarke survives her 
husband and is living at the old home in Ayer. 



John Tasker, imntigrant anc*:.- 
r.VSKI'R tor, was born in England sbout 
1680 and settled when quite 
young in .Madbury, Xew Hampshire. \ ery 
little is known of him. He joined the church 
about 1736, and on March 21, 1736, his chil- 
dren Samuel, John, ElxMiezer and Rebekah. 
were baptized by Rev. Jonathan Cushing. The 
order of birth is not known, nor is the name of 
his wife. Children: I. Elx^nezer ; a soldier in 
Captain Joseph Hanson's company in the 
French and Indian war in 1745. 2. Samuel, 
left no descendants. 3. John, botrn about 1718; 
removed to Barn.stead, Xew Hampshire, in 
1767, and had several sons in the Revolution. 
4. \\'illiam ; mentioned below. 5. Rebecca. 

(II) William Tasker, son of John Tasker 
( I ), was born at .Madbury, .May 28, 1721. He 
settled in Madbury. Children: i. .Abigail, born 
()ctol>er 27, 1750; died February 12, 1823, 2. 
Samuel, born .April 26, 1752: mentioned be- 
low. 3. William, born Xovember 14, 1753; 
died September 11, 1828. 4. Daniel, born 
.August 14, 1755: soldier in Revolution. 5. 
James, born February 6, 1757; settled in Cor- 
nish, .Xew Hampshire, where many descend- 
ants have lived. (>. Hannah, Ixjrn July 22, 
1758. 7. Elizabeth, born .March 19, iy(x>. 8. 
John, born March 9, 1762. 9. Louis, born 
September 24, 1764. 10. Rebecca, born May 

29, 1760. 11. .Andrew, born .April 30. 1768. 
12. Israel, Iwrn December I'l. 17^>9. 13. Miles, 
Ixirn October 19, 1771. 

(III) Samuel Tasker. son of William 
Tasker (2), was born at .Madbury, .April 26, 
1752, and died at Stratford, an adjoining town, 
September 11, 1811. He was a farmer and 
settled in Strafiford. He married Sarah Tut- 
tle, and their two children were: i. William, 
mentioned below. 2. Daughter, married Eli- 
jah Tuttle. 

(I\') Captain William Tasker, son of 
Sanniel Tasker (3), was I)orn at Strafford, 
Xew Hampshire, about 1775. He resided and 
died at Strafford. He was captain of the 
militia company and a farmer by occupation. 
He married Lydia Patchelder, of a well known 
family of that section. Children: I. David 
P.. born May 5, 1809. 2. ,'^amuel, horn De- 
cember 3, 1810. 3. Paul. l)orn ( )ctober 22. 
1812. 4. Jeremiah, born June 15, 1816. 5. 
Xancy. born .A])ril 18. 1818. 6. William, 
born I'"et)ruary 13, 1820. 7. .Mary Jane, born 
February 4, 1822. 8. Charles C, born .Xo- 
vember 23, 1823 ; mentioned below. 9. 
George W., born .August 31, 1823. to. Lydia, 
1)orn .A])ril 30, 1828. 11. Lavinia, born Juno 

30, 183 1. 



376 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



(V) Charles C. Tasker, son of Captain 
William Tasker (4), was born in Northwood, 
New Hampshire, November 2^, 1823, and 
died in Wilkes-Barre. Pennsylvania, in 1898. 
He was educated in the common schools of 
his native town, and then took up the manu- 
facturing of pianos in New York city in part- 
nership with J. P. Hale, Mr. Tasker having 
charge of the selling department, and he fol- 
lowed this business with much success 
through his active life. After his death his 
wife and daughter moved to their present 
home in Lowell, Massachusetts. Like his fa- 
ther, Mr. Tasker was a member of the Free 
Will Baptist Church. He was a Republican 
in politics, and always interested in the suc- 
cess of his party. He was a man of the high- 
est character and integrity; of attractive man- 
ner and speech, making many friends; and of 
unusual business ability. He commanded the 
respect and esteem of his business associates 
and his more intimate friends alike. He mar- 
ried, December 4, 1848, Hannah C. Knowles, 
daughter of Jonathan J. and Mary fPillsbury) 
Knowles of Northwood, New Hampshire. 
(See sketch). They had one child, Anna, 
M.. born January 20, 1853. at Northwood, 
who lives with her mother in Lowell. 



Richard Knowles, iinmi- 
KN( )\\'LES grant ancestor, was born in 

England, and settled first in 
Cambridge. Massachusetts, where he had a 
son born in 1648. He removed soon to 
Hampton. New Hampshire, where he died 
February i, 1682. Very little is known of 
him: i. James, born at Cambridge. Novem- 
ber 17, 1648. 2. John, mentioned below. 

(H) John Knowles, son of Richard 
Knowles (i), was born probably in England, 
about 1838. He removed, according to the 
Hampton history, from Cambridge to Hamp- 
ton, and married there, July 10, 1660, Jemima 
Asten, daughter of Francis Asten and Isabel- 
la (Brand) Asten. He took the oath of allegi- 
ance December. 1678, and he died at Harnp- 
ton (north) December 5, 1705. He bought 
of Giles Fifield house and lot of ten acres and 
also six acres of marsh. His homestead is now 
or was lately owned by his lineal descend- 
ants. He was blind for ten years before his 
death. Children: t. John. Jr.. born February 
6, t66i ; mentioned below. 2. Ezekiel, born 
August 19, 1(^63; died December 11. 1666. 3. 
James, born November 20, 1665: died Febru- 
ary I. 1682. 4. Simon, born November 22, 
1667; married Rachel ; second, Rachel 



]'-'}'■ 5- Joseph, born June 11, 1672, died 
young. 6. Sarah, born April 17, 1676; mar- 
ried Robert Drake, and she died June 8, 1742. 

7. Hannah, born April 18, 1678; died Sep-, 
tember 12, 1769; married William Locke. 

(III) John Knowles, son of John Knowles 
(2), was born at Plampton, New Hampshire, 
February 6, 166 1. He resided on the home- 
stead where his father settled. He married 

Susanna , who died October 17, 1745, 

aged eighty-two years. Children: i. John, 
born May 14, 1686; married Tnphena Locke. 
2. Ezekiel, born June 29, 1687; mentioned be- 
low. 3. .\mos, born about 1689; married Abi- 
gail Dowst; he died February 24, 1746. 4. 
Reuben, born i6gi. 5. Abigail, born Decem- 
ber 3, 1695; married Ephraim Marston; she 
died January 22. 1727. 

(IV) Ezekiel Knowles, son of John 
Knowles (3), was born June 29, 1687; mar- 
ried at Hampton, January 31, 1712, Mary 
Wedgewood, daughter of David Wedgewood, 
of North Hampton. Children: i. Hannah, 
born 1713; baptized November 29, 1713. 2. 
Nathan, baptized May 2j, 1716; married 
Hannah Clifford. 3. Alary, born November 
2. 1 718; married John Lane. 4. David, born 
1725; baptized November 21, 1725; mentioned 
below. 

(V) David Knowles. son of Ezekiel 
Knowles (4). was baptized in Hampton. New 
Hampshire, November 21, 1725; married De- 
borah Palmer, daughter of William Palmer. 
His home was near Knowles Pond, North 
Hampton. He died there in March, 1806. 
Children: i. David, Jr., born August 23, 1751 ; 
mentioned below. 2. Simon, born December 
20, 1755; settled with his brother David in 
Northwood. 3. Ezekiel, born April 16, 1758. 
4. Hannah, born October 3, 1760. 5. Samuel, 
born May 17, 1763. 6. Deborah, born August 
15, 1767. 7. Nathan, bom May 9, 1770. 

(VI) David Knowles, son of David 
Knowles (5), was born at North Hampton, 
New Hampshire, August 23, 1751. He was 
a soldier in the Revolution, a private in Cap- 
tain Enoch Page's company; Colonel Senter's 
regiment, in the fall of 1777, in the "Roadi- 
land" (Rhode Island) campaign. He married 
September 5, 1776, Alary Hobbs, of North 
Hampton, New Hampton, who was born 
there March 29, 1755. Children: i. Morris, 
born January 7. 1790; died November 28, 
1834; married December 8, 1801, Polly 
Caverley, of Stafford. 2. David, born August 

8. 1783; married January 11, 1807, Sally 
Batchelder. 3. Jonathan: mentioned below. 
4. Jesse, born February 3, 1798; married Sep- 



MIDDLESEX COITNTY. 



377 



tember 2, 1825. Eliza Pillsbury. daughter of 
James Pillsbury: Jesse died January 12, 1856; 
she died December, 1S61. 

(\"II) Jon'' than Knuwlcs, son of 13avid 
Knowles (6), was born in North Hampton', 
November 10, 1789, and died June 14, 1864; 
married April 16, 1815, Mary V. Pillsbury, 
who was born April 13, 1796. She died h'eb- 
ruary 9, 1874. Children: i. Mary C, born 
July 28, 1816: married November 29, 1840, 
Perry Sawyer. 2. Elizabeth J., born Febru- 
ary 23, i8i8: married November 29, 1849, 
Jefferson Sawyer, of Lee. 3. Charles H., 
born July 7, 1820; married November 9, 1843, 
Mehitable Tarr, of Newmarket, November 9, 
1843; died January 29, 1855; married second, 
Mary J. Dickinson. 4. Hannah C. born April 
13, 1824; married Charles C. Tasker. (See 
Tasker sketch). 5. James J., born March 18, 
1726; married AIar\- F. Bumham, of Concord, 
September 10, 1866; she died October 4. 
1866; married second. May 25, 1876, Loraine 
A. Jenkins. 6. George W., born October 22, 
1829; married June 25, 1859. .Martha F. Bat- 
chelder. 7. Jefiferson, born June 14, 1833; 
married November 8, 1864. Fannie M. Tower, 
of Lowell. 



<For first three generations see preceding sketch.) 

(IV) Ezekiel Knowles, son 
KNOWLES of John Knowles (3), was 
born at Hampton, New 
Hampshire, June 29, 1687. He resided at 
Hampton and Rye, New Hampshire. He 
married, January 31, 1712, Alary Wcdgewood. 
Children, born at Rye: i. Hannah, born 
March i, 1713. 2. Nathan, baptized May 27, 
1716, died 1787: married Mary, daughter of 
John Lane. 3. Amos, born November 4, 
1722, mentioned below. 4. David, bom Sep- 
tember I, 1726. married Deborah Palmer; re- 
sided at North Hampton. 

(V) Amos Knowles, son of Ezekiel 
Knowles (4), was born at Rye, November 4, 
1722, died at Candia. New Hampshire, in 
1809, aged eighty-seven years. He married, 
October 11, 1744, Libby . They set- 
tled at Candia ; he was a farmer. Qiildren, 
bom at Rye or Candia: i. Nathaniel, bom 
1745, mentioned below. 2. Lydia, 1747. 3. 
Ezekiel. 1749, soldier in the Revolution. 4. 
Isaac, 1 75 1. 5. .Amos, 1755, soldier in the 
Revolution. 6. Elizabeth. 1755, died young. 
7. John. 1759, soldier in the Revolution. 8. 
Elizabeth, 1761, married Benjamin Palmer. 
9. David. 1764. 10. Seth. born at Candia. 
New Hampshire, .\pril 12, 1766: married, 



June 14, 1789, Anna Emerson, of Candia, at 
Epsom, New Hampshire (by El^enezer Hasel- 
tine). She was Ixirn December 20, 1768 
(see Emerson sketch). Child, born at Candia: 
I. Nathaniel, born March 28, 1793. 

(\'l) Nathaniel Knowles, son of Amos 
Knowles (5), was born in Candia, New 
Hampshire, in 1745. He resided in Sandwich 
and Albany, New Hampshire, and perhaps 
also in Gilmanton. He was a soldier in the 
revolution from 1777 to 1780. from Sandwich, 
in Captain Benjamin Stone's company. 
Joshua Danford, whose family was later con- 
nected with his by marriage, was in the same 
company until 1779. In 1779 and 1780 Dan- 
ford was sergeant and Knowles a private in 
Major Benjamin Whitcomb's regiment of 
rangers. Nathaniel Knowles signed the As- 
sociation Test in Sandwich in 1776. He was 
selectman of Burton in 1800. Children: 
Nathaniel, Jr., lx)rn atout 1770, a carpenter 
by trade, residing at Burton ; married Joanna 
K. Brown, of Tamworth, December 28, 1801 ; 
parents of Luke B., bom 1820. died at Mere- 
dith, October 12. 1866; and VVyatt B., born 
1836. 2. John D., born in 1777, mentioned 
below. 

(VTI) Rev. John D. Knowles. son of 
Nathaniel Knowles (6), married. .April 4, 
1805, Suky Buswell. at Belmont, New Hamp- 
shire (by Isaac Smith). ■ He married (sec- 
ond) Polly Danford (Danforth). He was a 
minister of the Freewill Baptist church of Gil- 
manton, New Hampshire. He was ordained 
by Elders Joseph Young, Richard Martin, 
William Blaisdell and Peter Qark, as an evan- 
gelist, May 30, 181 1, and he preached until 
his death. His funeral, at Gilmanton, Sunday, 
July 12, 1840, was attended by more than a 
thousand people : eight elders were bearers. 
Elder Clark preached : Elder Quimby ad- 
dressed the church members and Elder Pet- 
tingill the unconverted. Children: i. Rev. 
John P>., married, September 18, 185 1. Betsey 
T. Morrill: fanner and trader: elder of the 
church : resided at Sandwich. 2. Rev. EI- 
bridge. married (second) Nancy J. Joy: re- 
sided in Dover, New H;mipsliire : elder of 
Bapti-st church. 3. William. 4. .\lpheus 
Danford. mentioned below. 

(Vni).\lpheus Danford (Danforth) 
Knowles, son of Elder John D. Knowles (7), 
was born in Gilford. New Hampshire, a vil- 
lage of Gilmanton, about 1821. He removed 
to Lynnfield. Massachusetts, when a young 
man and settled finally in .\shland, Massachu- 
setts. He married, at Lynnl'ield, Mary .Ann 
Perkins, daughter of John Perkins, of Lynn- 



3/8 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



field. He died at .\shland, July 5, 1893. His 
wife died there July i, 1902. Children: i. 
^■Xlpheus Perkins, born January 31. 1847, 
married Nellie Smith, of Brookfield, \'er- 
niont ; no ciiildren. 2. Seymour .-Augustus, 
born July 2"], 1849, mentioned below. 3. 
Henry Livingston, born 1854; married Nellie 
F. Gilman. of E.xeter, New Hampshire; child: 
Mahlon. 

(IXj Seymour Augustus Knowles, son of 
Alpheus Danford (Danforth) Knowles (8), 
was born in Ashland, July 27, 1849. and was 
educated there in the public schools in the 
winter terms and working at other seasons. 
At the age of fourteen he went to work in 
one of the shoe factories that flourished at 
that time in the town of Ashland and worked 
at all branches of the trade. In 1867 he ac- 
cepted a position as clerk in the general store 
in Ashland and was employed there for nine 
years. He removed to Hopkinton, Massachu- 
setts, a town adjoining, in 1875, forming a 
partnership with .\. .A.. Sweet under the firm 
name of Sweet, Morse & Knowles, and con- 
ducted a general store at Hopkinton until 
1894, when he bought out his partners and 
since then has been alone in business. He has 
prospered in business. His patience, tact and 
courtesy adapt him especially to the difficul- 
ties of this business and he has shown the 
ability to retain his customers under all sorts 
of conditions. He attends the Hopkinton 
Congregational Church, but is not a member. 
He appreciates the good work of all denoni- 
inations and contributes to each. He gives 
freely to worthy charities and has a reputation 
for personal kindness and benevolence. In 
national politics he is a Republican, but he is 
independent and non-partisan in municipal 
affairs. He is a Free Mason of advanced 
standing, a member of John Warren Lodge, 
of Hopkinton ; Mt. Lebanon Chapter. Royal 
Arch Masons, and of Milford Commandery, 
Knights Templar. He is also a member of 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He 
is interested in the history of the town and in 
fact all things tending to advance the growth 
and welfare of Hopkinton. He is one of a 
committee of three appointed to consider the 
publication of the history of the town, now in 
manuscript and to be printed as soon as the 
necessary support for the work is received. 

He married. May 14, 1874, Bertha Ella 
Howard, of Deer Isle, Maine. Child : Walter 
H., born in Hopkinton, June ig, 1878, mar- 
ried, January i, 1903, Grace E. Heminway, of 
.South Framingham. They have no children. 
Walter H. Knowles was educated in Hopkin- 



ton public schools, and is at present employed 
by R. H. White & Company, of Boston, Mas- 
sachusetts. 



Robert Sawin, the progenitor in 
S.AWIN England of the Sawin family of 
America, lived in I'nj.xford, 
county .Sufi^olk, England, and died there in 
165 1. In December following John Sawin, 
then in New England, sold the homestead 
there to Samuel Groome, shipwright, of 
Langham, England. He reserved the rights 
of his brother's wife and agreed, in addition, 
to give a deed from his own wife, if necessary 
to complete the title. 

(II) John Sawin, son of Robert Sawin 
( I ) , was the immigrant ancestor. The name 
is spelled in early records Sawin, Sawen and 
.Sawing. It is an ancient English surname. 
He settled at Watertown, i\Iassachusetts, 
where he was living May 26, 1652; when in 
Boston he was admitted a freeman before the 
election on that day. He was in this country, 
however, as early as .\pril, 1650, as a witness 
according to the records, testifying to what 
he had heard in England in 1648, and Sawin's 
name is mentioned in the will of Edward 
Skinner dated at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
in 1 64 1. Skinner was doubtless a near rela- 
tive. John Sawin was a cordwainer by trade 
and occupied a house owned by his father-in- 
law on the west side of School street. Water- 
town, about halfway between Belmont and 
.Vuburn streets. By the help of his father-in- 
law he became owner in 1653 of the home- 
stall on which he lived and of a farm at The 
Farms, now Weston, Massachusetts, next to 
Sudbury, now Wayland, on the south side of 
the Sudbury road and having the Cowpen 
Farm to the eastward. He settled on this 
farm. In 1664 and 1672 he was selectman of 
Watertown. 

He married, about .\pril, 1632, .\bigail 
Manning, daughter of Cjeorge Alanning. or 
as then commonly written Munning. She em- 
barked with her parents and older sister 
Elizabeth at Ipswich, county Suffolk, Eng- 
land, .Kpril, 1634, and was then seventeen 
years old. She probably lived with her son 
John after she became a widow. She was liv- 
ing in 1667. Children: i. John, Jr., born in 
.^pril, 1653, married, February 16, 1666-67, 
Judith Peirce, daughter of Anthony Peirce ; 
both were under seventeen when married ; he 
resided on the Sudbun,' line farm. 2. Mun- 
ning, bom .A.pril 4. 1655. was prominent citi- 
zen of Watertown, called the best penman in 



.mii)1)1j-:sj:x coiwrv 



2,79 



tlie colony, scloctiifan, clerk of writs, treas- 
urer, town clerk; died Xovember 28, 1722. 
3. Tliomas. honi SL-pteniher 27. i'>5~- ineii- 
lioned below. 

(Ill) Thomas Sawin, son of Jolm .Sawin 
(2). was born in Watertown, September 27, 
1657, and learned the trade of house carpen- 
ter. He was in Watertown as late as 1675. 
when as a soldier in Kin^- Philip's war he 
went with the expedition asjainst the Xarra- 
gansetts on Deceniber 19. i(')75. He settled 
in Sherlxirn, Massachusetts, as early as 1679, 
on Chestnut brook, and he erected the first 
saw mill in .sherlxirn, according to the Sher- 
born history. He afterwards removed to Xa- 
tick and had a deed March 17, 1685-86, from 
the Indians, the conditions of which was that 
he should build a grist mill for their accom- 
modation, and fulfilling this condition, he 
built the first mill in Xatick on Qiarles river. 
The flomling of the land proved objectionable, 
ho\vever, and he removed the mill to what is 
still known as Sawin Brook. He was proba- 
bly for luany years a solitary "first white in- 
habitant," for in 1 72 1 there were only two 
white families in Xatick, and the second may 
have been that of his son John. He was liv- 
ing in i6(;i. He married, January 28. 1683, 
Deborah Rice, daughter of .Matthew Rice, of 
Sudbury. She was born February 14. 1639- 
60. Children, recorded at Shertorn : 1. 
Ruth, born July 24, 1686, married, in 1708, 
James Morse, of Sherlx>rn. 2. John, Ixirn 
June 26. 1689, mentioned below. 3. Deborah, 
born .'\j>ril 4. 1696. One or more other chil- 
dren. 

(IN) John Sawin, son of Thomas Sawin 
(3), was born in Xatick in 1689 and suc- 
ceeded his father as miller there. He was the 
first white man born in Xatick, or possibly the 
iSrst white inhabitant, if, as some think, his 
father continued to live at .Sherborn all his 
life. The births of the children of Thomas 
were recorded in Sherborn. He drew land in 
New Sherborn (Douglas). Massachusetts, in 
1715 and 1730. He was one of eight hundred 
and forty men who met June 6. 1733, on 
Boston Common to receive the seven town- 
ships granted to the heirs of the Xarragan- 
setts heroes, among which his father was 
numbered. He was in the second division 
and later drew land in Westminster, Massa- 
chusetts, lot 68, in the survey made nc\t year, 
lying between Westminster pond, the south- 
east line of the township and the road. In 
1755 the land had been sold to Jose]>h Horsby. 
In a second survey he drew at Watertown lot 
no and north lot 70 of Spectacle Meadow. 



Of his industry and success as a miller at 
Xatick tradition says much, but vaguel\. He 
married Joanna L\ons, a daughter of Thomas 
and Joanna ( Payson) Lytnis, who according 
to tradition was burned to death. Children, 
boni in Xatick. not then a town, anil recorded 
in the nearest town, Sherborn: i. Joanna, 
born .\ugust 28. 1715. 2. Thomas, born Oc- 
tober 12, 1717. mentioned below. 3. Deborah, 
born January 23. 1719-20. married George 
I'airbanks, of Holliston. in 1735. 4. John, 
born July 2T,. 1722. 5. .Abigail, born January 
24, 1724-25. 6. Ezekiel, lx)rn .April 3, 1728. 
7. Mary, born Xovember 2. 1731. 

(X ) Thomas Sawin, son of Thomas Sawin 
(4), was born at Xatick, Massachusetts, the 
Indian town, October 12. 1717. He followed his 
lather as miller and is said to have lived w'ith 
him. He was renowned as a hunter. He was 
a prominent man and ac(|uire(I a large estate 
for his day. He married .\bigail Morse. He 
was a captain of the militia and served in the 
Revohnion as volunteer in Captain Joseph 
.Morse's company, Colonel Samuel Ilullard's 
regiment, inarching in response to the Lex- 
ington alarm, .April 19, 1775. His son 
Thomas, Jr., was in the saine company. To 
his four surviving sons he gave mills or farms 
nearby. He died in I7</). Children: I. .Abi- 
gail, born 1748, married I'enjamin Kings- 
bury ( 1742-1827), residetl in Rindge and 
jaffrey, .\ew Hampshire, in 1793. 2. Re- 
becca. Ixirn 1750. married Richard Baxter, 
lived at Princeton. Massachusetts. 3. Thomas, 
lx)rn 1752. married Abigail I'acon. 4. Eze- 
kiel. born 1754, married Lydia Eamcs. 5. 
Judith. lx)rn 1757. married Edward Jackson. 
(). .Moses. Ixirn 1758. had the old mill and 
homestead: married Silence Jones and (sec- 
ond) Catherine Fisher. 7. Mercy, born 1761, 
married Jonas Huntington. 8. Deborah. iKirn 
1763, married Benjamin Morse, settled in 
Templeton. Massachusetts, and Eaton, New 
York, and died in 1830. 9. Bela, born 1765, 
died 1777. 10. Phares. bom 1770. mentioned 
below. 

(\T) Phares Sawin. son of Thomas Sawin 
(5). was born in Xatick in 1770. He settled 
there on a farm given him by his father in what 
is called Southville near the Charles river. 
He married Polly Morse. Children, born in 
Xatick: 1. Phares. born 1793. trader: died 
at Medfield. Massachusetts, in 1824; married 
Plannah Henderson. 2. Samuel, born 1795. 
mentioned below. 3. Mary, born 1797. <hed 
in infancy. 4. Mary, torn 1798. married 
John Travis, gentleman, and had .Mary Eliza 
Travis who married Sidnex' Xa.son. of .Ash- 



38o 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



land, now of Natick. 5. Eliza, born 1800, 
died 1832. 6. Clxarles, born 1803, resided in 
Boston. 7. Anna, born 1805, died t8o8. 8. 
Dexter, born 1807, died 1819. 9. Asa, born 

1809, died in infancy. 10. James Fisher, born 

1810, married, 1844, Mary Ann Blanchard : 
resided at Southville, Natick, lived to an ad- 
vanced age ; children : i. George F., born 
1848 : Simon B., born 1850. 

(VII) Samuel Sawin, son of Phares Sawin 
(6), was born in Natick in 1795 and settled 
in Stow, Massachusetts. He married, in 
1834, Martha Blanchard, who was born in 
1810. He was a farmer. Children, born in 
Stow: I. Samuel D., born in 1835, mentioned 
below. 2. Martha E., born 1836, died in in- 
fancy. 3. John T., born 1837, was a milk 
dealer, residing in Charlestown, Massachu- 
setts; now deceased; married, 1862, Sarah U. 
Sawyer; children, born in Charlestown: i. 
Alice Maria, born 1863 : ii. Ida Eunice, Ijorn 
1864, resides on Stickney avenue, Somerville, 
Massachusetts. 4. Martha Blanchard, born 
1842, resided at Stow, now deceased. 5. 
Simon B., born 1846, resided at Charlestown, 
now deceased. 

(VIII) Samuel Dexter Sawin, son of Sam- 
uel Sawin (7), was born in Stow, Massachu- 
setts, in 1835, died in 1890. He was educated 
in the public schools and brought up on his 
father's farm. 'At the age of seventeen years 
he removed to Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
and became a clerk in the office of the Fitch- 
burg Railroad for two years. He left to take 
a position as clerk in the grocery store of 
F. O. Reed, Charlestown, and in the course 
of time was taken into partnership by his em- 
ployer, the firm name becoming Reed Broth- 
ers and Sawin. The store was located near 
the Bunker Hill Tavern. He left the grocery 
business and established a real estate business 
which grew to large proportions. He did 
much business in Somerville, Charlestown 
and Everett. He was a member of Bunker 
Hill Lodge of Odd Fellows. He was an al- 
derman in Charlestown before that city was 
absorbed by Boston ; was representative from 
his district to the general court three years in 
succession, and was a candidate for state sena- 
tor. He was a member of the board of over- 
seers of the poor in the city of Boston many 
years. He was a zealous advocate of annexa- 
tion of Charlestown to Boston. In religion 
he was a Baptist and an earnest worker, con- 
stant attendant and faithful member in the 
Baptist church of Charlestown. Reserved 
and quiet in his disposition, he was held in 



high honor and esteem by his fellow-citizens. 
He married, in 1856, Caroline E. Simonds, 
who was born in Cambridge. Their only son 
was : Dr. Charles D. Sawin, born June 10, 
1857, mentioned below. 

(IX) Dr. Charles D. Sawin, son of Samuel 
Dexter Sawin (8), was born in Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, June 10, 1857. He was edu- 
cated in the public and high schools of Somer- 
ville, graduating in 1874, and the Massachu- 
setts Institute of Technology, where he was 
graduated in 1878 with the degree of S. B. 
He studied medicine at Harvard Medical 
School, where he was graduated with the de- 
gree of M. D. in 1883. He was for two years 
a!fterward an assistant in the Boston City 
Hospital, and had six months of hospital 
training at Vienna, Austria. He started in 
the practice of his profession in 1884 with an 
office in Charlestown. He was surgeon for 
the state prison at that place for six years. 
In 1889 he lost his left arm and since then has 
devoted his attention to his general practice. 
During the past fifteen years he has been 
called into the courts of the state frequently 
to testify as an expert. He has made a study 
of medico-legal cases. He is a member of 
the Alumni Association of Harvard Medical 
School. Massachusetts Medical Society, 
American Medical Association, the Boston 
City Hospital Club. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican. He married (first) Katharine F. Cole, 
who died July 19, 1887. He married (sec- 
ond) Mabel A. Beattie, daughter of Captain 
Alexander M. and Celest C. (Congdon)- 
Beattie. The only child by his first wife was 
Katherine M. Sawin, bom at Charlestown, 
Massachusetts, January 12, 1887, graduate of 
the Girls' Latin School at Charlestown in 
1905, lives with parents, now devoting her 
time to the study of art. 

Mrs. Sawin's father. Captain Alexander 
Mitchell Beattie, died March 7, 1907, and the 
following tribute to his memory was pub- 
lished by the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion, Commandery of the State of Ver- 
mont : 

"ALEXANDER :\HTCHELL BEATTIE, 
born in Rygate, Vermont, July 22, 1828, died 
in Lancaster, New Hampshire, March 7, 1907. 
Enlisted as a private from Maidstone, Ver- 
mont, and commissioned as Second Lieuten- 
ant of Company I, Third Vermont Volun- 
teers. June II, 1861 : promoted First Lieuten- 
ant November 7, 1861 ; promoted Captain 
Company F. October 13, 1862: honorably dis- 
charged and mustered out of the United 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



381 



States service July 27, 1864. He served in 
that incomparable body of infantry known as 
the "Old Vermont Brigade," Second Brigade, 
Sixth Corps, and as commander of the Sharp- 
shooters of the Second Division, Sixth Corps, 
Army of the Potomac. lie participated in the 
engagements at Lewisville, Virginia, Septem- 
ber II, 1861 : Lee's Mills, Va., April 16, 1862; 
Williamsburg, \'a.. May 5, 1862; Golding's 
Farm, \ a., June 26, 1862; Savage Station, 
\a., June 29, 1862 ; White Oak Swamp, \a., 
June 30, 1862 ; Crampton's Gap, Md., Sep- 
tember 14, 1862; Antietam, Md., September 
17, 1862; first at Fredericksburg, Va., De- 
cember 13, 1862; Marye's Heights, \'a.. May 
3, 1863; Salem Heights, Va., May 4, 1863; 
Frederick.sburg, Va., June 5, 1863; Gettys- 
burg, I'a., July 3, 1863; Funkstown, Md.. 
July 10, 1863: Rappahannock Station, Va., 
November 7, 1863; Wilderness, Va., May 5 
to 10, 1864; Spottsylvania, Va., May 10 to 18, 
1864; Cold Harbor, Va., June 1-12, 1864; 
Petersburg, Va., June 18, 1864; Ream's Sta- 
tion, Va., June 29. 1864; Fort Stevens, Md., 
July II, 1864. 

"Alexander M. Beattie was born July 29, 
1828, in Ryegate, Vermont, where he spent 
the early years of his life. He was of Scotch- 
Irish descent, being the eleventh and next to 
the last child of James and Margaret (Gilles- 
pie) Beattie. He had the advantage of the 
home schools, of Peacham ^Academy, and 
three years in the St. Johnsbury .Academy. 
He was an apt scholar and had a most tena- 
cious memory. .After leaving St. Johnsbury, 
he taught for a time in i\lonroe. New Hamp- 
shire, and other places with good success, un- 
til 185 1, when he went to California. He 
spent three and a half years mining in the 
Sonora Valley, and another three and a half 
years in business in San Francisco. Upon 
returning home again took up teaching at 
West Lebanon, New Hampshire, and else- 
where until the breaking out of the war. He 
then began recruiting in Essex county, tra- 
versing the whole length with martial music, 
banners and flags, and enrolling volunteers. 
Early in June, 1861, he enlisted from Maid- 
stone, Vermont, as a private in Company I, 
Third Vermont Volunteers, and upon its or- 
ganization wa.s elected second lieutenant, to 
date from June 11, 1861, and was mustered 
into the United States service at St. Johns- 
bury, to serve for three years or during the 
war. Companion Beattie's record during the 
war for the Union was remarkable, and the 
story of his gallant and faithful service cannot 



better be expressed than in the words of e.x- 
Governor Samuel E. Pingree, lieutenant of 
his regiment, who, at the request of your com- 
mittee, has given the following most worthy 
and deserving tribute to this gallant and in- 
trepid soldier : T knew the Captain as inti- 
mately, perhaps, as any comrade in the regi- 
ment. He was one of the promoters of the 
old Third Vermont Regiment, starting out 
before any official call for its recruiting, soon 
after he 'heard the shot of Sumter hurtling 
through the air,' and seeming to know by in- 
stinct that it was up against him to raise a 
company up in Essex county, in anticipation 
of the governor's call for the regiment. His 
success was almost phenomenal, and, defer- 
ring to the military experience of General 
Thomas Nelson of the then late state militia, 
he came to camp as Captain Nelson's second 
lieutenant in Company L A vacancy soon oc- 
curred in the captaincy of Company F of 
Hartford, and Lieutenant Beattie was sought 
for by Iwth officers and men of that company 
for its captain, and, though detached through 
most of the remaining time cif his service as 
commander of the Sharpshooters of the Sec- 
ond Division of the Sixth .Army Corps, he 
was always Ixirne on the rolls as Captain of 
Company F. 

" 'Captain Beattie's services with this com- 
pany endeared him to every -soldier in it. His 
care and providence for every need and com- 
fort of his men in the camp, on the march, or 
in the battle, were limited only by the ex- 
hausted physical strength of a man of cast- 
iron mould and a will and ci>urage indomita- 
ble. He was detailed at length by General A. 
P. Howe of the Second Division of the Greek 
Cross Corps to organize a company of Sharp- 
shooters out of his own selection from the 
regiments of the Division. They were picked 
after careful competitive target practice, and 
his company was kept full in the same way 
These men underwent luore perilous service 
than any other lx)dy of troops in the Division 
— over two hundred having served in Beattie's 
company while he was in command. The 
casualties were fearful, and yet his ranks 
were sought by the good shots of the regi- 
ments, knowing the peculiar exposure of the 
service. Captain Beattie had. and always had. 
a remarkable control over his men. They dis- 
cerned his skill in disposing them at critical 
times and places, and their confidence in his 
judgment was such that they were eager to 
take the posts assigned them. They always 
trusted to him to put them in the right pit or 



382 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



tree top, and to relieve them at the proper 
moment. In influence and standing with 
his men he was second to no officer of the 
Second Division of the Sixth Corps. He was 
an officer whose personal .skill and courage in 
the tSght were such that all men under him 
were inspired to deeds of availing valor for- 
getful of present dangers.' 

"With such eulogy as this your committee 
can say no more, except to add that Com- 
panion Beattie was awarded the Congressional 
medal of honor for 'removing, under a hot 
fire, to a place of safety, a wounded member 
of his command who lay between the Union 
and Confederate lines, at the battle of Cold 
Harbor, Mrginia, June 5, 1864.' 

"Upon his muster-out of the United States 
service he returned to \'ermont, and became 
interested in the lumber business in Brunswick, 
which town he represented in the legislature 
in 1867-68. Later he removed to Lancaster, 
New Hampshire, and purchased the Ziba 
Linds farm on the road leading from Lancas- 
ter to Northumberland, where he erected a 
beautiful home. In 1893-94 he represented 
Lancaster in the New Hampshire legislature, 

"He was a member of the Grand .\rmy of 
the Republic, the Society of the .Army of the 
Potomac, and, May 10, 1892, was elected a 
member of the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion of the United States through the 
Commander)' of the State of Vermont. 

"December 30, 1869, he married Celest 
Congdon, of Lancaster, who with one daugh- 
ter, Mrs, Dr. Charles D. Sawin, of Somer- 
ville, JNIassachusetts, survives him. 

"For several years Companion Beattie suf- 
fered from a complication of diseases, which 
finally culminated in his death. The funeral 
obsequies were held in the Episcopal church, 
the rector. Rev. ]\Ir. Harte, officiating. Tlie 
casket was covered by 'Old Glory' sent by the 
\'ermont Commandery, Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion, and his body was borne to its 
last resting place by the comrades of the 
Grand -Army of the Republic. 

"The same indomitable courage that our 
Companion showed while a soldier followed 
him in civil life, and with his pleasing per- 
sonality, won for him a legion of friends, and 
he carried to the end his love for his countrv 
and its flag which be so nobly repre.sented." 
Fr.^nkltn G. Butterfield, 
Willis W. Morton, 
Theodore S. Peck, 

Coimtiittee. 



(For the first five generations see preceding sketch.) 

(VI) Moses Sawin, son of 
SAWIN Thomas Sawin (5), John (4), 
Thomas (3), John (2), Robert 
[i), was born in Natick, Massachusetts, in 
1758. He inherited the homestead with the old 
grist and saw mills which had already been re- 
built more than once, and ground corn and 
sawed lumber for the praying Indians of South 
Natick and vicinity, as well as the settlers in 
Sherboi-n and Natick. He was a soldier in 
the Revolution, private in Captain Sylvanus 
Smith's company, Colonel Benjamin Haws's 
regiment, in the Rhode Island campaign in 
1777: also corporal in Captain Joshua Risk's 
company. Colonel .Abner Perry's regiment, 
enlisted July 28, 1780, and discharged July 31, 
1780, serving in the Rhode Island campaign. 
He married, in 1783, Silence Jones, by whom 
he had one child; married (second), in 1787, 
Catherine Fisher, by whom he had nine chil- 
dren. He died in 1831 at Natick. Child of 
Moses and Silence: i. Silence, born 1784, 
lived with her uncle. .\. Jones, until she mar- 
ried David Adams in 1812; died at Rindge, 
New Hampshire, in 1835. Children of Moses 
and Catherine (Fisher) Sawin: 2. Bela, born 
1789, resided in Manchester, New Hamp- 
shire, Ashland and Southborough, Massachu- 
setts; married Becca Barber in 18 id. 3. 
Lucy, born 1791, resided in Natick; married 
John Bacon; one of their sons was the late 
Judge John W. Bacon, of Natick. 4. Betsey, 
born 1793, married .Amos Whitney and 
Stephen Goodhue: no children. 5. Moses, 
born 1794, mentioned below. 6. Sarah, born 
about 1796, in Natick. 7. Sarah, born 1799. 
8. Catherine, born 1800, married Nathaniel 
Kingsbury, M, D.; died in 1828 in Lancaster, 
Massachusetts ; no children. 9. Charles, born 
1802, died young. 10. Horatio, born 1803- 
04, at Natick. 

(VII) Moses Sawin, son of Moses Sawin 
(6), was born in Natick, Massachusetts, in 
1794. He was a farmer and miller. In 1835 
he removed to Southborough. Massachu- 
setts. He married, in 1820, Joanna T. Lane, 
by whom he had one child; married (second), 
in 1823, Mary Bigelow Morse, by whom he 
had five children born in Natick and four in 
Southborough. Child of Moses and Joanna 
T. -Sawin: i. Joanna Lane, born August 16, 
1821, married at Southborough, April 12, 
1845, William Libby ; children: i. Mary J. Lib- 
by, born 1845: ii. Charles William, born 
October 9. 1848, died September 21, 1849: 
iii. Willie F. Libbv. Children of Moses and 




'hu<u^ M -^a 



(^Z-'OC>->'>'<- 



.M1D1JL1::SL-:X U )LXTV. 



383 



Mary Bigelow (Morse) Sawin: 2. John 
Bacon, born at Xatick. May 6, 1826. married 
Susan Fisher, dautrhter of Captain Fisher, of 
Southborougii: children: Harriet F".. and 
Mary, who married F'red William Weinshanl--. 
dealer in gentlemen's furnishing goods in 
Cambridge, previously in charge of the Har- 
vard College printing ofifice: killed accident- 
ally in Kjoi. leaving a widow and daughter. 
Dorothy. 3. ^^ary Betsey, born at Xatick, 
July 18. 1828. married John Whiting, a l)rush 
manufacturer of Boston ; since his death the 
business has been conducted for his estate 
by his only son, William Whiting, who mar- 
ried Mary Allen, of Sonierville, Massachu- 
setts; they had also two daughters: resided 
in Southborough, Massachusetts. 4. Sarah 
Catherine, born Se])teniber 4, 1830, resided at 
Southborough. 5. Maria Augusta, horn De- 
cember 21, 1832, resided at Southborough. 6. 
Moses Morse, born May 3, 1835. mentioned 
below. 7. Lucy .Ann, born at Southborough, 
May 16, 1837. 8. Charles Burleigh, born at 
Southborough, February 8, 1840, lives on the 
homestead in Southborough and has grist and 
saw mills there. <;. James H.. born 1S42. died 
in infancy. 

(VIII) Moses Morse Sawin, son of Moses 
Sawin (7), was born in Southborough, Massa- 
chusetts, May 5, 1835. He was a farmer and 
miller, having a grist mill in his native town. 
He worked in his father's grist mill until i860, 
attending the common schools of his native 
town in his boyhood. He left home and re- 
moved to Cambridge. Massachusetts, August 
14, i8fio, buying out what was then known as 
Buck's Express. He conducted this business 
several years under its old name, then 
changed it to Sawin's Express, which became 
one of the best known and most flour- 
ishing of the suburban express lines 
about Boston. His business was in transport- 
ing baggage and merchandise between 15os- 
ton and Cambridge. He continued in busi- 
ness until 1905. when he sold out to the Bos- 
ton & Suburban Express Company, and re- 
tired from active business. He has resided 
since 1866 in Cambridge, at No. 73 Brattle 
street, his present home. He is a Mell known 
and highly esteemed citizen. 

Moses M. Sawin married. January 18. 1839, 
in .Augusta. X^ew York, Susan Olive Kendall, 
daughter o'^ Leonard Jarvis and Olive Ken- 
dall. I,eonard Jarvis Kendall was son of 
David and Susan Kenflall. of Cambridge, de- 
scendant of Francis Kendall, the immigrant 
settler and founder of W^oburn. Massachu- 
setts. Children: i. Jennie Olive, born March 



I, i8f)i, married Henry Carleton Piper, son 
of Henry .\. I'iper, of Cambridge. Henrv 
(.arleton Piper resides in .Australia, rep- 
resentative of the banking firm of Henry 
W . Peabody & Company of Xew York 
(.'ily: children: i. Margaret Piper, torn 
.May 23, 1892: ii. Warrene Piper, born Feb- 
ruary 8, 1898. 2. Charles .Austin, born March 
3. 1863. assistant cashier of the h'irst Xational 
liank of I'.oston: marrieil Carrie 1 lowland Al- 
len, a direct descendant of John Howland, 
who came in the "Mayflower:" reside in Xew- 
ton. Ma.ssachusetts: no children. 3. Susan 
Kendall, born .May 17. 1867, resides at home 
with her parents. 4. Herbert Edward, born 
I-'ebruary 2;>,. 1861;. pro|)rietor of 11. E. 
Sawin's Express. Caml)ri(lge : married Edith 
.Adams, of Cambridge; child, lulward .Adams, 
born January 21. 1903. 3. .Alice L., born 
January 17, 1872, resides with her ])arents. 6. 
George Alfred. October 12. 1878, is with the 
Cieneral Electric Conipany, Lynn, .Massachu- 
setts; married Grace .V Schofield. whose fa- 
ther bought out the firm of Henry Plympton 
& Comijany, furniture dealers. Boston; child: 
( ieorge .A., born .March 21, 1907. 



The surname Spalding ap- 
SPALDING pears quite early in F^nglish 
histor)-. . Some conjecture 
that it is a place-name from the town of 
Spalding, in Lincolnshire, which is said to 
have derived its name from a Spa or spring 
of mineral water in the market place. There 
have been many distinguished men of this 
name in F^ngland in ancient and modern 
times. Many had coats-of-arms. The Spald- 
ings of .America, with the exception of a few 
that have recently emigrated to this country, 
are all descendants from three early settlers. 
( )ne located in Massachusetts, another in 
Maryland and the third in Creorgia. The 
Spaldings of (ieorgia are descended from the 
.\shantilly S])aldings. Perthshire, Scotland, 
and they from Sir Pierce Spalding, who sur- 
rendered Benvick Castle to the Earl of Mur- 
ray. The Georgia pioneer, James Spalding, 
son of Captain Thomas Spalding, who came 
to .America in 1760. had married in 1734 .Anna 
Lermoth. 

(I) Edward Spalding, the immigrant ances- 
tor, came to Xew England probably between 
1630 and 1633. He settled in Braintree, 
Massachusetts, where he a]>i)ears on the list 
of proprietors in 1640. He was admitted a 
freeman May 13, 1640. He removed to Wen- 
ham. He was one of the petitioners for the 



384 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



town of Chelmsford grant Uctober i, 1645, 
and was one of the early settlers in that town. 
He was a leading citizen; selectman in 1654- 
56-60-61; in 1663 he was surveyor of high- 
ways; juryman, 1648. He died February 26, 
1670. His will was dated February 13, 1666, 
and proved April 5, 1670, bequeathing to wife 
Rachel, sons Edward, John and Andrew, 
daughter Dinah. His wife Margaret died 
August, 1640, and his second wife Rachel 
soon after his death. Children of Edward and 
Margaret; i. John, born about 1633, men- 
tioned below. 2. Edward. 3. Grace, died 
May, 1641. Children of Edward and Rachel 
Spalding; 4. Benjamin, born April 7, 1643. 6. 
Joseph, born Uctober 25, 1646. 7. Dinah, 
born March 14, 1649. 8. Andrew, born No- 
vember 19, 1652. 

(n) John Spalding, son of Edward Spald- 
ing (I), was born about 1633 and died Octo- 
ber 3, 1721. Married, May 18, 1658, Hannah 
Hale, of Concord. She died August 14, 1689. 
He came to Chelmsford with his father in 1654 ; 
was admitted a freeman March 11, 1689-90. 
He had many land grants in Chelmsford from 
time to time. John Spalding was a soldier 
under Captain Manning in King Philip's war. 
Children; I. John, born February 15, 1659. 

2. Eunice, born July 27, 1660. 3. Edward, 
born .September 16, 1663. 4. Hannah, born 
April 28, 1666. 5. Samuel, born March 6, 
1668. 6. Deborah, born November 12, 1670. 
7. Joseph, bom October 22, 1673, mentioned 
below. 8. Timothy, born about 1676. 

(HI) Joseph Spalding, son of John Spald- 
ing (2), was born in Chelmsford, Massachu- 
setts, October 22. 1673. Married Elizabeth 
Colburn, daughter of John Colburn, of 
Chelmsford. He died March 12, 1728, aged 
fifty-four. His gravestone is nearly in the 
middle of the Chelmsford burying ground, 
just north of the main path. He had a grant 
of land from the town January 11, 171 1. His 
brother Timothy was guardian after his death 
of Joseph's minor children. Children of Jo- 
seph and Elizabeth Spalding; I. Elizabeth, 
born January 17, 1700, married Ebenezer 
Harris, a tailor. 2. John, born June 12, 1704. 

3. Anna, born ( )ctober 20, 1708. 4. Simeon, 
born August 4, 1713, mentioned below. 

(IV) Colonel .Simeon Spalding, son of Jo- 
seph Spalding (3), was born in Chelmsford, 
August 4, 1713. His father was then living 
in his homestead residence, since demolished, 
situated about a mile from the centre of the 
village, to the wei=tward. In February, 1736, 
he bought of Nathan Kendall ten acres of 
land in Chelmsford on the countv road and 



built thereon his homestead, and from time to 
time added to his holding of land. He was 
town treasurer in 1755-56-57; selectman in 
1761-62. He was commissioned cornet of 
the First Troop of Horse in the Second Regi- 
ment of Provisional militia, March 18, 1755, 
and served in the French and Indian wars. 
He took an active part in the Revolution be- 
fore and during the war. In 1770 he was 
chosen representative to the general court; he 
was representative in 1773-74-75-78; justice 
of the peace in 1775, and in February, 1776, 
was commissioned colonel of the Seventh 
Regiment of the Provincial militia. In 1776 
he was chairman of the committee of corre- 
spondence, inspection and safety. In May, 
1778, he was chosen one of a committee to 
adjust all past services done in the war by the 
inhabitants of the town since March, 1777. He 
was elected a delegate to the convention for 
framing a constitution for the state of Massa- 
chusetts Bay. He died April 7, 1785, and 
was buried in the Chelmsford burying ground 
next north of his father's grave. 

He married (first) Sarah Fletcher, about 
1736; (second), November 13, 1751, Mrs. Abi- 
gail Wilson, of Woburn, the daughter of Ed- 
ward Johnson. She was born July 15, 1723, 
and died June 20, 181 2. His will dated Feb- 
ruary 24, 1785. mentions his children, viz; 
Children of Simeon and Sarah Spalding; i. 
Al)el, born September 2, 1737. 2. Sarah, 
born November 22, 1739, married Jonathan 
Fletcher, of Westford. 3. Joel, born March 
12, 1743. 4. Joanna, born August 4, 1744, 
died August 24, 1747. 5. Silas, born October 
30, 1746. Children of Simeon and Abigail 
Spalding; 6. Micah, born November 6, 1752, 
mentioned below. 7. Jephthah, born Novem- 
ber ID, 1754. 8. Azariah, born February 2, 
1757. 9. Simeon, born March 15, 1759. 10. 
Abigail, born March 15, 1759, married, Janu- 
ary 10, 1779, Joseph Tyler; she died Decem- 
ber 21, 1840. II. Philip, born June 4, 1762. 
12. Rebecca, born May 11, 1764, married, 
March 29, 1785, Joseph Warren; she died 
August, 1848. 13. Matthias, born June 25, 
1769. 14. Noah, born February 4, 1771. 

(V) Micah Spalding, son of Simeon Spald- 
ing (4), was born at Chelmsford, Massachu- 
setts, November 6, 1752. He was a soldier in 
the Revolution from Chelmsford, a private in 
Colonel Moses Park's company at the Lex- 
ington alarm, .\pril 19, 1775. He died .April 
2^^. 1S30, in Lowell, formerly Chelmsford. He 
married, April 23, 1778, Mary Chamberlain, 
born .\ugust 27, 1755, died June 4, 1847, ^t 
nearly ninety-two, daughter of .'\aron Cham- 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



385 



berlain. Children, born in Chelmsford, now 



Lowell: 1. .Micah. born February 



1- 1779. 



died May 5, 1801, unmarried, on the Island of 
Java. 2. .Mary, born July 22, 1780, married 
Benjamin Brown, of Tewksbury, November 
30. 1830; resided in Tewksbury and Lowell; 
she died December 22, 1857. 3. William, 
born July 22, 1782, died October 22, 1820; 
married Laura Ann Millard. 4. Simeon, 
born December 9, 1785. 5. John, born De- 
cember 21, 1787, died September 11, 1790. 6. 
Martha, born January 31. 1790, died .August 
15, 1868, at Lowell, unmarried. 7. Sophia, 
born June 22, 1792, married John Symmes, of 
Wobum, May 31, 1836; resided in Winches- 
ter, Massachusetts, where she died June 12, 
1867. 8. Rufus, born July 29, 1794. 9. Mat- 
thias, born May 14, 1796, studied medicine; 
died August 16, 1831, at .Montabello. ( )hio. 
10. Noah, born -May 14, 1796, mentioned be- 
low. II. Sidney, born November 14, 1798. 

(\'I) Simeon Spalding, son of Micah Spald- 
ing (5), was born December 9, 1785. and died 
-•Vugust 13. 1855, at Lowell, where he lived 
all his life. He married Rhoda Bradley Ho- 
vey. of Dracut, July 21, 1816. She was born 
October 17, 1795. Children born in Lowell: 

1. George, bom May 15, 1817, pastor of the 
Congregational church at Woodburn and the 
New School Presbyterian Church of Bright- 
on, Illinois, May 10. 1848; became .\pril 26, 
1849, pastor of the Congregational church at 
Bunker Hill; resigned May, 1852; preached 
as supply at Rochester, New Hampshire, for 
a time and other places: married, ,A.pril 5, 
1843, Emeline .\iigusta Larcom, of T^everly, 
Massachusetts. Children: i. Emeline .\u- 
gusta, born February 20, 1844, died April 18, 
1845; ii. George Francis, born July 7, 1845, 
died October 23, 1846: iii, Charlotte Eliza- 
beth, born May 10, 1847, died May 31, 1870, 
in Lowell; iv. George Herbert, born Decem- 
ber 27. 1848, died September 17, 1849; v. Ed- 
ward Heber, born January 16, 1830, died .Au- 
gust 8, 1851: vi. Theodore Norton, born 
.August 20, 1851; vii. I'rances, born Septem- 
ber 8, 1853, <^'S<' October 17, 1854; viii. 
Louis Simeon (twin), born June 14, 1855, died 
November, 1856; ix. Lucy Larcom (twin), 
born Jtrne 14, 1855: x. Agnes Loui.sa. born 
September 5, 1857: xi. Henrietta, born .April 

2, 1859; xii. Grace .Adeline, born .April 5. 
1861. 2. Cliarles, born P'ebruary 9, 18 19, re- 
sided at Benicia, California: married Mary 
.Ann Silsbee, of Boston, .April 30, 1843: only 
son Charles Edward, born .April 7, 1847, 
drowned .August 26, 1856. 3. Edward, born 
March 27, 182 1, drowned May 30, 1825. 4. 

il-6 



I'rancis, born .March 26, 1824, physician; re- 
sided at Colusa, California; married Rosa N, 
i lowe, daughter of John and Rosanna Howe; 
judge of Colusa county. 5. Edward .August- 
us, born March 31, 1832, died Febniarv 8, 
1838. 

(\ I) Rufus Spalding, son of Micah Spald- 
•".'J (5)> was born July 29, 1794, in Chelms- 
ford, died July 30, 1871. He went to Maine, 
l)ut after four years returned to Lowell, thence 
to Charlestown. .Massachusetts, where he 
died, lie married Harriet Byron Hunt, of 
Tewksbury, October 8, 1822. Children: I. 
Rufus Henry, born January 9, 1824, in Mil- 
ford. Maine; married Mary Roberts llobbs, 
of Norway, .Maine. December 18, 1830: chil- 
dren: i. IVlary Ennna. born October 7, 185 1, 
died October 9, 1851; ii. Ida Isabel, born 
.March 2, 1853; iii. I'Vederic Henry, born l-'eb- 
ruary 25, 1857, died November 22, 1860; iv. 
Maud, born November 12, 1863. 2. Harriet 
.Augusta, born in Lowell, December 14. 1827. 
3. .Abigail Warren, born June 29, 1830, mar- 
ried, November 9, 1869, -Samuel G. Spear; 
resided in Charlestown. 4. .Sarah Caroline, 
born .March 2"/. 1833. 3. Mary Brown, l)orn 
January 23, 1836, died January 2-j . 1834, in 
Lowell. 6. William, born October 9, 1838, 
enlisted in Company H, b'iftli Massachusetts 
X'olunteers, in Civil war, .August, 1862; com- 
missioned second lieutenant in the same com- 
pany Itilv 16, 1864: mustered out November 
16, 1864: married .Mary Augusta James, of 
Charlestown, July 31 , i8fi6. 7. Martha, liorn 
I'ebruary 2, 1842. 

(\T) Noah Spalding, son of Micah .^i)ald- 
ing (3), was born in Chelmsford, now Lowell, 
Mav 14, 1796. and died there January 10, 
1880. He was a gotwl citizen and highly 
esteemed by his townsmen. He was a devout 
member of the .\ppleton Street Congregation- 
al Church of Lowell. He married, December 
9, 1821, Hannah Parker, of Chelmsford. Chil- 
dren: I. Wniliam Pliny, born November I. 
1823, mentioned lielow. 2. Hannah Maria, 
born December 13, 1828, resides in the home- 
stead at Lowell and notwithstanding her age 
retains the entire management of her estate, 
inherited from her father; she is a woman of 
unusual Iiusiness ability; she is an active 
member and liberal supporter of the High- 
land Congregational Church. 3. Ann .Au- 
gusta, born Jime 14, 1835, died in infancy. 

(\'n .Sidnev Sjialding, soirof Micah Spald- 
ing (3), was born in Chelmsford, now Lowell. 
November 14, 1798. When a young man he 
went to Georgia and settled. He returned 
home thoroughly roused to the evils of slav- 



386 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



ery and was active in the Abolitionist move- 
ment: one of the organizers of the Free Soil 
party. He purchased land in Lowell, and as 
in the case of his brother Noah became rich 
through the rise in value of real estate as the 
city grew. In 1847 he became interested in 
the railroads, and was one of the large stock- 
holders of the Salem & Lowell and the Lo- 
well & Lawrence railroads. He was presi- 
dent of the latter company for a time, tie 
married (first) Mary Brown, of Wilmington, 
Massachusetts, April 20, 1831. She was the 
daughter of Dr. Silas Brown; she died July 
27, 1833, aged twenty-four years, six months. 
He married (second), November 11, 1834. 
Pamelia Clark, of Tewksbury. She was born 
March, 1806, and died February 25, 1855. Fie 
married (third). May 19, 1859, Mrs. Harriet 
Maria Parker (nee Kimball), widow of Fred- 
erick Parker, Esq. Mr. Spalding adopted the 
two sons of his wife by her former marriage 
and they took his name — Charles Parker 
Spalding, graduate of Harvard, 1870, and 
l-"rederick Parker Spalding. Children of Sid- 
ney Spalding: i. Edward Johnson, died Au- 
gust 7, 1832, aged six months. 2. William, 
died August 4, 1833, aged six weeks. 3. 
Mary Jane, born November 15, 1835, married, 
June 21, 1857: she died .Vugust 15, 1857. 4. 
"l)ora, born December 13, i860, died Decem- 
ber 27, i860. 5. Harriet Sidney, born .August 
7, 1865. 

(VII) William Pliny Spaldmg, son of Xoah 
Spalding (6'., was born at Lowell, November i, 
1823. He resided in Harvard, McHenry county, 
Illinois, and in Minnesota, where he died 
June ID, i8gi. He was a farmer. He mar- 
ried (first) Mahala Lawton, of Maine, October 
20, 1846. She died -April i, 1852, aged twenty- 
six years. He married (second) Ellen Ann 
Oakman. of Poultney, \'ermont, March 31. 
1853. Children: i. Jane, born March 18, 

1848. 2. William Parker, born September 5, 

1849. 3- Maria, born July 31. 1854. 4. Henry, 
born March 20. 1856. 



(For early generations see preceding sketch.) 

(V) .Azariah Spalding, son 
SPALDING of Colonel Simeon .Spalding 
(4), was born in Chelms- 
ford, February 2. 1757, and died there Sep- 
tember 13. 1 82 1. He was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war, a private in Captain John 
Minot's company. Colonel Josiah Whitney's 
regiment, and was present at the surrender of 
Burgoyne. He was a farmer in Chelmsford. 
He married. September 24. 1782. Lucy Bar- 



ron, who died July 19, 1820. Children, born 
in Chelmsford: I. William Barron, born No- 
vember 24, 1783, lost at sea, unmarried. 2. 
Timothy, born August 17, I.786, died in Eng- 
land in 1810 unmarried. 3. Abigail, born 
January 11, 1789, died 1809, unmarried. 4. 
( )tis, mentioned below. 

(\T) Captain Otis Spalding, son of Aza- 
riah Spalding (5), was born in Chelmsford. 
May 16, 1793. He was captain of cavalry in 
Chelmsford. He married, February 2, 1815, 
Elizabeth Adams, of Chelmsford, who died 
January 8. 1868. Children, born at Chelins- 
ford : 1 . Augustus Edwards, mentioned be- 
l(5w. 2. Lucy Abigail, born July 2, 1820, 
never married. 3. Mary Elizabeth, born May 
10, 1823, died July 5, 1867, unmarried. 

(\TI) Major Augustus Edwards Spald- 
ing, son of Otis Spalding (6), was born at 
Chelmsford. June 23, 1818, and died in Low- 
ell, January 10, 1877. He was educated hi 
the public schools of his native town and 
Fitchburg. Massachusetts, and during his 
youth worked in his uncle's store at Derry, 
New Hampshire. He was a man of keen, 
shrewd business instincts, and very early in 
his career began to buy up large tracts of 
timber land in the vicinity of Chelmsford. He 
cut the timber and sold it to good advantage, 
acquiring a competence. He invested freely 
in Lowell real estate, and the growth of the 
city added materially to his wealth by increas- 
ing the value of his houses and lands. His 
later years were spent in the care of his prop- 
erty. Among his associates in business Mr. 
Spalding was deemed a man of sound, conser- 
vative judgment, progressive, enterprising 
and thoroughly upright and honorable. He 
was quiet, unassuming, agreeable in his man- 
ner, devoting his time largely to his business 
and his home. He was persevering and in- 
dustrious and, withal, a man of high christian 
ideals. In politics he was a Republican and 
served the city in 1877 in the common council, 
dying during his term of office. He was a 
prominent member of the Odd Fellows Or- 
der, a member of Oberlin Lodge and Wanna- 
lancet Encampment. In his younger days he 
was active in the militia and rose to the rank 
of major, serving on Brigadier-General 
Adams's staff. In religion he was a LTnitar- 
ian. He married, June 4, 1850. Maria .Au- 
gusta Burtt, of Chelmsford, who was born at 
Hancock, New Hampshire, May 25, 1830, 
daughter of .Arnold B. Burtt, an active and en- 
terprising citizen who built the hotel at Ben- 
nington Village : was captain of his militia com- 
pany : married, September 25. 1825, Betsey 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



387 



Taylor, ^^ho was born in Hancock, April 19, 
1798. a'd bore him five children. His father, 
Ebenezf Hurtt, born February 13, 1757, died 
Septc-iber 8, 183 1 ; married Lydia Stanley in 
Xe'^^sbury, Massachusetts; she died Septeni- 
b." 12, 1823 ; he had a saw and grist mill, and 
nis house at Hancock, built in 1788, still 
stands. Ebenezer was the son of Thomas and 
Esther (Brown) Burtt, and grandson of 
Thomas Burtt, who was born in Reading, 
Massachusetts, in 1685; married, in 171 1, 
Elizabeth Cariford or Lariford. The father 
of Thomas Burtt was Thomas Burtt, who 
married, November 18, 1672, Mary South- 
wick, of Reading. The immigrant ancestor, 
father of Thomas Burtt, was Thomas Burtt. 
born about 1600, brother of Edward Burtt, 
of Charlestown, and Hugh Burtt, of Lynn ; 
died in Boston in 1670. The Burtt family 
came from Darkin, Somerset county, Eng- 
land. Mrs. Spalding survives her husband, 
residing in the homestead in Lowell. The 
only child of .\ugustus E. and Maria A. 
(Burtt) Spalding: Edward Francis men- 
tioned below. 

(Vni) Edward Francis Spalding, son of 
Augustus Edwards Spalding (7), was born 
in Chelmsford, June 26, 1861. He was edu- 
cated in the public and high schools of Lowell 
and in the Burbank -Academy of Woburn, 
Massachusetts, finally taking a business course 
in the Lowell Commercial College. He is a 
Republican in politics, and in 1889 was elected 
to the Lowell common council. He is a Uni- 
tarian in religion. Mr. Spalding succeeded 
to the large real estate interests of his father, 
and his time is occupied in the management 
and improvement of this property. He is a 
bright, progressive young business man, 
standing well in the opinion of iiis associates 
and high in the esteem of all who know him. 
He married, December 24, 1889, Juliette F. 
Gallagher, of Lowell. 



George Bowers, the inimi- 
BOWERS grant ancestor, was the only 
early settler of the name, not- 
withstanding a family tradition about ten 
brothers coming to this countn,-. It seems 
likely that the ten brothers of the story went 
from Scotland to England, and that only one 
came to New England. The family is said 
to he of Scotch ancestrv. George Bowers 
was in Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1636. He 
was a planter of some property and standing, 
and an early member of the Scituate church. 
He was admitted a freeman there .March 7, 



1636-37, and was a town officer, lie sold his 
land at Scituate, April 2. 1640, and located at 
Cambridge, .Massachusetts, where he lived the 
remainder of his days. He died in 1656. His 
house was on the east side of .\orth avenue, 
now .Massachusetts avenue, not far from the 
railroad bridge. He also owned land in 
Charlestown adjoining Cambridge. Me was 
fined May 31. 1652, for voting," not being a 
freeman of tlie Massachusetts Bay colony, 
showing that being a freeman in the I'lv- 
mouth colony did not, as he had supposed, 
entitle him to vote in .Massachusetts Bay col- 
ony. His wife Barbara died .March 25, 1644. 
He married (.second), .April 15, 1649, Eliza- 
beth Worthington. His widow married (sec- 
ond), June 25, 1657, Henry Bowtelle. Bowers 
in his will bequeathed to his wife; to sons 
Benanucl, John and Jerathmeel; daughters 
Patience and Silence. Children: i. Benanuel, 
married Elizabeth Dunster, cousin of Presi- 
dent Henry Dunster, of Harvard College; re- 
sided in Charlestown. 2. John, graduate of 
Harvard, 1649, teacher at Plymouth; minister 
at Guildford, and Brandford, Connecticut; 
pastor at Derby in 1677 until his death, June 
14, 1687. 3. Jerathmeel, born May 2. 1650, 
mentioned below. 4. Patience, married 
Humphrey Bradshaw. 5. Silence. 6. .Ma- 
thew (?). died at Cambridge. Januarv 30, 
1644-45. 

(H) Jerathmeel Bowers, son of (ieorge 
Bowers (i), was born in Cambridge, May 2, 
1650, died -April 2, 1724. He removed to the 
adjacent town of Chelmsford; was admitted 
a freeman February- 2, 1683, and was a town 
ofiRcer. He fought in King Phili])'s war, and 
had a large tract of land granted for his ser- 
vices. He was guardian of the Pawtucket 
Indians, a neighboring tribe. His was the 
first house built in the present limits of the 
city of Lowell, and was on what is now Wood 
street. He sold his homestead Januarv 2. 
1683-84. He represented Chelmsford five 
years in the general court. Children of Je- 
rathmeel and Elizabeth Powers: i. Jerath- 
meel, Jr., resided in Chelmsford near Paw- 
tucket (now Lowell), and was a leading and 
enterprising citizen. 2. Jonathan, born April 
13. 1674, mentioned below. 

(HI) Captain Jonathan Bowers, son of Je- 
rathmeel Bowers (2), was born in Chelms- 
ford, .April 13, 1674, died February 12, 1744- 
45. He removed to P.illerica in 1729. He was 
lieutenant in Captain Wilson's company. 
Colonel Tyng's regiment: promoted captain 
in 1715. He married. May 17, 1699, Hannah 
Barrett, who died October 16. 1765. aged 



388 



MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



married, January i, 1761, Hannah Kidder, of 
eighty-six years. Children, born at Chehns- 
ford: 1. Jerathnieel, born January 5, 1700, 
married, March 17, 1735-36, EHzabeth Farly, 
daughter of Timothy. 2. Jonathan, born July 
5, 1701, married, June 7, 1726, Mary Grimes. 
3. John, born September 20, 1707, married, 
August 14, 1733, .-Vuna Crosby, daughter of 
Josiah. 4. William, born January 8, 1712. 5. 
Benjamin, born March 7, 1713, graduate of 
Harvard, 1733; ordained at Middle Haddam 
church, Connecticut. 6. Josiah, born Janu- 
ary 10, 1719-20, mentioned below. 

(IV) Josiah Bovvers, son of Jonathan Bow- 
ers (3), was bom at Chelmsford, January 10, 
1719-20, and died April 20, 1794. He resided 
all his active life in Billerica and followed 
farming. He married, January 17, 1744, Abi- 
gail Thompson, daughter of Benjamin 
Thompson, the first town clerk. He married 
(second), January 28, 1773, Maria Trow- 
bridge, daughter of Rev. Caleb Trowbridge. 
She died September 29, 1787, aged fifty-six. 
Children of Josiah and Abigail Bowers: i. 
Abigail, born October 12, 1744, married, No- 
vember 29, 1764, Amos Muzzy. 2. Hannali> 
born October 20, 1746, died December 16, 
1753- 3- Josiah, born December 12, 1748, 
married. January- 6, 1774, Hannah Richard- 
son. 4. Joseph, born September g, 1751, died 
March 11, 177'. 5. Benjamin, born Febru- 
ary II, 1754, rrrentioned below. 6. Sarah^ 
born February 17, 1756, died July, 1766. 7. 
Andrew, born September 17, 1758. Harvard 
graduate, 1779: married, January 10, 1790, 
Polly Pollard. 8. Denison, born May 5, 1761. 

9. James, born August 22, 1763, graduate of 
Harvard, 1794; rect<?r of Episcopal church. 

10. Hannah, born October 28, 1765, married 
Rev. Jacob Norton. Child of Josiah and 
Maria: 11. Sarah, born December 11, 1776, 
married Luther French. 

(V) Benjamin Bowers, son of Josiah Bow- 
ers (4), was bom at Billerica, February 11, 
1754, and married, March 28, 1784, Silence 
Stickney, daughter of Jonathan Stickney. 
She died October 16, 1803. He was a soldier 
in the Revolution in the company of Captain 
Jonathan Stickney, regiment of Colonel 
Ebenezer Bridges in 1775; also in Captain 
Isaac Wood's company of guards at Cam- 
bridge, Concord and Sudbury in 1778; also 
in Captain Edward Farmer's company, 
Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment, in 1778. 
Children, born at Billerica: i. ,A.nna, born 
March 14, 1785, married. May 7, 1813, Rev. 
Joseph Richardson. 2. Jonathan Stickney, 
born February I. 1787. 3. Wilder, born .A.pril 



13' 1789. mentioned below. 4. Josjh, born 
September i, 1791, graduate Yale \iedical 
school, 1816; one of first homeopshs-* set- 
tled at Huntington, Long Island; x^,^ No- 
vember 5, 1868. 5. Joseph Thompsoii born 
September 24, 1794. 6. Benjamin Franiiin, 
born September 30, 1796, graduate of Ya^' 
Medical School in 1819; settled in New York. 
7. .Vbigail Thompson, born July 26, 1799, 
died July 31, 1826. 8. Harriet, born Septem- 
ber 3, 1801, married. May 10, 1825, Thomas 
Rowe. 

{\'l) Wilder Bowers, son of Benjamin 
Bowers (5), was born in Billerica, April 13, 
1789. He married Sarah Thompson. He was 
a farmer at Billerica. Child, Arthur, bom 
April 27, 1832, mentioned below. 

(VH) .Arthur Bowers, son of Wilder Bow- 
ers (6). was born at Billerica, April 27, 1832, 
and died at Lynn, Massachusetts, November 
22, 1903. He was educated in the public 
schools of his. native town. He worked on the 
farm of his father and as clerk in a general 
store when a youth. He engaged in busi- 
ness on his own account when a young man, 
and became one of the largest and most pros- 
perous dealers in men's clothing and furnish- 
ings in the city of Lowell. He was enter- 
prising, sagacious and far-sighted in business, 
and was upright and honorable in his meth- 
ods. Although a man of much influence, he 
devoted himself almost exclusively to his own 
domestic and business concerns. In politics 
he was a steadfast Republican, but personally 
did not care for public office. In religion he 
was a Unitarian and attendant of the Unitari- 
an church. 

He married. May 16, 1864, in Lowell, Cath- 
erine Isabella French, daughter of Josiah Bow- 
ers and Mary Ann (Stevens) French. Her 
father was a very prominent citizen of Lowell, 
mayor of the city, president of the Lowell Na- 
tional Bank, part owner of a number of manu- 
facturing corporations, represented his district 
in the general court, was universally respected 
and honored by his townsmen. Children of 
Arthur and Catharine Isabella Bowers: i. 
Eugene French, born at Lowell, July 7, 1865, 
died December 28, 1898. 2. Maude Thomp- 
son, born August 20. 1872, in Lowell, mar- 
ried, October 31, 1905, Arthur E. Hatch, son 
of Frederick and Lena (Searle) Hatch, of 
Lowell. 



(For early generations see preceding sketch.) 

(IV) William Bowers, son of Captain 
Jonathan Bowers (3), was born at Chelms- 
ford, Massachusetts, January 8, 1712. He 



MIDDLESEX COLXTY. 



389 



married, January i, 1761, Hannah Kidder, of 
Billerica, .Massachusetts (by Thonia> Kidder, 
Esq.). Cliildrcn ; 1. Jonathan, born h'ebru- 
ary 8. 1762. 2. Luke, Ixrn February 25, 
1763. mentioned below. 3. Hannah, born 
May 14, 1765. 4. Sarah, born August 17. 
i/*^'/- 5- ^^ illiam, born November 21. 1769. 
6. OHve, bom March 24. 1772. 7. PliiHp, 
born January 18. 1774. 8. Timothy, born 
November 12,1777. 9. Joseph, born December 
31. 1780. 10. Jesse, born Xoveinl)er 13, 1785. 

(V) Luke Bowers, son of William Bowers 
(4), was born at Chelmsford, February 25. 
1763, on what is now School street. Lowell 
(then Chelmsford), near Pentucket Bridge, 
in the house standing in what is or was lately 
the garden of the Fred Ayres place. He en- 
tered the revolutionary army at the age of 
sixteen, and served seven years. He married 
Anna Pratt. Children: i. Jonathan, men- 
tioned below. 2. James. Probably others. 

(VI) Jonathan Bow-ers, son of Luke 
Bowers (5), was born at Chelmsford, and al- 
ways lived there. He and his brother James 
were engaged for a number of years in the 
lumber, brick, lime and cement business. 
They invested largely in real estate when 
Lowell was young, and realized handsomely 
on their property. At one time they owned 
from Wanalansett street to Walker street on 
one side, and from the Vesper boat-houses to 
the ice-houses on the other side, extending 
back nearly to Walker street. Jonathan Bow- 
ers died December 18. 1848, aged fifty-nine 
years. His wife died January 29, 1870, aged 
sixty-seven. Children : i. Jonathan, born March 
in Texas, in 1859. aged thirty-three. 3. Sarah 
Ann, born in 1835 • ''•'^f' November 16. 1854. 
aged nineteen. 

(V^II) Jonathan Bowers, son of Jonathan 
Bowers (6), was born in Chelmsford, now 
Lowell, March 2, 1825. The house in which 
he was boni stood on Pavvtucket street, near 
the Vesper lx>at-housc. He attended school 
at Lowell, and at an early age showed a nat- 
ural bent for mechanics, and also had an ar- 
tistic taste. At the age of fourteen he made 
a sword-cane, now preserved by his family, 
inlaid with silver and pearl, the handle richly 
carved, and the cane holding a blade. He also 
made two beautiful gilt picture frames. When 
a student in the high school he made a table 
inlaid w'ith pearl, shells and ivory, containing 
at least twenty thousand pieces. This table, 
which is highly polished, and shows a re- 
markable degree of patience and skill, has 
taken premiums at a number of fairs, and Mr. 
Bowers was at one time offered ten thousand 



dollars for it, but refused the offer. A work- 
room was early fitted up for him in his fath- 
er's house, and, when he was a young man, his 
father built him a large shop, and he engaged 
in the manufacture of carriages, wheelbar- 
rt)ws and other vehicles. He established an 
extensive business. He furnished all the 
wheelbarrows for the w-orkmen engaged in 
building the mills at Lowell. .Mr. Howers in- 
herited a fortune from his parents, and in 
1857 he purchased the King David Butterfield 
property at Willow Dale, on Tyngsboro Pond 
( Maskuppic Lake). He converted this place 
into ideal picnic grounds, sparing no expense, 
and in a short time it becanie a popular resort. 
.\ unique feature of the park is the remarka- 
ble collection of statuary. In 1870 he built 
W'analansett Castle, on W'analansett Hill, 
where he resided from ( )ctober to June until 
atxiut 1883. when he made the "King David" 
house at Tyngsboro his permanent home. 
Here he died, December 28. 1894, of paraly- 
sis. Mr. Bowers was a Rei)ublican, a member 
of the common council of I^owell in 1846, '53 
and '54. He was an intimate friend of the 
late Governor Creenhalge. He was beloved 
by all who knew him. 

He married, December 25, 1850. Sarah 
\'arnum, daughter of ThouKis and Mary 
(Brown) \'arnum. She died December 31. 
1897. She w-as a descendant of S.'unuel \'ar- 
num, of Dracut. Children: i. Minnie, born 
February 11. 1854: lives in Middlesex street; 
married Frank E. Jewctt. of Lowell, vinegar 
manufacturer; had Bernice. Victor, Harold 
and Gladys Jewett. 2. Kittie, born February 
2, 1857. 3. Jonathan, born .September 22, 
iSC>o: mentioned below. 4. George, married 
.Anna \ining, and had two children : Madeline, 
born May 20, 1890, and George Bowers, Jr.. 
born November 12, 1891. 

(\TI1) Jonathan Bowers, son of Jonathan 
Bowers (7), was born in Lowell, Massachu- 
setts, September 22, i86o. He received his 
education in the Bartlett school in Lowell, and 
was then associated with his father. Since 
the death of his father he and his brother 
George have managed the property. In 1896 
they suffered loss by fire, the buildings on the 
lake property being destroyed. He inherited 
a large amount of property from his father, 
and is a man of wealth. He married, Decem- 
ber 10. 1885, .Mice McNabb, born .\nt;ust 2j^. 
1868. daughter of Thomas ;nid Mary ( Burns) 
McNabb. of Dracut, Massachuscits. Chil- 
dren: T. Jonathan. Chester, born .September 
22. 1886. died February 2j. 1902. 2. \'ar- 
num. born Tanuarv i^. i8((2. 



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